A-Rod Will Talk To MLB Investigators On Friday About Illegal Gambling Allegations

Rodriguez will be meeting with MLB investigators in Baltimore, where the Yankees will be playing on Friday night, and then plans to speak to the media at Camden Yards afterwards. Apparently, Rodriguez “can’t wait” to talk to everyone and clear up exactly what’s going on.

The allegations first surfaced in a tabloid article, but according to Major League Baseball, the source of the story didn’t cause them to discredit the allegations right off the bat. In a statement, the MLB office said:

As if that weren’t enough, Dan Bilzerian - who claims to have been the primary source for the initial report - insists that Rodriguez was not present at one of the games in question, which took place in Beverly Hills. Bilzerian claims that Rodriguez was playing in the World Series at the time.

The reason this is being investigated is because Rodriguez was warned about playing poker in 2005, and MLB says that it’s taking this case very seriously. Ultimately, though, we can’t expect that anything will come out of this, aside from maybe a few stern words. Rodriguez can’t be punished unless anything is proven, and nothing here can be proven. Some people will tell one story, other people will tell another story, and in time, this will all blow over, and Rodriguez will come out with his colorful reputation left no more or less colorful.

As you may or may not have heard already, Wednesday’s big story is that Alex Rodriguez is being investigated by Major League Baseball for his alleged involvement in a few high-stakes underground poker games. The allegation stems from a report posted to RadarOnline.com, and it’s gotten all the way to Bud Selig’s office, forcing the commissioner to state that he’s taking this matter very seriously. A-Rod’s currently under investigation, and it’s possible that the outcome of this will be a suspension.

Why would Rodriguez be suspended? For no other reason than he’s been warned about this before. Wallace Matthews writes at ESPN that Rodriguez was warned not to participate in underground poker games back in 2005, so it stands to reason that Selig wouldn’t respond well to continued disobedience. If it can be proven that Rodriguez did indeed play in these games - which, of course, it probably can’t, unless you have a lower standard of proof than our legal system - then the threat of a suspension becomes very real.