Court ruling could help A-Rod get reduced ban

22 order to honor an MLB subpoena and appear before the independent arbitrator who’ll determine the ban while Sitrick appeals the ruling to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ramos also vehemently rejected an MLB request to hold Sitrick in contempt of court and slap him with daily fines for wanting to appeal the order, which also requires the PR maven to turn over documents the league believes Rodriguez took from Anthony Bosch, owner of the now-shuttered Florida anti-aging clinic Biogenesis and baseball’s star witness in the appeal hearing.

MLB badly wants Sitrick’s cooperation because he could help confirm MLB’s allegation that Rodriguez obstructed the league’s investigation into Biogenesis.

The judge’s ruling is a huge blow to MLB’s case against Rodriguez because it’s unlikely that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals would rule on the matter before the independent arbitrator, Fredric Horowitz, decides on the suspension as expected in early-to-mid January.