Tex Talks About A-Rod and Steroids

I know, I know. Nobody wants to hear about this A-Rod situation anymore. Believe me, I'm sick of it too. But I was very interested to see what Teixeira had to say, so I figured I'd post it here.

Tex was at Georgia Tech today to donate $500,000 to the school's baseball program. He has donated money to his alma mater every year since being drafted, but this was the most he's ever given.

"I've been very blessed to be in the position I am now," Teixeira said, adding with a laugh, "It's no coincidence that I signed a contract and Georgia Tech is getting a nice donation now."

When asked about Alex Rodriguez he said A-Rod has "100 percent support."

“I know he’s going through a rough time right now, and I think his apology said it all,” Teixeira said. “He’s disappointed in himself, he made a mistake and we’re all going to move on … I’m just going to open up my arms, give him a big hug, tell him I love him and we’re going to get through this.”

But he wasn't surprised by the news:

“I’ve been around long enough to not really be shocked by anything,” he said. “This is a sport that’s had some troubles, there’s no doubt.

“I’m not going to judge anybody. I’ve never touched steroids or any of those kinds of things — it’s something I feel very strongly about — but at the same time I’ve made mistakes, I’m not perfect, no one’s perfect.”

Teixeira joked that his parents “would probably kill me before the media would if anything like that came out about me.”

A rookie in 2003, Teixeira said that he had no idea Rodriguez was using steroids then.

"I was really worried about staying in the big leagues," Teixeira said. "I came in as a third baseman, learned how to play first base and the outfield my rookie year, so I had no idea what was going on. I'd get lost [driving] to the stadium some days. I never saw anything, no one talked about it.

"That was supposedly the post-steroid era, we were getting tested and I was definitely not going to be messing around with that stuff when I'm getting tested. So I think if it was happening, and obviously it was, people didn't talk about it."

Everyone is saying the right things, but I have to wonder how annoyed these guys actually are. The only person who has openly showed some frustration about this so far was Derek Jeter, but with all the questions he's had to answer about A-Rod since 2004, I can't say I blame him.

Besides pledging his support for his 3rd baseman, Teixeira also seems to support having the rest of the 104 names released:

“I think Lance Berkman put it pretty straight up when he said, unless the other names come out, everybody’s going to be suspicious of the entire baseball world,” he said.