The Miami New Times, in a long investigative piece, has details that suggest Rodriguez had close ties with Anthony Bosch, a South Florida nutritionist. The story says Rodriguez has made PED transactions as recently as during the 2012 season.Melky Cabrera, Yasmani Grandal, Barolo Colon, Nelson Cruz, and Gio Gonzalez were also linked to PED use in the report.
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Bosch has been under suspicion for a long time. Bosch allegedly gave Manny Ramirez the women's fertility drug that ultimately led to his first suspension in 2009. MLB is investigating Bosch's practices.
The New Times writes about specific times when Rodriguez allegedly made transactions with Bosch for performance-enhancing drugs. In Bosch's files, Rodriguez was listed as "Alex Rodriguez," "Alex Rod" or a nickname, "Cacique," a pre-Columbian Caribbean chief. Rodriguez's name appears 16 times in the records the New Times obtained:
Take, for instance, one patient list from Bosch's 2009 personal notebook. It charts more than 50 clients and notes whether they received their drugs by delivery or in the office, how much they paid, and what they were taking.
There, at number seven on the list, is Alex Rodriguez. He paid $3,500, Bosch notes. Below that, he writes, "1.5/1.5 HGH (sports perf.) creams test., glut., MIC, supplement, sports perf. Diet." HGH, of course, is banned in baseball, as are testosterone creams.
That's not the only damning evidence against A-Rod, though. Another document from the files, a loose sheet with a header from the 19th Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging and Aesthetic Medicine, lays out a full regimen under the name Cacique: "Test. cream ... troches prior to workout ... and GHRP ... IGF-1 ... pink cream."
IGF-1 is a banned substance in baseball that stimulates insulin production and muscle growth. Elsewhere in his notebook, Bosch spells out that his "troches," a type of drug lozenge, include 15 percent testosterone; pink cream, he writes, is a complex formula that also includes testosterone. GHRP is a substance that releases growth hormones.
There's more evidence. On a 2009 client list, near A-Rod's name, is that of Yuri Sucart, who paid Bosch $500 for a weeklong supply of HGH. Sucart is famous to anyone who has followed baseball's steroid scandal. Soon after A-Rod's admission, the slugger admitted that Sucart -- his cousin and close friend -- was the mule who provided the superstar his drugs. In 2009, the same year this notebook was written, Sucart (who lives in South Miami and didn't respond to a message left at his home) was banned from all Yankees facilities.
The mentions of Rodriguez begin in 2009 and continue all the way through last season.
As you might expect, A-Rod is saying the report isn't true and his spokesman has issued this statement:
"The news report about a purported relationship between Alex Rodriguez and Anthony Bosch are not true. Alex Rodriguez was not Mr. Bosch’s patient, he was never treated by him and he was never advised by him. The purported documents referenced in the story -- at least as they relate to Alex Rodriguez -- are not legitimate."It's hard for me to believe that he would be THAT stupid, but then again, people do stupid things. If it is true, I'd hope the Yankees could do something to void his contract because I know that we've all had enough of A-Rod's crap already. Speaking of which, an article in Forbes today get into the specifics of how something like that could be done:
The question now becomes whether the Yankee’s may have cause to void Rodriguez’s contract? Article 7 of the Major League Uniform Player’s Contract specifically states that:Hard evidence will be hard to obtain, but if true let's just hope the Miami New Times did their due diligence and published a story that is based on something tangible.
7.(b) The Club may terminate [a] contract upon written notice to the Player (but only after requesting and obtaining waivers of this contract from all other Major League Clubs) if the Player shall at any time: (1) fail, refuse or neglect to conform his personal conduct to the standards of good citizenship and good sportsmanship or to keep himself in first-class physical condition or to obey the Club’s training rules.
Article 3 of the contract also specifically states that:
3.(a) The Player agrees to perform his services hereunder diligently and faithfully, to keep himself in first-class physical condition and to obey the Club’s training rules, and pledges himself to the American public and to the Club to conform to high standards of personal conduct, fair play and good sportsmanship.
It can easily be argued that the illegal usage of performance enhancing drugs may be construed as a failure to “keep himself in first-class physical condition” as well as a blatant violation to “conform to high standards of personal conduct”. Presuming that the Yankees can prove that Rodriguez misrepresented himself for not only failing to admit his usage of PEDs with the Rangers, but than subsequently lying that he never used them again with their organization, they may be able to at the very least shift the remainder of Rodriguez’s salary to a non-guaranteed deal.
Of course, from a legal prospective, unless the MLB and Yankees can come up with hard evidence of his usage of the drugs, the MLBPA will offer significant protection to Rodriguez.