Tweet
Jason Grimsley plans to fight the Arizona Diamondbacks' decision to withhold the remainder of his $825,000 salary.
"The whole thing is already in process," agent Joe Bick said Saturday. "We haven't filed anything yet, but the players' association is aware of it."
The Diamondbacks released the reliever Wednesday, one day after they learned federal agents had searched his home in an investigation into performance-enhancing drugs. At that time, Bick said "there was no negotiation" over Grimsley's remaining salary and that "released players get paid."
But Bick said he received a call Friday from Arizona general manager Josh Byrnes, who told him the club had decided not to pay Grimsley, signed as a free agent last winter.
"All I know is that one day we were told one thing, that they were going to release Jason and pay him, and the next day they changed their minds," Bick said in a telephone interview. "Josh called me Friday and said that after internal discussion, they had elected to pursue this route, and they're free to do that."
Likewise, Ken Kendrick, the Diamondbacks' managing general partner, said it's the union's right to fight the club's decision.
"The agent is not the guy that writes the checks. We are," he told the Arizona Republic for Saturday's editions. "We'll take a position and we believe we'll prevail."
MLB Players Association executive director Donald Fehr could not be reached for comment by the newspaper.
Grimsley, 38, has not been charged with a crime. He informed Bick that he will not pitch again in the majors, Bick told the Republic.
Kendrick, told the newspaper that the decision to withhold Grimsley's pay is "the moral thing to do."
"It isn't right to compensate him into the future when he's not playing for the team any longer and he left under the circumstances as negatively as he did," Kendrick said.
"We're following all the appropriate procedures. We've counseled with Major League Baseball. We've gone through the paperwork. ... The union may very well claim that the player's rights may have been abused, but at this point, we feel it incumbent upon us to do what is right."
Kendrick took issue with Grimsley's decision not to immediately inform team officials about the raid of his home Tuesday, and he also was put off by Grimsley's comments to his Arizona teammates that he would ask for his release so he wouldn't become a distraction.
"He didn't want to be a distraction? Well, clearly he was a distraction," Kendrick told the newspaper. "It's remained a distraction. ... Our team hasn't played the same since the day this thing happened. You can see it out there."
Arizona led the Dodgers by 2½ games in the NL West on Monday, but the Diamondbacks since have lost five in a row and find themselves tied for first with Los Angeles heading into Saturday night's game against the Mets.
Source: ESPN.com
"The whole thing is already in process," agent Joe Bick said Saturday. "We haven't filed anything yet, but the players' association is aware of it."
The Diamondbacks released the reliever Wednesday, one day after they learned federal agents had searched his home in an investigation into performance-enhancing drugs. At that time, Bick said "there was no negotiation" over Grimsley's remaining salary and that "released players get paid."
But Bick said he received a call Friday from Arizona general manager Josh Byrnes, who told him the club had decided not to pay Grimsley, signed as a free agent last winter.
"All I know is that one day we were told one thing, that they were going to release Jason and pay him, and the next day they changed their minds," Bick said in a telephone interview. "Josh called me Friday and said that after internal discussion, they had elected to pursue this route, and they're free to do that."
Likewise, Ken Kendrick, the Diamondbacks' managing general partner, said it's the union's right to fight the club's decision.
"The agent is not the guy that writes the checks. We are," he told the Arizona Republic for Saturday's editions. "We'll take a position and we believe we'll prevail."
MLB Players Association executive director Donald Fehr could not be reached for comment by the newspaper.
Grimsley, 38, has not been charged with a crime. He informed Bick that he will not pitch again in the majors, Bick told the Republic.
Kendrick, told the newspaper that the decision to withhold Grimsley's pay is "the moral thing to do."
"It isn't right to compensate him into the future when he's not playing for the team any longer and he left under the circumstances as negatively as he did," Kendrick said.
"We're following all the appropriate procedures. We've counseled with Major League Baseball. We've gone through the paperwork. ... The union may very well claim that the player's rights may have been abused, but at this point, we feel it incumbent upon us to do what is right."
Kendrick took issue with Grimsley's decision not to immediately inform team officials about the raid of his home Tuesday, and he also was put off by Grimsley's comments to his Arizona teammates that he would ask for his release so he wouldn't become a distraction.
"He didn't want to be a distraction? Well, clearly he was a distraction," Kendrick told the newspaper. "It's remained a distraction. ... Our team hasn't played the same since the day this thing happened. You can see it out there."
Arizona led the Dodgers by 2½ games in the NL West on Monday, but the Diamondbacks since have lost five in a row and find themselves tied for first with Los Angeles heading into Saturday night's game against the Mets.
Source: ESPN.com