Oooh no....
I guess Jose Canseco wasn't lying in Vindicated after all? Was this his ace in the hole?
From Selena Roberts and David Epstein:
In 2003, when he won the American League home run title and the AL Most Valuable Player award as a shortstop for the Texas Rangers, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids, four sources have independently told Sports Illustrated.
Rodriguez's name appears on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball's '03 survey testing, SI's sources say. As part of a joint agreement with the MLB Players Association, the testing was conducted to determine if it was necessary to impose mandatory random drug testing across the major leagues in 2004.
When approached by an SI reporter on Thursday at a gym in Miami, Rodriguez declined to discuss his 2003 test results. "You'll have to talk to the union," said Rodriguez, the Yankees' third baseman since his trade to New York in February 2004. When asked if there was an explanation for his positive test, he said, "I'm not saying anything."
Phone messages left by SI for players' union executive director Donald Fehr were not returned.
The list of the 104 players whose urine samples tested positive is under seal in California. However, two sources familiar with the evidence that the government has gathered in its investigation of steroid use in baseball and two other sources with knowledge of the testing results have told Sports Illustrated that Rodriguez is one of the 104 players identified as having tested positive, in his case for testosterone and an anabolic steroid known by the brand name Primobolan. All four sources spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the evidence.What a great start to '09 for Alex, huh?
Primobolan, which is also known by the chemical name methenolone, is an injected or orally administered drug that is more expensive than most steroids. (A 12-week cycle can cost $500.) It improves strength and maintains lean muscle with minimal bulk development, according to steroid experts, and has relatively few side effects. Kirk Radomski, the former New York Mets clubhouse employee who in 2007 pleaded guilty to illegal distribution of steroids to numerous major league players, described in his recent book, Bases Loaded: The Inside Story of the Steroid Era in Baseball by the Central Figure in the Mitchell Report, how players increasingly turned to drugs such as Primobolan in 2003, in part to avoid detection in testing. Primobolan is detectable for a shorter period of time than the steroid previously favored by players, Deca-Durabolin. According to a search of FDA records, Primobolan is not an approved prescription drug in the United States, nor was it in 2003. (Testosterone can be taken legally with an appropriate medical prescription.)
This is very disappointing news.
(By the way, if you're wondering about what the Yankees' knowledge of all this back then could have been, I'm watching ESPN 2 right now, and T.J. Quinn just said that "there's no way the Yankees would have known about this.")
37 Comments:
Ahhhh this is BAD, BAD, BAD. Bad for the Yankees, can you imagine road games this season, maybe even home games?
And for A-Rod too, he was already a basketcase, what's he going to do now? The Best Player of our Generation has been tainted, for the second time (Bonds).
This is the icing on the cake for this bum. His only saving grace was the fact that his performance on the field was natural. Now he doesn't even have that. There is TOO much controversy surrounding this guy even for someone that plays in NY. What are the chances there is a clause in his new contract that would release him if he tested positive for steroids? You would think they would learn after Giambino.
I guess Torre was right he is A-FRAUD.
I can't say anything right now. I'm just in total shock.:(
Okay, I got it:
What a way to ruin such a great career. He's still gonna get into the HOF, but I think this ruined his "Yankee Legacy".
This was literally the last thing the Yankees needed right now.
Unbelievably disappointing.
MLB needs its antitrust laws taken away, take there records, & tell them to shove em where the sun don't shine, the HR king is still Hank Aaron & single season is ROGER MARIS...
"the HR king is still Hank Aaron & single season is ROGER MARIS."
Damn right.
T.J. is saying on ESPN 2 that A-Rod has likely known since 2004 about the positive test.
How is he going to play?? This guy is an emotional wreck as it is!
He really is A-Fraud.
Giambi, A-Rod, Clemens, Pettitte, am I forgetting anyone else? All these Yankees involved in steroids, my goodness. At least most of it isn't linked to their championships pre-2000's.
In terms of a clause letting him out of the contract. There's no reason to think of that. He isn't in trouble, isn't going to miss any games. He just has to deal with this brand for the rest of his career.
Buster Olney spoke to Cashman, and as you would expect, he has no comment.
"HR king is still Hank Aaron"
Yeah, and I think it'll stay that way because the only players who can break the record is players who take steroids.
This fucking blows.
its a four way race for most corrupt person on earth between geithner paulson the sec and bud seleg.
mlb is a disgrace and has brought this on itself. the ONLY way to deal with steroids is immediate lifetime ban from baseball and hall of fame and 50% lifetime salary and bonus clawbacks. And if the payers union doesn't like it they can enjoy congress revoking their anti-trust exemption.
Bad news for yankees of course but this problem will plague the top roster players until mlb gets draconian. I would expect some owners like yankees redsox and dodgers will have enough clout to start intoroducing clawback provisions into contracts. If I were the yankees I would immediately suspend arod and initiate a lawsuit to null the contract and sue him for damages to the yankee brand. They must get rid of him as any championship with arod on the roster will be instantly tainted. Someone must get fiercely aggressive about this as it is completely ruining the business and it will distroy this yankee season.
Ps Joe torre is now officially off the hook - lucky dog. I bet he's having a hell of a chuckle now.
I can hear it now...ill be sitting in the bleachers in fenway this summer and all the stupid ass sox fans chanting A-ROOOID A-ROOOID A-ROOID....he is such an idiot he should have just come clean like giambi...all of those guys that tested positive...ummm SIGN MANNY NOW we need someone to hit beside tex cause we all know arod is gonna be a total mess this year
horrible....not the type of shit the yankess needed.
this certainly put s torre's book on the backburner.
Jeter was supposed to defend this? I hope all of you will get off of Jeter's back now for not compromising his integrity to go out of his way to defend Alex and make himself look like an ass.
It's amazing the timing of this story. Where did the leak come from?The union, mlb or the prosecutors office?Someone had it out for him. Alex looks like an idiot especially after publically saying he never did steriods.Really puts a damper on the 09 season.
looks like prosecutors office to me. this is in contempt of court seal on docs. prosecutor should conduct a full investigation (si got 4 sources on this - thats a lot of leaking) and should string up those who violated the court order.
im no fan of mlb covering its ass, but nobody has any business violation court orders either. the whole case is a dispute over whether the feds have any entitlement to this docs in the first place.
I looked up to A-Rod. Many people at my school look as A-rod as a hero. I'm very disappointed
unless im mistaken, there were no rules against steroids until 2005
HA HA HA!!! This is going to be fun, I'm not surprised at all that he used roids, heck if some one told me that Cy Young used it I belive it too. I wonder what the other 103 players are thinking and doing right, and I hope this was not a witch hunt on A-Rod and they put those names out.
Now its time to get Manny(if he is not one of the 103), I think A-Rod will have a bad season.
Most likely yes he'll have a bad season.
Looks like Hank should have listened to Cashman and just let him walk after the 07 season.
Now we're stuck with this clown for 9 more years.
if there was no rule until 05 then whats the big deal? let me make it easier to understand, in 2003, you were not not allowed to use steroids.
I actually think it's just as bad that all of these positive tests (Clemens, Giambi, and now Arod) happened before they were Yankees. It just shows how misguided the Yankees front office was in going after big name free agents. Because in all seriousness, what is likely to happen. Either they keep using steroids as Yankees or try to cycle off after they sign their huge deal and aren't as productive.
And yes, I think the biggest loser in America right now is Hank Steinbrenner.
Anyone else besides me wish we had signed Crede in the 07 off season, and waited for someone like Beltre after 09, now?
By the way, what's the extent of his trade-clause? Is it a full one? Ie, does he have to approve of a trade? Even though we'll have to eat up a large portion of the contract to trade him, I don't think he'll be able to play in New York for long. The booing just for his performance (lack of) in the clutch lately, has obviously gotten to him, and he takes those emotions to the field day in and day out.
AROD is such a damn distraction. I am starting to believe they will never win the WS with this guy on the team.
peter, they werent illegal in 03, he did nothing wrong shhhhh
Arod is the truth. He has always hit a high amount of homeruns ever since his rookie season. I think he will be fine. I think that at this moment 99% of people think he is going to have a bad year because of this huge distraction. But I believe he will show us what he is made of this year and help us with that illusive 27th title.
Anon,
You are right...Maybe the Post and the Daily News will just keep this one quiet. I mean, what are the chances that the headlines tomorrow are about Bode Miller blowing the World Cup downhill today...UH, something tells me that the POST will lead with the headline "A-ROID."
lol pete, i never said it wouldnt, but there was no rule against steroids genius
Danny, not that I'm saying he should defend this, but he did defend Giambi about the same exact thing.
steroids have always been banned in baseball. this is non-sense that there were no rules until 2005. there was no automatic punishment until 2002 when the players association finally broke down and was forced to accnowledge there was a problem and then the penalties were amped up in 2004 when all these people failed the 2003 random sampling.
The last real commisioner vincent wrote a memo to all ball clubs in 1991 that steroid were explicitly prohibited. In 2002 the penalty of 'treatment' was created for first time offenders. In 2004 the penalty of '10 game suspension' was instituted for first time offenders. And selig says mlb has zero tollerance for seroid use - pete rose laughs his ass off every time he hears that.
LOL you people overreact so much yeesh did you really think arod was clean I mean come on wake up everyone who is good for the last 15 years has been taking peds wake up. The only story here is how arod gets shafted again because si chose to only report on his name out of 104 positives
why cant it be jeter
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