Via Mark Feinsand –

Alex Rodriguez has been rehabbing his surgically repaired hip in New York and Miami throughout spring training, but is expected to join his teammates for the April 1 opener against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

A-Rod has not started baseball activity after surgery in mid-January to repair a torn labrum and impingement in his left hip, working on a physical therapy program for the past two months.

“He’s doing everything he needs to be doing,” GM Brian Cashman said. “I’m not sure when his actual rehab-to-field-activity will take place. I don’t have that yet.”

A-Rod’s rehab will likely move to Tampa once he picks up a baseball, but Joe Girardi — who keeps in touch with A-Rod via text messaging — said he expects to see his third baseman in the Bronx on Opening Day.

“I’d like to see him,” Girardi said. “He says his rehab is going well. He feels pretty good. He’s doing more and more every week I talk to him.”

Ugh. Just what the team needs – with all the media around Opening Day, especially against the Red Sox, and A-Rod is going to turn it into a circus by finally coming out of his Biogenesis cave bunker. It should be a feeding frenzy. Of course, that’s right in the sweet spot for this narcissistic ass-clown, #13 in your Yankees program…

Via Jeff Passan -

Major League Baseball is honing in on Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun as two main targets for potential discipline as it prepares to interview players about the Biogenesis clinic that allegedly distributed performance-enhancing drugs throughout the game, sources with knowledge of the league’s investigation told Yahoo! Sports.

In addition to being the two biggest names in the Biogenesis logbooks, Rodriguez and Braun have in the past provided MLB with information about alleged PED use the league believes to be false, prompting the extra scrutiny, according to the sources. Following the admission he had used steroids from 2001-03, Rodriguez said in an interview with the league he had not since used any PEDs. Braun maintained his innocence after testing positive for synthetic testosterone during the 2011 postseason. An arbitrator overturned a suspension based on chain-of-custody issues with the urine sample.

“There’s no question in my mind they want those two guys,” one source involved told Yahoo! Sports.

In pursuing non-analytical positives, which under the league’s Joint Drug Agreement could prompt 50-game suspensions, MLB can take into account a number of factors, including evidence such as the players’ names appearing in the Biogenesis documents along with past history of cooperation.

During the nascent stages of its investigation into the Miami-area clinic, MLB has targeted three separate camps: players connected to the University of Miami, where Braun played in college; players connected to Rodriguez, who the Biogenesis documents obtained by the Miami New Times paint as a central figure; and players connected to the ACES sports agency, which has had 10 players named publicly. Investigators have spent equal amounts of time looking into the three threads, two sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The union has broached the idea of a joint investigation into Biogenesis with the league, according to sources, though one official maintains MLB plans to conduct the investigation itself. MLB expects the union to appeal any potential penalties to players associated with Biogenesis.

Any case against Rodriguez and Braun will need more evidence than provided by the logbooks to hold up against an appeal, officials have acknowledged, and while they’re hopeful the investigation will provide it, they’re uncertain whether it will come directly from players.

Multiple sources said the league has discussed offers of immunity to major league players, though none has been officially offered. The league and union continue to negotiate over the conditions. MLB would like information beyond players admitting they used PEDs. The union, according to sources, plans to keep players from pointing fingers at one another. Immunity deals would target only players whose connection with Biogenesis could prompt a suspension under the league’s drug plan.

Through the interviews, which sources expect to begin after spring training ends, the league plans to at very least seek information on Biogenesis and its founder, Anthony Bosch, to form a fuller picture of the scope of his alleged PED distribution.

…Rodriguez and Braun have in the past provided MLB with information about alleged PED use the league believes to be false, prompting the extra scrutiny, according to the sources…

It’s Blade 101: If you press their familiars, eventually, you’ll get the vampires that you are hunting.

Baseball is smart to do the same in this case.

Via Bob Nightengale –

Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers’ All-Star outfielder, knows they are out there.

Everywhere he turns, everywhere he looks, they are there.

They are talking to his friends. They are talking to his peers. They are talking to his associates. They are scouring through paperwork. They keep digging.

They are the Major League Baseball investigators.

And Braun, five times an All-Star, the 2011 National League MVP and the only man known to successfully appeal an MLB-administered drug test, is their highest-profile target.

There are at least 90 baseball players, including Braun, whose names appear in the infamous Biogenesis Clinic records, according to one baseball official with direct knowledge of the investigation. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the matter because of privacy issues.

The Major League Baseball Players Association has contacted all of the players or the agents of players whose names surfaced in the records, but no major league player has been interrogated by MLB officials.

That will be coming, probably within the next two weeks, the official told USA TODAY Sports, although no firm deadline is set.

These players will have no choice but to talk to MLB officials. If they don’t cooperate, MLB can suspend them, according to the bylaws of the collective bargaining agreement.

In some cases, according to two officials who spoke to USA TODAY Sports but were unauthorized to speak publicly, some players will be granted immunity even if they admit guilt to the use of performance-enhancing drugs. They would have to fully disclose their arrangement with Tony Bosch, former director of the now-shuttered Biogenesis clinic, including any possible involvement by their agents or knowledge of other players who received performance-enhancing drugs from him.

That might be MLB’s only vehicle to get their evidence. It doesn’t have the Biogenesis records. The Miami New Times, which published the original report detailing the Biogenesis link to professional athletes, declined to turn over its records.

Who does possess Bosch’s original paperwork? MLB officials only know it’s not anyone in their office.

The cold-hearted fact everyone knows is that, without concrete evidence, no major league player or agent — 10 clients of the New York-based ACES agency already are linked to Biogenesis — can possibly be disciplined.

Baseball would love to have the federal government involved, but so far it has shown no interest. And without the feds, there is no subpoena power. No grand juries. And no reason for anyone to testify.

Yet in case you think MLB officials will just throw their hands up in exasperation, the league reminded everyone of its power last weekend, suspending Detroit Tigers minor league pitcher Cesar Carrillo for 100 games. Carrillo never tested positive, but his name surfaced in Biogenesis documents.

MLB called him in and told him that if he told the truth, punishment might be minimized. Carrillo talked, MLB didn’t believe him, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the testimony, and whacked him. He received 50 games for appearing in the Biogenesis records and 50 games for being uncooperative.

The players union could only watch, knowing that since Carrillo was not on a 40-man roster it was powerless to help him.

There might be plenty of minor leaguers to go down before this is over, maybe a few major league players, too, but there are really two players who captivate MLB’s interest.

New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and Braun. And Braun happens to be MLB’s Public Enemy No.1.

His successful appeal of a positive testosterone test led to major revisions in baseball’s sample collection process last year.

Baseball officials, from the top executives in New York to their field investigators, refuse to let it go.

They want Braun — badly. They have been relentless in their pursuit, trying to make life as miserable as possible for him.

…If they don’t cooperate, MLB can suspend them, according to the bylaws of the collective bargaining agreement…

This could be interesting.

Via the Daily News –

Alex Rodriguez, already embroiled in baseball’s latest doping scandal, may face a legal fastball from the relative he says persuaded him to use steroids.

Yuri Sucart, the cousin and longtime go-fer who the Yankee superstar claimed provided him with performance-enhancing drugs, has consulted with his Miami attorney about filing a lawsuit against Rodriguez.

“I know there’s a lot of friction. I know that (Sucart’s) name got caught in the crossfire of all the allegations involving all the performance-enhancing drugs,” attorney John Ruiz, who declined to discuss the basis for the lawsuit, told the Daily News. “I’ve been consulted about it. But obviously because there’s an attorney/client relationship, I can’t really divulge details.”

The possibility that A-Rod and Cousin Yuri might square off in court was first reported by TheMLBNation.com, a baseball web site. The site reported that Sucart will seek $5 million in damages and that Rodriguez has turned down a settlement proposal.

A spokesman for Rodriguez declined comment.

Ruiz told The News on Monday that Sucart has proprietary information about Rodriguez. “I know he was working for (A-Rod) for quite some time,” Ruiz said. “There is information that he has — I guess, only he knows. The public doesn’t know. I’m not at liberty to discuss it as of this point in time.”

The names of Rodriguez and Sucart have surfaced in the recent Major League Baseball and DEA investigation into whether the Yankees third baseman and his cousin obtained performance-enhancing drugs from a Coral Gables anti-aging clinic operated by Anthony Bosch.

Ruiz said Sucart has not consulted him about the Bosch matter. Several players, including A-Rod, Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon and Ryan Braun, have been linked to Bosch and his clinic, Biogenesis.

Sports Illustrated reported in February 2009 that Rodriguez had tested positive for anabolic steroids during the 2003 season, when MLB and its Players Association conducted survey testing to determine the extent of banned drug use in the sport. When Rodriguez finally met with reporters at the Yankees’ Tampa spring training facility, he dragged his “cousin Yuri” into the controversy.

Rodriguez claimed Sucart encouraged him to take banned drugs and helped administer them. After Rodriguez pinned part of the responsibility for his steroid use on Sucart, an anonymous go-fer who had spent the previous 15 years picking up dry cleaning, making dinner reservations and chauffeuring his cousin, the Yankees banned Sucart from the team’s chartered flights, buses and facilities.

MLB launched an investigation after The News reported in 2011 that Sucart had been spotted at the Yankees’ team hotel in San Francisco and had accompanied Rodriguez during road trips in 2010 and 2011. MLB officials reiterated that Sucart was not welcome at Yankee facilities, including non-public areas, clubhouses, team charters and buses.

Sucart signaled his unhappiness with his cousin last year, when he sold a replica of the 2009 World Series ring Rodriguez had given him as a member of the Yankees’ last championship team to a South Florida collector for an undisclosed price. A spokesman for A-Rod said the third baseman purchased several copies of the ring and distributed them to friends and relatives.

The collector consigned the ring to Goldin Auctions, which placed it in its current sale. Bidding on the ring has topped $33,000; the bidding ends on April 5.

Ruiz has represented Sucart in the past, during foreclosure proceedings on Miami property that Sucart was involved with four years ago. Ruiz said that he is still Sucart’s attorney, and that any legal action would center around “internal disputes” between Sucart and Rodriguez. Ruiz added that it would not be a defamation suit.

“I’m not sure that I would represent (Sucart) if that’s the course of action he would take. That’s where we are.”

Ruiz said “a lot of friction” still exists between the two men.

Howie Spira, Brian McNamee…it always happens.

Kate wants to know.

I suspect that he’s up to his eyeballs in spa visits and lawyer consultations. And, between that and carrying Torrie Wilson’s bags around town, well, he’s just too busy to say hello.

Via the Daily News -

While all eyes have been on Anthony Bosch’s Biogenesis anti-aging clinic in South Florida, Major League Baseball investigators have quietly revisited the scene of another performance-enhancing drug scandal: Buffalo.

Sources familiar with MLB’s investigation into Bosch and his ties to two dozen or more players say investigators are looking at testimony provided to federal authorities by Alex Rodriguez and others in regard to the prosecution of Toronto physician Anthony Galea.

“We’ve been in Buffalo and we continue to be in Buffalo,” an MLB official told the Daily News.

Galea pleaded guilty in December of 2011 to bringing unapproved drugs, including human growth hormone and Actovegin, into the United States and served a year of supervised release. He had been indicted in October of 2010 by a federal grand jury in Buffalo on five charges that alleged he distributed performance-enhancing drugs — including HGH — to professional athletes in the United States. Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado and Tiger Woods were among his clients.

According to court papers, Galea’s assistant Mary Anne Catalano told investigators she witnessed Galea inject athletes with a mixture of substances. Catalano was arrested in 2009 after her car was stopped at the Peace Bridge border crossing in Buffalo, and authorities found human growth hormone and other drugs in her Nissan. Catalano told investigators that Galea had entered the United States on numerous occasions between July of 2007 and September of 2009 to treat 23 MLB and NFL athletes in New York, Tampa and other cities.

The New York Times reported in 2010 that Galea had injected Rodriguez with a cocktail of drugs on at least one occasion, although its ingredients were not known.

During the investigation into Galea, MLB interviewed Rodriguez, who told investigators he had not received performance-enhancing drugs from Galea. If baseball finds that Rodriguez testified differently to a grand jury or other federal investigators, it can move toward disciplining the embattled Yankee third baseman. Investigators are interested in what Galea testified to, as well, as he was negotiating his plea agreement. There are three sealed documents in the case file.

MLB hopes to gain cooperation from federal agents who might be able to help them in their investigation of the burgeoning Bosch scandal. The Daily News first reported on Jan. 26 that Bosch was under investigation by MLB and the Drug Enforcement Administration for providing illegal drugs to at least 20 baseball players and to others through his Miami clinic, and that Rodriguez was an associate of Bosch’s.

…If baseball finds that Rodriguez testified differently to a grand jury or other federal investigators, it can move toward disciplining the embattled Yankee third baseman…

It looks like MLB, perhaps with the Yankees urging them, really wants to nail A-Rod anyway they can and burn him at the stake.

Yes, he’s an outsider. Via Joel Sherman -

Alex Rodriguez has been called many bad words, particularly in the aftermath of the latest accusations involving use of illegal performance enhancers.

Cheater. Fraud. Scourge. And more.

But one of the worst labels yet was affixed in deed, not words, yesterday by the Yankees:

Kevin Brown.

As an injured player, A-Rod could have reported yesterday with pitchers and catchers. He could report next week with position players. He could do some of his rehab under the auspices of the team doctors and trainers at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Instead, Joe Girardi announced Rodriguez would do his rehab in New York, and the initial signs are he will not spend a single day at this seven-week camp.

Both Rodriguez and the Yankees had agreed even before the latest PED furor out of Miami that he was best served doing rehab for his second hip surgery in New York under the care of his surgeon, Bryan Kelly, much as was done following the first hip surgery in 2009, when Rodriguez recovered under the care of surgeon Marc Phillipon in Vail, Colo.

But even one Yankees official agreed it was a beneficial “byproduct” to keep A-Rod away from this camp to avoid the circus and negativity that would swarm around him. It speaks to the growing tension that flows both ways in the Rodriguez-Yankees dynamic that the player prefers not to be here and the Yankees are hardly upset by his absence.

It is reminiscent of 2005 when the dour Brown went on the disabled list with a back problem in late July. Manager Joe Torre essentially implored the front office to remove Brown’s malignant personality from the premises. Brown didn’t want to stay where he felt like an outsider anyway. So the Yankees sent him home for good under the cover that Brown was receiving attention from his “personal doctors.”

Brown was at the end of his contract and career. Rodriguez still has five years left on the most expensive contract in history, and his spokesman, Terry Fahn, told me yesterday, “Alex continues to work diligently on his rehab,” which points to an attempt to try to play again.

However, A-Rod is currently just across the state in Miami working with Kelly’s rehab partner, Pete Draovitch. He is not due to go to New York to intensify workouts under Kelly until late this month or early March.

If the relationship were good between Rodriguez and the team, I strongly believe A-Rod would stop by just to be around the players, coaches and atmosphere. Whatever you think of Rodriguez, he loves the game and the camaraderie of the clubhouse.

But both sides have agreed it is best for Rodriguez to stay segregated from Yankees life. Thus, when it comes to the Yankees, A-Rod is experiencing a Brown-out.

A non-all-inclusive summary from Pete Caldera yesterday.

(more…)

Via the AP –

Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said that he’s concerned about the latest drug allegations swirling around third baseman Alex Rodriguez, but that the matter is being looked at by Major League Baseball.

The Miami New Times reported late last month that the three-time American League MVP bought human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing substances in recent years from Biogenesis of America LLC, a now-closed clinic in Coral Cables, near Rodriguez’s offseason home.

Speaking on Friday at the Yankees’ minor-league complex, Steinbrenner said that the situation is “a concern, but it’s out of our hands.”

“We will cooperate with MLB in any way we can, any way we’re asked to,” he said. “But other than that, there’s not much to say. I don’t know any more than you do.”

Rodriguez has denied the allegations. He admitted four years ago that he used PEDs from 2001-03.

The Yankees signed one-time Boston Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis to fill in for Rodriguez, who is sidelined for at least the first half of the season after undergoing hip surgery on Jan. 16. General manager Brian Cashman told WFAN last month that there’s a chance A-Rod could miss the entire season.

“I’ve always liked Kevin,” Steinbrenner said. “He always seemed like a good leader, a hard worker and a very enthusiastic — loves the game — kind of guy. And that’s the kind of guy we want.”

Steinbrenner addressed a number of other topics, including the contract status of second baseman Robinson Cano, a potential free agent after the upcoming season.

“There’s been a conversation or two,” Steinbrenner said. “We’ll get into that, and we’ll talk about that at a later date. But he’s obviously been a great Yankee, and (I) hope he’s here his entire career.”

Steinbrenner feels that the Yankees have a “championship-caliber team” this season. He acknowledged that the club is sometimes criticized for fielding an older roster, but he likes its experience, “assuming we can stay away from injuries.”

“We’ve got a lot of good veterans on the team, and we’ve got some good young players as well,” Steinbrenner said. “That’s always the mix that I want to shoot for. I like our team, but where we end up in October (is) anybody’s guess.”

The Yankees are still looking to reduce the 2014 payroll to the $189 million luxury tax threshold.

“All I can assure the fans is, we’re always going to field a championship-caliber team every single year,” Steinbrenner said. “Is that our goal next year? Yes, to be at that number, that’s our goal. But as I’ve said from the beginning, it depends on some of our young players stepping up and getting the job done. That has to happen, or it’s going to be difficult.”

The Yankees re-signed a number of their own free agents, including pitchers Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Hiroki Kuroda, but were less active than in many previous years for outside free agents.

“I think we have some good signings, and I think we did our fair share in the offseason,” Steinbrenner said. “(We have a) similar payroll to last year. (It) shows we want to win.”

…Is that our goal next year? Yes, to be at that number, that’s our goal. But as I’ve said from the beginning, it depends on some of our young players stepping up and getting the job done. That has to happen, or it’s going to be difficult…

And, if the young players are not there to step up, will anyone be held accountable for it?

Remember when talking about “defense” and “hit” meant play on the baseball field? Via the Daily News -

Alex Rodriguez’s claim that the documents purportedly belonging to Anthony Bosch and his now-shuttered Biogenesis clinic are “not legitimate” took a major hit from teammate Francisco Cervelli and Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun.

The alleged records of Bosch — most of which were published in the Miami New Times Jan. 29 — link several major leaguers to performance-enhancing drug use, including A-Rod. But a Yahoo! report Tuesday included an alleged document from Biogenesis that listed Braun’s and Cervelli’s names. Both Braun and Cervelli acknowledged they had dealings with Bosch, although they denied getting PEDs from him.

Cervelli’s admission via Twitter that he consulted with Biogenesis along with Braun’s confirmation in a statement that his name had indeed appeared on Bosch’s client list would appear to undermine Rodriguez’s claim that the documents are “not legitimate.” That is how a PR firm representing the Yankee third baseman characterized the Miami New Times report.

“Cervelli’s statement and Braun’s would indicate these notes were not just made up,” said one source familiar with MLB’s investigation into Bosch. “They are basically saying, ‘Yeah, we did deal with him.’”

Via Tom Verducci today -

The notebooks reported to belong to Florida wellness clinician Tony Bosch connect New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez to a staggering array of drugs and supplements to be used literally morning, noon and night and through multiple delivery systems, including lozenges, creams and injections. Those notes, parts of which the Miami New Times have published online, provide the road map Major League Baseball investigators have begun to follow.

A contingent of MLB officials met in Miami on Monday with New Times staff members to learn more about the notebooks, how they were acquired, the names of other players not named in the report and the possibility of the New Times turning over those documents.

Investigators also intend to follow Bosch’s notes to see if they lead to corroborating evidence, such as receipts for plane trips and overnight packages, according to a source close to the investigation. The source said investigators also are tracking packages tied to Juan Nunez, a player confidante who formerly worked for agents Sam and Seth Levinson and who was a co-conspirator with Melky Cabrera of a web site scam staged after a failed drug test by Cabrera last year.

New Times editor Chuck Strouse confirmed MLB officials asked for the notebooks and logs but that the publication had not yet decided about how to respond to the request. “We are deliberating,” he said.

Strouse said the publication has received only one response from legal representatives of any of the named persons in the report — and that was what he termed an “aggressive letter” questioning whether the report violated federal HIPAA laws, which are designed to protect patient privacy under care of health care providers.

The notebooks contain a trove of information from 2009-12, especially about Rodriguez and a suggested volume of doping almost unheard of in baseball. The documents released by the New Times connect Rodriguez to at least 19 drugs and supplements, including the banned substances testosterone, HGH and IGF-1, and define one doping regimen that includes as many 19 injections: four subcutaneous injections of IGF-1, nine shots of CJC (a growth hormone releasing hormone) and GHRP (growth hormone releasing peptide), and six shots of HGH at 2.5 international units.

Rodriguez, through a statement, has denied being treated by Bosch and characterized the documents as “not legitimate.” Bosch has issued a statement denying an association with the named players.

If baseball is smart, they won’t let this drag out. Better to get it done, and over, as fast as possible. And, then, let the play on the field be the stories that you read about – as far as baseball is concerned.

Via the Daily News -

Alex Rodriguez is taking his wildest swing yet in his fight against steroid allegations: The Yankees and MLB are conspiring to push him out of the game.

Sources say the embattled Yankee star is “scared” that bigger forces are at work to try to discredit him and sink his career. Holed up in Miami, Rodriguez has been huddling with an army of lawyers and PR people as the performance-enhancing drug scandal enveloping him intensifies.

“He’s scared, because he thinks this is so unbelievably false, and he’s wondering who could be behind this,” said a source, referring to last week’s Miami New Times report linking A-Rod to an alleged Miami-area performance-enhancing drug scandal. “He thinks something could be going on larger than anyone might think.”

The source added that Rodriguez is wondering if the Yankees or even Major League Baseball are behind the latest controversy.

A-Rod’s concerns intensified as agents from MLB’s Department of Investigations met in Miami Monday with editors of Miami New Times, a weekly newspaper that posted hand-written records and files last Tuesday linking Rodriguez and several other players to Anthony Bosch, a self-described “biochemist” who is being investigated by baseball and federal authorities for possibly providing performance-enhancing drugs to the players.

I don’t think that it’s beyond reasonability that, perhaps, the Yankees always used a blind eye when looking at A-Rod’s choice of personal doctors and/or trainers when he was playing well. And, now, that his remaining $114 million due looks like burning money, the Yankees are no longer willing to bury their heads in sand. But, that’s the way the world works, Alex. And, if you can’t figure that out, then, you really are pretty stupid.

Via CBS -

On the heels of an eye-opening report from the Miami New Times that alleged Alex Rodriguez and other baseball stars were still using performance-enhancing drugs; ESPN now claims the operator of the clinic the New Times highlighted personally injected A-Rod with PEDs.

According to ESPN’s Outside the Lines, Anthony Bosch, who operated the Biogenesis clinic in Coral Gables, would get a text message late at night telling him to come to A-Rod’s house on Biscayne Bay. Once inside, he would inject performance-enhancing drugs into A-Rod.

“Only Tony handled A-Rod,” a source told ESPN.

Outside the Lines reported that other athletes “relied on intermediaries to transport the performance-enhancing drug regimens Bosch provided.”

According to ESPN’s report, Bosch would visit A-Rod every few weeks, but said he’d been kicked out “after he had trouble locating a vein and infuriated the player.” ESPN said HGH and testosterone do not require veins, “but whatever he was doing, ‘Tony said A-Rod was pissed at him,’ a source said. ‘He said he was bleeding everywhere.’”

ESPN reported multiple sources have reviewed the documents that detailed the drug regiments and schedules A-Rod received from Bosch.

A-Rod has repeatedly denied the allegations since the New Times published its report on Monday. Rodriguez has in the past admitted to steroid use, but said he stopped almost a decade ago.

Ball’s in your court Bud…

Via ESPN –

A message to the New York Yankees and their fans from Alex Rodriguez: I’m not going anywhere.

“Alex has no plans at all to retire,” one source with close, personal ties to the embattled third baseman told ESPNNewYork.com on Thursday.

Another source, authorized by Rodriguez to speak on his behalf, passed this along: “Alex says he’s working diligently on his rehabilitation and is looking forward to getting back on the field as soon as possible.”

Although neither of those statements mention Rodriguez returning to the Yankees, with whom he has been at odds since last October’s playoffs, he is under contract with the team through 2017 and is owed $114 million, plus a possible $30 million more in incentive bonuses based on reaching career home run milestones.

Since the disclosure this week of the presence of Rodriguez’s name in the records of Anthony Bosch, a “nutritionist” whose Miami-area anti-aging clinic is suspected of supplying human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes, speculation has run rampant that perhaps Rodriguez never would play another game for the Yankees.

One report even went so far as to suggest that Rodriguez might retire from baseball, leaving behind the remaining money on his contract. But the word coming out of Miami, where Rodriguez has been rehabbing since undergoing hip surgery earlier this month, tells a different story.

Both sources paint a picture of a player who, although stung by what he believes is a campaign by the Yankees to rid themselves of his onerous contract, is working hard to return to action sometime after the All-Star break.

When informed of Rodriguez’s comments, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who had avoided commenting publicly on Rodriguez’s latest incident, responded with one word: “Good.”

It will be very interesting to see the fans reaction the next time Alex steps up to bat at Yankee Stadium.

Great stuff from Selena Roberts here. It’s a quick but must read.

Via the Daily News -

Alex Rodriguez is unlikely to ever wear the pinstripes again, sources familiar with the Yankees’ situation with their troubled third baseman told the Daily News, no matter what happens regarding new allegations that he is again involved with performance-enhancing drugs.

According to numerous baseball sources, the hip surgery Rodriguez is now recovering from will likely derail his playing career, leaving him in such a diminished role that he may consider a settlement or an outright retirement. He still has five years and $114 million left on his contract.

“I don’t know why he would want to go through the pain of rehabbing and trying to play up to the caliber of player he was, and come back to a game where nobody wants him,” said a baseball official.

“If he did that, he’d be a part-time player and presumably unable to achieve any of the incentive clauses in the contract or even the milestones.”

This could be a way to force A-Rod’s hand – and one that is totally legal, etc. The Yankees can simply tell him “Do what you need to do, yadda-yadda. But, when you come back, we’re not playing you. If we are forced to active you, you will set the bench the entire time you are with the team. We will only use you in mop-up duty. And, if you refuse to go play in the field when you are called upon, we will void your contract for your refusal to play.”

Sure, it would be a media mess and a distraction to the team. But, the long term gain from the short term pain may just be worth it.

Good stuff today from Richard Justice -

Some of us thought A-Rod would change when he joined the Yankees. For the first time, he would not be bigger than the franchise. He’d be surrounded by players even more famous and part of a franchise that won before he arrived and would win once he departed.

The Yankees changed Roger Clemens, and not in a small way. He’d probably reject such a notion, but Clemens became a different guy with the Yankees. He was no longer the main player. Instead, he was part of something larger, and he understood it and absolutely loved it.

The Rocket misbehaved some early in his career, seemed to do things to draw attention to himself. Once he walked into the clubhouse doors at Yankee Stadium, he saw that it was no longer about him. It was about winning. It was about carrying himself a certain way.

He saw how Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte and Joe Torre conducted themselves. He saw there was no drama in the clubhouse. He saw that only one thing mattered. As a result, The Rocket had a great six seasons with the Bombers. He was a beloved and respected teammate. He did charity work, befriended cops and soldiers and competed like hell on the field.

He may not enter the Hall of Fame as a Yankee, but I’m guessing that in his heart and his soul he’s a Yankee.

For whatever reason, A-Rod never seemed to find that same comfort level with being a Yankee. He was constantly making missteps or doing things that called attention—many times negative attention—to himself. Some people may have disliked him intensely, but there seemed to be more who just never understood him.

He had a wonderful career arc written for him long ago. He was the kid who showed up at Miami Stadium and befriended Cal Ripken Jr. during Spring Training one year. He wanted to be like Ripken, who tried to do everything right, signing every autograph, preparing and performing in a way that would influence others in a way more powerful than words.

All great players have special needs, and so it has been with A-Rod. If this is the end of his career or the beginning of the end of his career, he’ll go out with people remembering all the wrong things about him, not that he was an incredibly gifted player, but that the attention too often wasn’t on his playing.

Whatever happens with A-Rod, I will say this: After his playing days are over, he’ll be done with baseball. They will never let him be part of team ownership or a front office. And, even if he was willing to manage or coach, which I doubt, no one will touch him.

Hopefully, he will go into retirement and never been seen again. Then again, if he ended up like O.J. Simpson someday, that would not shock me either…

From Bob Klapisch today -

Say goodbye to Alex Rodriguez and whatever good memories you have of this disgraced slugger, assuming there are any left to conjure. A-Rod has been linked (again) to performance-enhancing drugs, as recently as last season, putting the finishing touches on his now-utterly trashed legacy — baseball’s all-time fraud.

This is our hunch about Rodriguez’s career: It’s over, and not just because of the severity of his recent hip surgery. Rodriguez knows his reputation has been shredded — no one believes his denials, especially the Bombers. Their lawyers are already crawling all over the language of Rodriguez’s contract, looking for ways to void that absurd $275 million investment, of which he’s still owed $114 million.

That would be reason enough to send A-Rod into hiding, but there’s an even more compelling reason to write him off now. It’s the psychological dependency on PEDs — he’s been hooked all along and was too weak to ever stop. Rodriguez may look like a bruiser, but don’t be fooled. He’s nothing without his syringes and pills and creams. He can’t compete without them.

There’s no way out — the relationship with the Yankees and their fans is too toxic. Rodriguez was reportedly dumb enough to keep breaking the rules, but he’s savvy enough to know he’s used up the last of his equity. Just wait and see, A-Rod will find a doctor to say he’s medically unable to keep playing, like Albert Belle, whose own career ended in 2000 because of hip problems. This convenient detour will allow A-Rod to pocket the rest of his money and give the Yankees 85 percent reimbursement from their insurers.

Dishonest or not, it would be the ultimate face-saver, and don’t think for a minute Yankee elders aren’t praying for this very road map. They’ve cursed themselves a hundred times over for that crazy contract, the one general manager Brian Cashman tried to block. Now, finally, there’s a way out.

Will ownership try to void the deal in the meantime? They’re already dreaming about it. But the process will be long and meticulous; it’s the commissioner’s office, not the Yankees, who’ll be investigating. The feds are involved, too, according to one person familiar with the day’s developments. The Drug Enforcement Agency is sniffing around Biogenesis of America, the Coral Gables, Fla., anti-aging clinic that, according to the Miami New Times, was more like a drug factory for athletes — an East Coast BALCO. A-Rod was listed among its clientele. The government will eventually learn if the published claims are verifiable, whether A-Rod was trafficking in controlled or illegal substances.

That would mean an immediate 50-game suspension per MLB’s drug policy, which could be actionable by the Yankees. So could proof that Rodriguez was being treated by a non-team physician without management’s knowledge or consent. That would be a loophole the Steinbrenner family would gladly blast right open.

Has there ever been a player with a baseball resume like Alex Rodriguez who was run out of the game as an active player by shame? Maybe Joe Jackson…but, he didn’t quit out of shame…the commish banned him.

Via Tom Verducci -

Under section 7.G.2 of the Joint Drug Agreement, the commissioner can rule for disciplinary action against a player for “just cause” in the cases of violations not specifically referenced in the JDA. Prescriptions and records of PED use and purchase fall under the “just cause” umbrella.

In 2009, for instance, Manny Ramirez entered an appeal of a test that showed an elevated level of testosterone. When an investigation of that appeal turned up a prescription from a doctor for a banned substance, Ramirez dropped his appeal and accepted the 50-game suspension. Ramirez was not banned because of the test, which technically was not entered as a positive, but because of the records of his prescription for hCG, a female fertility drug often used to kickstart testosterone production after steroid cycles.

Ramirez’s doctor? Pedro Bosch, the father of Anthony Bosch.

It was that same year, 2009, that Rodriguez was using Anthony Bosch’s cocktails of PEDS, according to the Miami New Times. Rodriguez, who turned 34 that year, returned surprisingly fast from hip surgery to bat .286 with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs while helping to the lead the Yankees to the world championship. A notoriously poor postseason player for the Yankees, Rodriguez batted .365 that postseason. Rodriguez also had been treated post-surgery by Anthony Galea, a Canadian doctor who pleaded guilty in 2011 to bringing unapproved drugs, including HGH, into the U.S. to treat athletes.

The Bosch notebooks contain information about Rodriguez’s doping regimen from 2009 through 2012, including the drugs, payments and schedules. The banned substances include HGH, IGF-1, and creams and “troches,” a type of drug lozenge, that contain testosterone.

The notebooks refer to Rodriguez by name and also by the code name “Cacique,” a term originally referring to Caribbean tribal chiefs but has come to be used to describe local political or street bosses with excessive power — a corrupt leader.

The union and MLB moved quickly toward the adoption of such tougher protocols as more major league and minor league players were getting caught for using synthetic testosterone. The investigations into the South Florida clinics ran on parallel tracks to those concerns.

Likewise, the strange events surrounding Rodriguez’s second hip surgery will bring about questions about his involvement with Biogenesis. Rodriguez had no problems with his left hip before a complaint about his right hip, the one surgically repaired in 2009, eventually led to the diagnosis that he would need surgery on his left hip. That surgery was postponed for nearly two months for “pre-habilitation” in order to better prepare the area for the rigors of recuperation. Rodriguez was expected to miss half the season, though Yankees general manager Brian Cashman did not rule out the possibility of Rodriguez missing the entire season.

Indeed, Rodriguez’s career never has been in more doubt than it is today. His health and reputation are in tatters. He turns 38 in July. The incentives the Yankees included in his contract for “milestone” home runs now stand as even more awkward reminders that his achievements are fraudulent.

What will become of him? The Yankees would wish he never puts on their uniform again, writing him and his contract off to the insurance companies or, if they have the stomach for it, to try to invalidate the agreement because of his use of PEDs, the way they once threatened to do with Jason Giambi. Rodriguez must give a full accounting of himself and this report to Selig and, quickly, to baseball fans. You can see Oprah, Katie Couric and Dr. Phil already lined up at his doorstep for the next sports confessional.

In any case, the news is worse for Rodriguez than it is for anybody else in the report, if only because of his stature and that 2009 confessional production under the tent in the Yankees’ spring training complex. Until now, Rodriguez was careful to shield the Yankees from his taint, telling the story about how he stopped using PEDs before he became a Yankee — as if it made perfect sense that he used for a last-place Texas team but suddenly would have no more use for performance enhancers upon being put on the New York stage. The story seemed to fly for many people. But now, with this story, the franchise and its 2009 championship are smeared by Rodriguez’s connection to PEDs.

Now Rodriguez must bring to bear all of his advisers and Hollywood image makers for some kind of severe recovery strategy — even bigger than the last. No matter the damage control Rodriguez brings, it is a terribly sad story. It is sad because the scouts who watched him play in high school will tell you they never saw a better, more complete player at that age. He needed no help. And now he stands as someone defined by his help, not by his talent. What is there left of him that is believable? Only this: the Cacique has fallen.

What pisses me off, the most, about all this today? I had to explain it to my son this morning. I didn’t want him to go into school and hear it from someone else. He’s in the 3rd grade and not yet 9-years old. He’s a Yankees fan and I could tell that he was sad to hear about this news. Don’t get me wrong, he’ll get over it quickly. And, it may not even be lunchroom and/or recess time conversation in his school today. But, I did not want him to be hit with it from a schoolmate. And, I wanted to make sure that it was delivered in the proper way to him. So, I updated him on the situation this morning.

I’m sure I am not the only father of a young child who is a major baseball fan in this spot today. And, I am also sure that just about everyone who has a hand in stuff like this doesn’t really care about fathers who have to explain this to their young kids.

Great times, eh?

Source.

The story is here.

I guess anything is possible. Brian Cashman got Louise Meanwell locked up, after all.

Here is the 2012-2016 MLB/MLBPA Basic Agreement.

Is there anything in there to help baseball and/or the Yankees deal with this latest A-Rod situation.

How do you say Tic Tac’s in Spanish?

Via the Miami New Times -

This week, New Times takes you inside Biogenesis, an anti-aging clinic in Coral Gables run by Miami entrepreneur Anthony Bosch. His name is familiar to sports fans because he and his father, Dr. Pedro Bosch, were probed by authorities in 2009 when Manny Ramirez was suspended for violating baseball’s drug rules.

An extraordinary cache of Bosch’s records suggests that Bosch has been supplying performance-enhancing drugs to some of the biggest names in sports, including Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez. Click through for a full look at all of A-Rod’s appearances in Bosch’s files.

First, a word about the records. New Times reviewed a wide range of Biogenesis files, from a neatly kept spreadsheet of patients dated June 2012 to folders of loose documents. There are also daily logs of visitors and, most important, Tony Bosch’s personal notebooks from 2009 through 2012.

In all, we reviewed 256 pages of handwritten notes from Bosch, a half-dozen full patient files, and more than 100 pages of other business documents from Biogenesis.

How did we authenticate the records? New Times called dozens of numbers from client lists and Bosch’s personal notebooks. Virtually everyone we spoke with acknowledged their involvement with the clinic or politely declined to comment. There wasn’t a single denial. We also spoke to six clients who confirmed that their information — as recorded in the records — was accurate. Two former Biogenesis employees described intimate details of the clinic and its business.

Bosch’s personal notebooks also check out in every other respect. Scrawled numbers to diagnostic clinics reach diagnostic clinics. Details about Bosch’s family life, business plans, and debts match public records.

Alex Rodriguez appears 16 times in the documents we reviewed. His name is recorded as “Alex Rod” or “Alex R.” or by his nickname at the clinic, “Cacique.” This is particularly interesting because on ESPN, he acknowledged using PEDs but said he stopped in 2003.

It’s also important to note that Rodriguez’s cousin, Miami resident Yuri Sucart, frequently appears in the same records on the same days as Rodriguez. Sucart has been identified in the past as Rodriguez’s source for performance-enhancing drugs.

Now, to the records. We have redacted names that don’t appear multiple times in the records or who couldn’t be confirmed outside the records in some way. Also left out are regular clients whose names we did not believe to be newsworthy. More records will be posted on Riptide over the next few days.

First, Biogenesis’s client list as of June 2012 includes a number of ballplayers, as well as their nicknames used by Bosch in his personal notebooks. A-Rod was “Cacique”:

Here’s what the Yankees and A-Rod have to say about this news.

Via the Daily News -

The Drug Enforcement Administration and Major League Baseball are investigating a Miami-area man named Anthony Bosch — who has worked closely with Alex Rodriguez — for Bosch’s possible links to performance-enhancing drugs, sources have told the Daily News. The sources asked not to be identified because of the ongoing probe.

Bosch, a well-known figure among current and former Latin ballplayers in South Florida, has advised the embattled Yankee superstar on nutrition, dietary supplements and training, a source familiar with Miami-area anti-aging centers told The News.

The source said Rodriguez and Bosch consulted with at least one other expert about blood test results. Bosch, records show, has been affiliated with a number of Miami-area medical companies and clinics.

Major League Baseball investigators have turned over information about Bosch and his father, physician Pedro Publio Bosch, to federal investigators, sources have told the Daily News. Bosch and his father had already come under scrutiny from MLB and the DEA in 2009 for their links to Manny Ramirez after the then-Dodgers slugger was suspended that year for 50 games for using a banned substance.

The Daily News reported in June of 2009 that the DEA initiated an administrative review of Pedro Bosch because investigators suspected he wrote a prescription for the banned drug used by Ramirez, who was banned for violating MLB’s drug policy that year.

Anthony Bosch was described by the Daily News and other media outlets in 2009 as being well-known in Latin-American circles, his relationship with players dating as far back as the early 2000s when he attended parties with players and attended games in New York and Boston.

Sources involved in the probe have told The News that MLB and federal investigators are trying to determine if Anthony Bosch and his father are involved in supplying banned substances to ballplayers.

Rodriguez cut ties to controversial Canadian doctor Anthony Galea not long after American and Canadian law-enforcement agencies launched investigations into the Toronto sports physician and human growth hormone proponent in 2009. That was when American authorities found HGH and other drugs in his assistant’s car as she tried to cross the border. Galea, who said he treated A-Rod with a blood-spinning technique called platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP), was indicted on five drug-related counts in October of 2010, but the U.S. government agreed to drop four of the charges if he complied with a plea agreement and cooperated with prosecutors pursuing other investigations.

The indictment said Galea traveled to the United States more than 100 times between 2007 and 2009 to treat more than 20 patients in their homes and in hotel rooms.

Galea pleaded guilty in July of 2011 to transporting misbranded and unapproved drugs into the United States. He was sentenced to a year of supervised release in December of 2011.

Calls placed to Anthony Bosch’s telephone numbers in Miami weren’t returned, nor were calls to Pedro Bosch’s Coral Gables area clinic.

Major League Baseball declined comment, as did the Yankees. Rodriguez’s lawyer, Jay Reisinger, declined comment.

According to sources familiar with the Miami investigation, MLB is concerned about a widespread ring of suppliers of synthetic testosterone, human growth hormone and other drugs to players who have sought to circumvent MLB’s collective drug-testing program through difficult-to-detect performance-enhancing drugs that players administer through patches or creams or gels on their palms or elbows or under their arms.

Hmmmmm…

Could a possible 50-game suspension TBA for A-Rod be the reason why Brian Cashman is now hinting that he may not play at all in 2013?

Via Michael S. Schmidt -

Just days before the Yankees headed north from Florida to begin the 2010 season, third baseman Alex Rodriguez sat down for an interview with investigators for Major League Baseball near the team’s spring training complex in Tampa.

The investigators, according to several people briefed on the interview, wanted to question Rodriguez about his ties to a Canadian doctor who said he had treated Rodriguez and who was under investigation by federal authorities in the United States on suspicion of distributing performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes.

In the interview, which lasted several hours, Rodriguez was emphatic: the doctor had treated him but had never given him performance-enhancing drugs.

Fourteen months later, the investigators for baseball still have not accepted those answers as fact and are trying to determine what the doctor, Anthony Galea, might have given Rodriguez, according to several people briefed on the federal investigation.

In recent weeks, the investigators have sought to obtain the medical records Galea kept about his treatment of Rodriguez. To date, they have been unsuccessful despite the fact that Rodriguez has cleared the way for the records to be released, according to two people with knowledge of the request.

Galea, who was indicted in October by a federal grand jury in Buffalo on five charges that alleged he distributed performance-enhancing drugs — including human growth hormone — to professional athletes in the United States, has been in plea negotiations with federal prosecutors in Buffalo for several months, according to several people briefed on the case. The people would not be identified because the dealings between the government and Galea and his lawyers are confidential.

A guilty plea in the case, one that would probably involve Galea’s laying out exactly what he did and did not do for the athletes, could provide baseball with its answers and would probably make clear whether Rodriguez faces any criminal exposure. Rodriguez, according to the people briefed on the case, testified in 2010 before a federal grand jury hearing evidence in the case. It is not clear what his testimony was.

Mark J. Mahoney, Galea’s lawyer in Buffalo, said he knew nothing about baseball’s efforts to gain records of Galea’s treatment of Rodriguez. Galea’s lawyer in Canada, Brian H. Greenspan, did not respond to two e-mails and a voicemail message left at his office on Sunday.

Rodriguez’s lawyers, James E. Sharp and Jay K. Reisinger, issued a statement to The New York Times on Sunday.

“Alex fully cooperated with Major League Baseball and federal authorities in Buffalo regarding his treatment with Dr. Galea, including granting a release of his medical records,” the statement said. “Regarding matters before the grand jury, strict secrecy rules do not permit us to comment.”

Reisinger as a result would not say whether Rodriguez had told the grand jury if he was treated with H.G.H., or even whether Rodriguez had appeared before the grand jury.

I wonder why “the investigators for baseball still have not accepted” A-Rod’s answers on this? Do they think he was lying? The answer has to be yes – or else why would they want more on this? And, if they find out that A-Rod did get HGH from Galea, what would they do? Would they suspend him for 50 games? What would that mean for Alex’s Hall of Fame chances? How would the Yankees react to all this?

It’s amazing that we’re still talking about this – all these months later, huh?

Via Michael S. Schmidt -

Alex Rodriguez told investigators and lawyers for Major League Baseball on Thursday that he was treated by a Canadian-based doctor now under investigation by federal authorities but that he did not receive performance-enhancing drugs from him, according to two people in baseball with knowledge of the meeting.

In meeting with the Yankees’ Rodriguez for a three-hour interview Thursday night in Florida, baseball officials ended up beating the federal authorities to the punch. The authorities have sought to interview Rodriguez for weeks but have not yet done so. Baseball officials and the federal authorities want to know what interactions Rodriguez had with the doctor, Anthony Galea, who has stated that he treated him in 2009 with anti-inflammatories after Rodriguez’s hip surgery.

Rodriguez was accompanied to the meeting by several personal lawyers — including James Sharp and Jay Reisinger — as well as a lawyer from the players union, the people said.

Investigators from Major League Baseball’s department of investigations and at least one lawyer from the commissioner’s office questioned Rodriguez, the people said. Major League Baseball’s top drug-testing official, Rob Manfred, was not at the meeting.

Major League Baseball officials wanted to meet with Rodriguez before the season and have urged him to meet with federal authorities as soon as possible, said the people with knowledge of the Rodriguez interview. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing the details of a confidential meeting.

Rodriguez had planned to meet with federal authorities March 26 in Buffalo, where the local United States attorney’s office is leading the investigation into Galea. The inquiry is looking into the possibility that Galea distributed performance enhancers, including human growth hormone, to various athletes. But that meeting was put off after Rodriguez’s lawyers expressed concern that there would be a media spectacle.

Federal authorities had previously tried to interview Rodriguez in Florida last month, but Rodriguez put off that session.

Rodriguez’s relationship with Galea has left Major League Baseball and the Yankees concerned, in part because Rodriguez’s representatives told the team in December that he had never had any interactions with Galea, which now turns out to be inaccurate.

It is also clear that the Yankees are not pleased that Rodriguez, as of Friday afternoon, had yet to meet with federal investigators because he is now poised to create a distraction for the team just as the season is beginning.

A three-hour interview? That seems to be pretty long for what should have been as simple as “What interactions did you have with Anthony Galea?”

I wonder what else was discussed…

It is a fair and good question, no? Via Mike Lupica this morning -

Here is the question that Alex Rodriguez will eventually have to answer, for the feds, for the Yankees, for Major League Baseball. It doesn’t have to be the first question he is asked, but it is still one that requires not just an answer, but a straight one:

Why exactly did you need to go to a Canadian doctor one who can’t practice medicine in New York to get anti-inflammatory drugs for a hip that may or may not have been “inflamed” at the time?

I don’t mean to be a cynic or skeptic with the Yankee third baseman, but are we supposed to believe he couldn’t get anti-inflammatory pills at Columbia-Presbyterian, a few minutes from Yankee Stadium?

He couldn’t get anti-inflammatory pills from the Yankee team doctors or at New York Hospital?

But apparently we are supposed to believe that Dr. Galea, who is on record about how much he likes human growth hormone as a way of keeping himself young, is as much of an expert on anti-inflammatory pills that’s what he told the Associated Press he gave to Alex Rodriguez as he is blood-spinning. What a guy. He should have his own TV show, like Dr. Oz.

Or maybe Galea is a different kind of wizard.

Come on, there are more things fishy about all this than the old Fulton Fish Market. If the whole thing is so easily explained, if Rodriguez is “at ease” with the whole situation as he told the media in Florida the other day, how come he hasn’t cleared some of this up already, no matter how lawyered up he is.

For me, it’s pretty obvious. Rodriguez went north of the border to seek out some form of treatment that is not approved in the United States.

Blood-spinning and/or anti-inflammatory prescriptions could have easily been done somewhere in New York or any other major city here. Yet, Alex went to Galea because he felt that there was something he could do/provide that was not available (or legal?) here.

And, in time, the truth will come out on this one. Of course, what happens after that is anyone’s guess.

Via the New York Times –

A Toronto-based doctor under investigation for possibly smuggling drugs into the United States told The Associated Press on Monday that he treated Alex Rodriguez for an inflamed hip last year.

If true, Rodriguez could be in violation of his contract with the Yankees because the team said in a statement last week that it never authorized Rodriguez to be treated by the doctor, Anthony Galea.

In an interview Monday with the New York Times, Dr. Marc Philippon, the team-authorized doctor who performed hip surgery on Rodriguez last March, said he never gave approval for Galea to treat the third baseman following the surgery.

Philippon said that if Galea gave Rodriguez oral anti-inflammatory medicine than he has no problem. If Galea gave Rodriguez any injections, however, Philippon said he would be upset because he believes he should be consulted for all such procedures.

“He doesn’t work at my clinic,” Philippon said of Galea. “Here is the way it works — I am the surgeon. I oversee the rehab.”

The revelations come one week after Rodriguez told reporters that he had been contacted by federal authorities, who wanted to talk to him about his connection to Galea, who has been charged by Canadian authorities with conspiring to smuggle human growth hormone and other drugs into the United States.

Rodriguez has yet to meet with federal investigators, although that meeting could come this week. He was informed of Galea’s statement on Monday afternoon as he was talking amiably with several reporters in the Yankees’ clubhouse in Bradenton, Fla., where the team was in the midst of playing the Pittsburgh Pirates in an exhibition game.

However, when one reporter brought up Galea’s statements to The Associated Press, Rodriguez said, “I can’t talk about that,” and walked away.

In the interview with The Associated Press, Galea said he prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs to Rodriguez last year, after the hip surgery, but did not give him H.G.H. The article did not indicate whether he administered the drugs in oral or injectable form. “He had a damaged hip. Inflamed. It was damaged,” he told The Associated Press. “He needed anti-inflammatories for his hip. I was basically helping in the rehab.”

Galea also said that when authorities stopped his assistant at the United States-Canadian border last year, she was carrying only a small amount of human growth hormone, exclusively for his personal use. Authorities found 20 vials and 76 ampules of drugs, including H.G.H., in a car driven by his assistant, Mary Anne Catalano, according to federal court documents.Last week, The New York Times reported that in December, the Yankees asked representatives of Rodriguez whether he had had any dealings with Galea, and were told he did not. Their suspicions had been raised, they said, because after Rodriguez’s hip surgery, he was monitored by a chiropractor, Mark Lindsay, who has worked closely with Galea in the past.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there’s no joy in Yankeeland — as A-Rod’s credibility is again in doubt.

And, last, but not least, this would incomplete;
If I forgot to add this one mo’ closing beat,
About how ol’ Selena Roberts in all her glory,
Is probably smuggling peanuts while reading this story.

Are the Yankees upset with Alex Rodriguez? Via Bob Raissman:

Certain members of the Yankees high command are very, very angry with Alex Rodriguez.

No one likes being deceived, especially these suits. They are furious over A-Rod hanging them out to dry, not immediately informing them he had been contacted by the FBI to testify in a matter concerning Anthony Galea, the Canadian doctor linked to the importing of illegal drugs.

“They (Yankees brass) don’t like being blindsided,” said a TV industry source who deals with the Yankees and YES. “If Rodriguez isn’t protecting the organization paying him a fortune, why should the organization go out of its way to protect him?”

So, it’s highly unlikely Bombers brass was shedding a single tear over how its Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network covered A-Rod’s first first plate appearance of the spring.

The angry Yankee executives could not have scripted it any better.

That “humongous gorilla” that once weighed A-Rod down in October was gone. The hip was better, too. There was also the official “one of the guys” proclamation hanging somewhere in A-Rod’s mind.

“That all amounts to a huge sigh or relief for Alex Rodriguez, who now comes into camp healthy,” Michael Kay, YES’ play-by-play man, said as Rodriguez stepped in Wednesday to face Pirates pitcher Ross Ohlendorf.

As soon as those uplifting words left Kay’s mouth, Ken Singleton, his partner, down-shifted into the dark side. Singleton started talking about last spring, hip surgery and “uh, uh, steroids.”

Kay quickly said: “Now Alex was looking to have a very, very quiet spring this year with health and the world championship, but he was questioned by the media the other day because he’s going to be questioned by FBI officials about the Canadian-based doctor Anthony Galea . . .”

Singleton tried to characterize this as a routine matter, but the prominent mention of A-Rod’s latest controversy – highlighting it during his first spring at-bat – was not business as usual for YES.

Highlighting tales of syringes and shady characters is not good for the Yankees brand. This time around, though, although it’s “just” about him having to talk to the FBI, A-Rod was not provided cover. For YES, this was a radical departure. It indicates the depth of anger here. While there’s no evidence Kay and Singleton were ordered by the higher-ups to highlight this so early in the telecast, you can be sure, absolutely sure, none of the Yankee higher-ups called their counterparts at YES to complain.

“At first they (Yankees execs) thought the media was blowing this up (out of proportion),” an MLB source said. “Then they found out he (Rodriguez) is being called in (by the FBI) to testify and this was coming directly from the feds. Thanks to Alex, the Yankees were caught off guard.”

Now, there is concern over this FBI situation – and where it will lead. Whenever players are called to testify under oath, there’s always the risk they can get caught up in perjury charges, as was the case with Barry Bonds and Miguel Tejada. There’s also concern that A-Rod may be backsliding into his days of scandal and turmoil.

“They (Yankee officials) are concerned this stuff is going to start happening all over again,” the source said. “They are not happy. He’s been in camp, what, a week? First he gets in the papers for his Maybach thing (fender bender). Then comes this FBI thing. They’re wishing he would have stayed with Kate Hudson.”

Ah, yes, Kate Hudson…the lady in white.

I’m not sure that I agree with Raissman here. After all, how could the YES booth not mention the FBI thing and A-Rod during his first At Bat?

But, if it’s true that Rodriguez didn’t plug the Yankees brass into this thing, immediately, when he first found out – and they were “were caught off guard” by the news – then you have to question, yet again, where A-Rod’s brain is…and whether all the talk about his transformation last season is, in the end, just talk.

The Miami Herald Blog has the story.

With a name like that, A-Rod’s lucky she’s too young to date a retired and/or deceased ball player. Otherwise, I can think of one or two players she may have preferred over Alex…