Saturday, February 21, 2009

Was A-Rod juicing in 2007?

A-Rod has said several times that his best years - 1996 and 2007 - were clean years. I want to believe him. But with the recent reports of his association with trainer Angel Presinal, and his recent troubles with telling the complete truth, I wouldn't be surprised by anything at this point.

From John Harper:
And now, based on his association with a trainer banned by Major League Baseball since 2002, there is some cause to suspect that A-Rod may have used performance-enhancing drugs during his 2007 MVP season with the Yankees.

And who knows what's next? If Presinal was a constant traveling companion during the 2007 season, as reported in the Daily News Friday, it practically forces to you to think the worst about A-Rod, especially given his believability issues this week.

Was he using human growth hormone, for which MLB has no test? Would he have gone to the extreme of using steroids again and somehow managed to avoid detection from drug-testing?

It's worth remembering that A-Rod was at the lowest point of his career after the 2006 season, booed unmercifully at Yankee Stadium and then publicly humiliated when Joe Torre batted him eighth in the playoffs against the Tigers.

It's also worth remembering that he was noticeably leaner in spring training of 2007, shedding bulk that seemed to bind his swing in 2006, and that Primobolan, the steroid he apparently used in 2003, promotes lean muscle.

In any case, the result was an MVP season, perhaps the best overall season of his career. And even though it raised no eyebrows at the time, in retrospect you have to wonder if he would turn to pharmaceuticals to regain an edge both mentally and physically.

Here's more from Friday's article:
Another source said Presinal accompanied A-Rod for the entire 2007 season, staying in the same hotel as the A.L. MVP, but in a separate room with the "cousin" Rodriguez pegged three days ago as his steroid source from 2001-03.

The source said Rodriguez avoided being seen in public with Presinal.

"He was around Alex in 2007," the source said of Presinal. "Every hotel they went to, he stayed in the same room with Yuri. You would never see Alex with [Presinal]. They would meet in one of their rooms."

There's a chance none of this is true, and the source made the whole thing up about 2007. Or maybe they just don't have their facts straight. Hopefully, that's the case.

But there's also a chance that this is true. If it is, and someone can prove that - and you know somebody is trying to - than this is going to be a major issue for A-Rod. Not only would it put his 2007 MVP season in question, but it would give Selig a reason to suspend him.

20 Comments:

Anonymous said...

A-Rod obviously didn't test positive for anything in 2007 or he would have been suspended for 50 games.

It's the same drug policy that is in effect now - with the inclusion of amphetamines.

I suppose it's possible that he was taking some designer drug at the time - but that would be pretty difficult to prove at this point.

Anonymous said...

playing detective gadget is not the media's strong point. there's too much innuendo and assumptions going on. it gets crazy. i'll just leave at what Arod said, 2001,2002,and 2003, until proven otherwise. if an article comes out saying he did, then i'll worry. in the meantime, these media vultures should fck off!

Anonymous said...

I hope A Roid hasn't lied.If so, it will get real ugly.

Anonymous said...

When it first was reported Feb 7 about his failed drug test in 2003 and he said that he only took PED's from 2001 2003, I didn't believe him.

I obviously can't prove it but I think Arod is a heavy steroid user. My guess is that he's done it for most of his career.

He's lied about a number of things before and he hasn't been completely honest. So it would not surprise me if he's lying about only using in 2001-2003.

Some people who are under the impression that since there's strong testing that most have stop taking roids and HGH is in now. I don't know about that. because these players are so arrogant and think they can't possibly get caught and they continue to do it anyway.

Anonymous said...

oh lord are you kidding me?

By the way. David Ortiz was actually trained by this guy as soon as he joined the Red Sox.

Anonymous said...

It's possible. He had a bad 06 when evryone was booing him. Then he hit 54 homers in 07. I just hope this is not true.

Brian Danuff said...

Honestly, I'm really starting to get worried. Bud the asshole Selig is really considering suspending A-Rod, and if he does, there goes our hopes of winning the World Series this year.

Anonymous said...

Do reporters even have to write factual articles anymore? This entire piece of garbage you linked to is speculation. Until their is confirmation of use outside the time specified this is not a story, and it is irresponsible to publish something like this. But it sells papers. Integrity be dammed!

Anonymous said...

I don't know, Cano stood up for this guy without fear. It makes me feel like he's not really as bad as the media is trying to make him out to be. While I do feel like Arod may have been on roids in 2007, this is not good enough evidence for me.

Anonymous said...

Let's not forget that the testing data was supposed to be kept secret.The records were supposed to be destroyed.It's a joke that mlb wants to interview him and that they might suspend him. It's not right that he cheated, but what about the other 103 that were on the list.

Greg Cohen said...

Anon,

I believe Ortiz cheated.

Other Anon,

the 103 names should be released.

Rob,

I think this guy is what the media says he is. We've been reading stories about him for years.

Anonymous said...

Like I said, we should of let A-Roid go and got Miguel Cabrera.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Rob. If Cano stood up and said he just trained with the guy, he's not handing out steroids to everybody. And A-Rod was tested in 2007. Would he really be stupid enough to....Well, never mind. I can't stand the whole thing.

Greg Cohen said...

I'm sure he wasn't handing them out to everyone, and I believe Cano about that. But he was banned from baseball for a reason. The guy has been linked to steroids for years.

Anonymous said...

I know the guy, I'm from DR, He can get them for you, but if you don't want them he can still train you to be good. Alot of the top Dominican players have trained with the guy. David Ortiz, Vlad, Pedro, Pujols to name a few

Anonymous said...

as long as we dont find out, does anybody really care

Greg Cohen said...

I think some people care. Personally, I would like to know the truth.

Anonymous said...

Alex batted .290 with 35 HRs and 121 RBIs in '06. His OPS was .915. That wasn't a great year, by his standards, but it was hardly a bad year, by anyone's standards.

Anonymous said...

if jeter did wat arod did in 06, people would of said its the best year of jeters career. but arod took shit from everyone.

Anonymous said...

If Jeter did what Arod did in 06', people would have said he was on steroids