A-Rod wants lawsuit back in state court

Alex Rodriguez wants his lawsuit against Major League Baseball and Commissioner Bud Selig sent back to state court, and the sport said it will move to dismiss the case.

A day after an initial conference in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the feuding sides filed paperwork Friday explaining their intended motions.

MLB said the case should be heard in federal court because of provisions of the Labor Management Relations Act, known as Taft-Hartley. Rodriguez’s lawyers said that “contradicts the positions MLB repeatedly took before the Florida state court in the lawsuit it filed against Biogenesis of America.”

Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games by MLB in August for alleged violations of the sport’s drug agreement and labor contract. The New York Yankees third baseman was allowed to keep playing until arbitrator Fredric Horowitz decides a grievance filed by the players’ union to overturn the penalty.