A-Rod's wife 'files for divorce'

2008-07-07 14:20

Miami - Alex Rodriguez's wife will file for divorce on Monday, according to media reports.

Cynthia Rodriguez, who married the New York Yankees star in 2002, said the marriage is over because of the All-Star third baseman's extramarital affairs, according to reports that appeared on Sunday on the websites of Houston television station KTRK and The Miami Herald.

The reports come just days after Alex Rodriguez was linked to Madonna in various media outlets and Cynthia Rodriguez's subsequent visit to the Paris home of rocker Lenny Kravitz, who said she came to France to escape the media frenzy in New York and denied that anything improper had happened.

Houston attorney Earle Lilly, who said he was hired by Cynthia Rodriguez last week to launch the divorce case, told KTRK the star's "relationship with Madonna was the final straw for Mrs Rodriguez".

Rodriguez's wife also is represented by attorneys Maurice Kutner and Anthony Sabatino of Miami and John Van Ness of Houston, the Herald reported.

"She feels that she has exhausted every opportunity to salvage the marriage, and that Alex has emotionally abandoned her and the children and has left her with no choice but to divorce him," Kutner told the newspaper.

The former Cynthia Scurtis and Rodriguez were married on November 2 2002, in Dallas. They have two children, Natasha Alexander and Ella Alexander, who was born April 21.

'No romantic involvement'

The suit is expected to be filed on Monday in Miami-Dade County Family Court. The court's website did not list any divorce filing involving Cynthia Rodriguez late on Sunday.

Lilly didn't immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press.

Alex Rodriguez has refused to comment on his relationship with Madonna, who denied any romantic involvement with the slugger in a statement posted on Sunday on people.com.

"My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce," Madonna said. "I know Alex Rodriguez through Guy Oseary, who manages both of us. I brought my kids to a Yankee game. I am not romantically involved in any way with Alex Rodriguez.

"I have nothing to do with the state of his marriage or what spiritual path he may choose to study," the statement continued, apparently referring to reports that the singer had introduced the ballplayer to the form of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah.

- AP