Major League Baseball strongly refuted claims made by Gene Orza in which the former MLB Players Association general counsel essentially accused MLB and the union of what baseball officials termed "major fraud" in the bonus dispute between Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees.
Responding to Orza's comments to CNN Friday in which he said the union and baseball devised a "creative plan" to get around rules prohibiting performances bonuses except in limited instances, MLB Executive Vice President of Labor Relations Dan Halem denied any such arrangement was made.
"Nothing that Gene said is reflected in the language that the parties agreed to, and the understanding that was reached at the time," Halem told the Daily News Saturday, reaffirming the Yankees' position that they are not obligated to pay Rodriguez a series of $6 million bonuses as he moves up the all-time home run list.