Via George King -

Just when you think Alex Rodriguez has figured out how to turn around this public relations’ nightmare, he does something ridiculous.

After Rodriguez won over some of the crowd and said all the right things during an interview session, he climbed into a burgundy SUV. As A-Rod approached the vehicle the passenger side window went down and Yuri Sucart was the man behind the wheel.

Sucart is the cousin that allegedly purchased and injected Rodriguez with steroids from 2001-’03. And the cousin that reporters have been searching since Rodriguez’s press conference where he explained some of the details of his steroid use.

You know…part of me thinks, here…”Vincent Chase could never dump Turtle; so, why should we expect A-Rod to ditch Yuri?”

But, the other part of me agrees with the point here made by George King. It’s been a week since we learned that Yuri Sucart was the name of A-Rod’ PED mule. Why parade the dude around now, at a time when the media is still hot on you and it’s the first exhibition game of the Spring? Whether it’s due to ignorance or apathy, it’s the wrong thing to do.

On February 18th, A-Rod said: “The only thing I ask of this group today and the American people is to judge me from this day forward.”

O.K. Alex. You’ve now got one big bad red mark on your Post-PED-Confession/Apology Delaney Card. It’s for a failing grade under “Avoiding Unnecessary Attention.” Let’s see how many more of these you can rack up before Opening Day.

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Via Wallace Matthews – an unnamed Yankees official on A-Rod now that we know he used PEDs -

“Now we’re stuck with the [expletive deleted] for the next nine years. What if parts of his body start falling off in year five of the contract?”

Any guesses on who said this?

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Via the Daily News:

According to a former baseball scout, who worked with players who trained with [Angel] Presinal in the Dominican, Presinal provided some players with steroids. The former scout declined to be named in this story but says that players refer to Presinal as “The Cleaner,” someone who can rid traces of steroids from the players’ urine before a drug test.

“He puts them through a cycle and then they flush the body out,” the former scout said. “If you’re afraid of testing positive, this is the guy to go to.” He said players are afraid to discuss Presinal because they depend on his expertise as a trainer. It is also expensive to work with Presinal, according to the former scout, who says the trainer charges as much as $10,000 for an offseason session.

If this is true, then shame on George Mitchell for not including Presinal, who has ties to several Red Sox players (in addition to the Yankees Alex Rodriguez), in his report to baseball on PED usage. If the Daily News is able to get the skinny on Presinal, then why not Mitchell?

Mea Cupla, 2/22/09, 7 pm EST: I was wrong about Presinal not being in the Mitchell Report. He was mentioned in it. My apologies to Mr. Mitchell, MLB, and anyone else who my bad assumption adversely impacted.

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The chart below contains some sabermetric stats for each full season that Alex Rodriguez has played in the major leagues:

Year	R_OPS	wOBA	RCAA/PA	 OWP
1996	1.024	.444	.108	.755
1997	.773	.374	.027	.580
1998	1.022	.399	.057	.660
1999	.968	.397	.042	.614
2000	1.135	.433	.109	.770
2001	.927	.428	.098	.749
2002	.927	.424	.080	.705
2003	.961	.420	.074	.697
2004	.921	.385	.050	.654
2005	.951	.438	.116	.787
2006	.860	.391	.053	.663
2007	1.101	.449	.116	.780
2008	.885	.413	.074	.706

Thanks to FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference, and the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia for the numbers.

And, here’s what each of these stats are:

R_OPS: This “OPS” (On Base Average plus Slugging Percentage) in road games. (I thought it would be interesting to see the road split as a way to take home park factors out of the picture for a moment.)

wOBA: This is Weighted On Base Average. It’s a statistic developed by Tom Tango. It uses linear weights on certain batting events to come up with a metric that is more statistically sound than OPS and is scaled onto an OBP scale. According to Tango “An average hitter is around 0.340 or so, a great hitter is 0.400 or higher, and a poor hitter would be under 0.300.” (I included this stat in the comparison because it’s among the newer toys in the sabermetric playground.)

RCAA/PA: This is “Runs Created Above Average” per Plate Appearance. RCAA is the difference between a player’s Runs Created total and the total for an average player who used the same amount of his team’s outs. (I used RCAA since I’m a fan of this statistic – and I divided it by PA to turn it into a rate stat.)

OWP: This is Offensive Winning Percentage. It’s a Bill James stat that projects what a team’s winning percentage would be if each offensive player was cloned to that player and the team had an average pitching staff. (Another one of my favorites – it’s a baby of Bill James and, like RCAA, it takes into account the league context.)

Now, let’s take all these numbers and put them into a semi-pretty line-chart:

Click on the line-chart to enlarge the image.

The line-chart paints an interesting picture in terms of Alex Rodriguez’ production rates since he’s been a full-time big leaguer.

In 1996, his first full major league season, A-Rod was a force with the bat. But, he had a pretty steep decline in 1997 (from the previous year). The following two seasons (1998 and 1999) were better – but not near his levels in 1996 (for the most part).

However, in 2000, his last season in Seattle before becoming a free agent, A-Rod got his production back up to where it was in 1996 (or thereabouts). Afterwards, in 2001, 2002, and 2003, he maintained a high level of performance (for him) for three years.

Then, in 2004, A-Rod had another dip on his trend-lines (in the chart). This was followed by a spike in 2005, and then a dip in 2006, a huge spike in 2007, and another dip in 2008.

O.K. – these are all stats. So, they’re facts. Now, here comes some speculation with respect to the trend-lines these numbers have derived for us. And, my new theory on what Alex has been up to the last 13 seasons.

Rodriguez exploded on to the scene in 1996 and then the league caught up to him, as is the natural course of things in baseball, the following season. In his third full season, 1998, A-Rod rebounded and started to build a nice upward trend in his relative offensive production rates – hitting the roof in 2000. It’s significant to note that, according to reports, the late 1990′s was when Alex was BFF with notorious PED user Jose Canseco.

Rodriguez continued his very high levels of relative offensive production during the period 2001 through 2003. It’s significant to note that, according to A-Rod’s recent confession, Alex was using PEDs during this time period.

Rodriguez’ offensive production dropped in 2004 – compared to where he had been the four years prior. It’s significant to note that 2004 was the year after Alex failed a PED test (as we have now learned). Further, in June of 2004, baseball began drug testing Major League players under the punitive phase of baseball’s Joint Drug Agreement. A-Rod’s 2004 season was probably his third worst offensive output, at that time, in his big league career.

Coming off a very rough season, and a disaster of a LCS for his team (in 2004), Rodriguez came back in 2005 and posted very high numbers in terms of his relative offensive production.

However, the next season, 2006, was much more like his 2004 season (than his 2005 season). It’s significant to note that, prior to the 2006 season, in November 2005, Major League Baseball and the MLBPA reached agreement that significantly strengthened penalties for steroid and other illegal drug use. Penalties for steroid use would now be 50 games for a first offense, 100 games for a second and a lifetime ban for a third. The plan also includes testing and suspensions for amphetamine use. Further, prior to the 2006 sesaon, A-Rod played in the World Baseball Classic (in March of 2006) – and was required to take a blood test for PED use prior to those games.

In 2007, Rodriguez had an incredible season with the bat. This was also the “opt-out” season in his contract which allowed him to become a free agent at the end of the year. It’s significant to note that, reportedly, A-Rod spent most of the 2007 season in the company of Angel Presinal – a known PED pusher.

And, finally, in 2008, Rodriguez’ numbers declined – as the line-chart shows – coming closer to where they were in 2004 and 2006. It’s significant to note that 2008 was the first year of a mega-contract that A-Rod had signed with the Yankees. And, the season was preceded by a six to seven month period where major league baseball players were being found guilty of PED usage (in large numbers) – via various methods such as testing positive, pharmacy raids, etc.

Tying this all up, based on the numbers and what off-the-field activities that we know to be true, or are strongly reported to be true, it would not shock me if the A-Rod story, in reality, broke-down as follows:

Rodriguez started messing around with PEDs in the late 1990′s, as a member of the Seattle Mariners, while he was a friend of Jose Canseco. Then, when he moved on to the Texas Rangers, Alex used PEDs the three seasons he was there. As a result of failing a PED test in 2003, A-Rod was “clean” in 2004. However, due to a nightmare season (for him and his team) that season, Rodriguez returned to his habit (that he probably developed in Seattle and used in Texas) and used PEDs in 2005.

As a result of the stronger PED policy in baseball, and the tests required for the World Baseball Classic, Rodriguez went clean again in 2006. However, because of the importance of putting up huge numbers in 2007 – as it was his opt-out year – with the assistance of Angel Presinal, Alex used PEDs in 2007.

And, finally, with his new monster-contract secured, and because of all the PED-related heat on baseball players being turned up in the months before the 2008 season, A-Rod played last season without the use of PEDs.

So, in summary, if we were to find out (someday) that Alex Rodriguez used PEDs during eight of his first thirteen full major league seasons, I would just say “That’s what I figured.” After all, that’s my A-Rod theory, newly formed.

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Via the Daily News –

Embattled Yankee Alex Rodriguez has had a long relationship with a steroid-linked trainer who’s been banned from major league clubhouses, four independent sources told the Daily News.

Angel Presinal, who was banned from private areas of every MLB ballpark after an October 2001 incident involving an unmarked gym bag full of steroids, has been tight with the Yankee slugger dating back to his time with the Texas Rangers, several sources said.

A former New York-area scout says Presinal, whose named surfaced in the Mitchell Report, was with Rodriguez in New York and Miami as recently as this past fall.

MLB has warned players to stay away from him.

He has been thrown out of clubhouses in Cleveland, Anaheim and Texas.

“He’s an unsavory character,” said a source.

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 cousin was identified Thursday as Yuri Sucart.

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.”

Presinal was not around A-Rod and the Yankees during the 2008 season, the source said, but Sucart remained a constant presence around Rodriguez, at home and on the road.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was aware of Presinal’s name but said that the exiled trainer had no official ties to the team.

“He’s never had any association with the Yankees,” Cashman said. “Whether he knows our players or has worked with any of our players, I wouldn’t be able to confirm that.”

A-Rod agent Scott Boras would not comment on his client’s relationship with Presinal, who runs a gym at the Palacio del los Deportes in Santo Domingo. Presinal also did not return multiple calls.

“Several people have warned Alex about this guy,” said a second source.

MLB began monitoring Presinal’s relationships with players after the bag containing five ampules of anabolic steroids, the anabolic drug clenbuterol and hypodermic needles, was seized by the Canadian Border Service Agency in 2001.

Presinal was traveling with the Cleveland Indians, where he was Gonzalez’s personal trainer at the time.

Not the best piece of news for A-Rod today, is it? The question is: Will there be more coming?

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From a Mel Antonen feature in Baseball Digest that was published in December of 2000:

When he’s not playing shortstop for the Seattle Mariners, [Alex] Rodriguez, 24, likes to jet ski, listen to Frank Sinatra and hang out with his three dogs. But what really blows A-Rod away these days is da Vinci, the 15th-century genius who studied astronomy, anatomy. geometry, botany and geology while squeezing in time to paint the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

A book on da Vinci sits on Rodriguez’s bedside table: “He wrote his notes backward so that people wouldn’t take his ideas,” he says. “People like me would have to put them up to a mirror to read them. He says you can learn seven facts every second for the rest of your life. That means we are using only two percent of our brain. It fascinates me. I like education. My dream was always to get a degree from Harvard or Yale, but I wasn’t that smart.”

Rodriguez is the milk-and-cookies player whom baseball embraces. He’s talented, humble, hard-working and caring. He apologizes when he’s five minutes late for a lunch appointment. He has a mature perspective on what it means to be good-looking, rich and famous.

During the season, Rodriguez used to live in a Seattle high-rise with views of the Space Needle, Puget Sound and the mountains of Olympic National Park. But for last season he rented a house on Mercer Island, about 10 minutes from the ballpark, partly because of his dogs and partly because he wanted a big picture window overlooking Lake Washington.

Rodriguez has three dogs. Ripper is an old German shepherd, a gift from fellow Miami resident Jose Canseco, who plays for the Yankees. Shorty, a yellow lab, is in training school. Gypsy is an affectionate German shepherd.

…Ripper is an old German shepherd, a gift from fellow Miami resident Jose Canseco…

O.K., so, A-Rod and Canseco were tight back in 2000. I’ll just hang up now and listen to your reaction to that.

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Two links that provide more information on Sucart and Colaw – and the connection to A-Rod:

Link One

Link Two

Something tells me that today will not be the last time we hear the names Yuri Sucart and Charles Colaw.

And, I was really hoping that this A-Rod stuff would start to quiet down today…it’s getting tired…even for me.

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Via T.J. Quinn:

Alex Rodriguez isn’t finished answering questions yet.

Major League Baseball will ask the disgraced slugger to meet with its investigators in the coming weeks to further explain his admitted use of performance-enhancing drugs, two sources familiar with MLB’s plans told ESPN.

After two public confessions, one with ESPN’s Peter Gammons and the other at a news conference in Tampa on Tuesday, Rodriguez will be asked to give a full account of how extensive his drug use was, and who the “cousin” is who Rodriguez says injected him with a drug believed to be the anabolic steroid methenolone. Rodriguez said they bought the drug, which he described as “boli,” from a pharmacy in the Dominican Republic.

“They’re more interested in what happened in the States than in the Dominican,” one source said.

Representatives from MLB’s department of investigations are expected to ask Rodriguez whether his cousin, whom Rodriguez declined to name, had access to major league clubhouses and other players, and whether either he or Rodriguez ever distributed drugs to other players. Under baseball’s labor agreement Rodriguez cannot be punished for any banned substances he took prior to 2004, but he could be punished if MLB were to determine that he supplied drugs to other players.

MLB officials declined comment, and MLB Players Association officials could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday night. Rodriguez’s agent, Scott Boras, did not immediately return a phone call or email message seeking comment.

The sources who spoke to ESPN said that MLB must formally request a meeting through the Players Association, and that Rodriguez will be allowed to appear with a lawyer and a union representative if he chooses.

One source said commissioner Bud Selig could choose to punish Rodriguez if he feels he isn’t forthcoming, although the union would be likely to fight any action.

A-Rod and his primo…something tells me that we’re going to need some special effects if we’re ever going to see them, together, at the same time…

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Jorge Posada left Alex Rodriguez’ press conference yesterday about halfway through it. Reportedly, the Yankees have shared that they were unsure as to why Posada left when he did walk out.

I’ve yet to see any more reported about this in the news. Anyone else find this odd?

Update, 2/18/09, 3:30 PM EST: Via PeteAbe –

Jorge Posada had something to do with his kids yesterday, that’s why he left the press conference.

OK, time to exhale…

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Is it just me, or, does “A-Rod Presser” just seem like two words that go together so easily? Anywho, I just had a chance to watch the entire press conference down in Tampa today and here are my thoughts.

As far as A-Rod’s opening comments, where he read off the script…well…that sure seemed insincere. And, that 37-second pause at the end, when he thanked his teammates…yikes…I haven’t seen acting that bad since…how’s this for irony: Take your pick, either Madonna as Breathless Mahoney in Dick Tracy or Madonna as Amber in Swept Away. Hang a Golden Raspberry on that puppy for Alex, for sure.

Now, in the Q&A session, I thought A-Rod did a little better. But, he did not directly answer some questions. And, I’m sure the Study Of Face Recognition people are going to have a field day with some of his answers today. On the bright side, major props to Bruce Beck, Hannah Storm, Anthony McCarron, Jack Curry, Joel Sherman, Bob Klapisch and George King for asking some of the questions that fans wanted to see asked.

For one thing, A-Rod beat the “young, stupid, naive” excuse drum hard and heavy this afternoon. Say, when Rodriguez was in Texas, didn’t he consult with owner Tom Hicks on personnel moves and also have some say with his manager in terms of line-up construction? (I’m pretty sure on the former and think the latter went on until Buck Showalter came along.) That doesn’t sound like tasks that would be associated with someone who was “young, stupid, naive” – does it?

The biggest thing that came out of the Q&A, for me, was the excuse that Alex offered up to the question regarding why he didn’t mention the “cousin” thing during his interview with Peter Gammons. A-Rod said something along the lines of wanting to be “truthful” and not “factual” in that interview. Huh? There’s a difference? Well, maybe Rodriguez meant to say that he didn’t want to get into the details in the Gammons thing…

Staying on this for a minute more, A-Rod then said that he didn’t bring up the “cousin” thing during the Gammons interview because he didn’t remember it well and it wasn’t until later that it all started to come back to him. (Or, something like that.) Once again…huh? Let me get this straight: You tell the cousin to go to the Dominican Republic and to buy the drugs. (Alex confirmed this today.) And, then, as per Rodriguez this afternoon, for six-month periods, for three years in a row, you have the cousin inject you with a needle two to three times a month, in order to deploy these smuggled and illegal substances into your body, and you can’t remember that five years later? Really?

Com’on Alex. That’s a lie. If you want to tell me that you can’t remember what you had for lunch last Wednesday, I can buy that. If you want to tell me that you can’t remember the name of your first grade teacher, I won’t fight you on that either. But, I have to think that you would always remember having a family member and non-licensed person injecting you with black-market drugs, twelve times a year, for three years in a row, when it was just five years ago. How do you forget something like that?

In the end, for many Yankees fans – at least from what I’m hearing – none of this matters. They’re not interested in hearing any more about this and they’re quick to dismiss it as not being important today.

To me, this is interesting. Actually, I recently met someone who quickly disclosed to me that they are a raving fan of a recent former U.S. President. When talking about him, they went on and on about what a great leader he was, etc. From listening to them, it was clear that, even today, they would be willing to walk off a cliff, or walk through hell in a gasoline suit, for him.

After witnessing this full-court genuflecting gush for a bit, I was tempted to ask them: “Hey, wasn’t that the same guy who, while in office, inserted a stogie into the punani of a girl who was young enough to be his daughter?” But, I knew that would have been an exercise in futility – because this person would have come back with things like “It didn’t have anything to do with his leadership skills” and/or “That was a bum rap” and/or “It was a mistake and everyone makes mistakes.” (You could just tell that nothing was going to get in the way of their devotion to this former President.)

And, that’s where I believe a lot of Yankees fans are today – with respect to this A-Rod/PED issue. It was a mistake…he’s getting a bum rap (because the test results were not supposed to be released and/or he was not the only one doing it)…it doesn’t have anything to do with his skills (and production) now. As such, it doesn’t matter what happened today at the press conference – or what anyone thinks about it.

And, while I may not agree with this, I do respect the rights of those who want to feel that way. (Nonetheless, I also wonder if they would be feeling the same way if it was Curt Schilling and not Alex Rodriguez who was in this spot now.) Moving right along…

Perhaps the most important thing to come out of today was this statement from A-Rod: “The only thing I ask of this group today and the American people is to judge me from this day forward.”

Sure, why not? O.K., Alex, the clock starts…now. Good luck.

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Here’s the video via SNY.tv:

Alex blames his mistake on being young and not having gone to college? Hey, did Derek Jeter go to college? How much older is Derek compared to Alex?

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Here’s the video via SNY.tv:

Gee, we never heard from that cousin during the “YESterdays” episiode featuring Alex Rodriguez on the YES Newtork, did we ?

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Via Bob Klapisch -

Alex Rodriguez will arrive Tuesday and is scheduled to hold a tell-all press conference about his life with steroids. And that, said one Yankee official, “is when the circus begins.”

But ever since Sports Illustrated broke the story of his cheating, Rodriguez has been following the advice of his crisis specialists, including agent Scott Boras, and not the Yankees. As a result, A-Rod’s employers were less than impressed with his interview with Peter Gammons, noting how vague many of his answers were.

“Honestly? It was a disaster,” said the official, who doesn’t know the half of it. A second wave of controversy will soon overwhelm the slugger, say the publishers of “A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez,” which was written by Selena Roberts, the SI reporter who uncovered the steroids story.

The book will go beyond Rodriguez’s use of syringes and chemicals. According to a press release from Harper Collins, Roberts has unearthed salacious details of the slugger’s private life that could embarrass him and further isolate him in the clubhouse.

And if the details of Roberts’ investigation become known, how will the Yankees react?

It’s one thing to say what A-Rod does off the field is his business, not ours. If Rodriguez barely funds his charitable organization with his own money, for instance, that’s his choice. So is leaving his wife and two children to date Madonna. It’s his business. But such behavior certainly makes it harder for fans to ever warm up to A-Rod. Wearing his jersey has never seemed less cool.

As for the Yankees, they’re left with the impending humiliation of writing A-Rod checks for home runs, milestones that are officially tainted. Not that A-Rod ever captivated the organization in his first four years — with the exception of Hank Steinbrenner, no one wanted him back after the 2007 season.

One person who’s spoken with Rodriguez says his handlers have settled on the following damage-control strategy: minimize the apologies, keep Tuesday’s Q and A relatively brief and make sure to not drop any more bombshells.

That means A-Rod has no intention of telling the world where and how he started using banned substances, and he certainly won’t admit to using HGH as a Yankee. After that, he’s on his own.

If Rodriguez thinks October in the Bronx has been rough, the coming weeks in Florida could be a miniature apocalypse.

I have to wonder what is in that book that will bring more plumage to the A-Rod tar and feather party. Could it be any worse than what was less than whispered behind Mike Piazza’s back? Could it be any worse than the stories of Rick Ankiel’s childhood? I mean…what haven’t we heard about a baseball player yet…that would be bad enough to embarrass him beyond the way that A-Rod has already been humiliated so far?

The only thing I can think of would be gambling…and not just playing the ponies, poker, and hitting the dog track…but something more along the Pete Rose lines. Now, there’s no evidence to suggest this happened – as far as I know. I’m just saying that it would be really bad for Alex if this came out in the book.

Really, other than having video evidence of A-Rod engaged in sexual congress with a goat, what possibly can be out there, yet unkown, which is going to bring more shame to the “House of A-Rod” at this moment?

I guess we have to wait for the book to find out…

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The Bergen Record:

Alex Rodriguez has called Sports Illustrated’s Selena Roberts to apologize for critical comments he made during an ESPN interview.

Roberts was co-author of the Feb. 7 article on SI’s Web site that reported he was on a list of 104 players who tested positive for steroids during baseball’s anonymous 2003 survey. Rodriguez told ESPN two days later that he had used banned substances from 2001-3 while playing for Texas.

“I know this lady from Sports Illustrated, Selena Roberts, is trying to throw things out there that in high school I tried steroids. I mean, that’s the biggest bunch of baloney I’ve ever heard in my life,” he told ESPN, adding that “this lady is coming out with all these allegations, all these lies.”

Roberts said today that Rodriguez called her last Wednesday. She didn’t want to comment on the call until Rodriguez holds a news conference after arriving at spring training Tuesday.

She is writing a book “A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez,” due for publication by HarperCollins on April 14.

For some reason, I suspect that Alex’s apology was about as sincere as when Howie Hamburger Dude said he was sorry:

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This from John Koblin in the New York Observer eariler this week:

“I am going to continue to work on this [Alex Rodriguez] book,” said Ms. [Selena] Roberts when asked if she’s got more news coming. “And that’s where I’m going to leave it.”

“The book is still a work in progress,” said her book editor, Mr. Hirshey. “I assure you she has more drug revelations as well as other news. Not everything that Selena has on A-Rod’s steroid participation has come out yet.”

Could just be a book tease. But, maybe not?

[Hat tip to my buddy Larry for his e-mail - giving me a heads-up on this one.]

[Hat tip update: I just noticed that BaseballThinkFactory.org has a link to this one as well. And, knowing Larry, I bet that's where he got it from...so, a Hat Tip to BBTF too!]

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Sounds like a FOX TV show…but, interesting stuff nonetheless…

(more…)

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First, we’ll start with the guy that I like…

(more…)

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Via Jim Baumbach -

Alex Rodriguez soon might have to repeat his steroid admission on Capitol Hill.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) plans to recommend to the head of the congressional committee that has previously hosted baseball players that A-Rod receive an invite to testify about his steroid use, Cummings told Newsday last night.

“I think we’re going to have to see what Rodriguez will tell us,” Cummings said in a phone interview.

“He is in a confessing mode, so maybe he needs to put his apology into some meaningful action by cooperating with the committee so we can see if there are things we need to reopen to make sure baseball is doing all that it can to rid itself of this kind of practice.”

I can just see the “A-Perjure” headlines now…

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Let’s start with the biggest positive here. Alex Rodriguez confessed today that the report from Saturday was true – and he did use steroids in the past. That was the right thing to do…well, not using the steroids…but, confessing that it was true…and doing it today, just a couple of days after the news broke. Then again, really, what could A-Rod have done given his lack of leverage here? You’ve got four sources confirming that he failed a PED tinkle-test in 2003. Trying to fight that rap would be pretty futile.

Personally, while it was the right thing to ‘fess up, I think Alex took the chicken’s way out by having a controlled confessional with Peter Gammons. I think it would have taken more guts to get in front of several members of the media, at once, like Andy Pettitte did, and stay there to answer every question – the easy ones and the tough ones – until there were no more questions to be asked. (As it is, A-Rod may have to end up doing this when he reports to Spring Training. And, it will be interesting to see how he handles that situation.)

Now, on to what Rodriguez said today…that he took PEDs while playing for the Texas Rangers during a three-year period beginning in 2001 – and that’s it. Well, that better be true – because, if he’s withholding anything here, and it comes out later, Pete Rose will look like a saint compared to A-Rod.

Personally, it would not shock me to hear that Alex started using PEDs back in 1999. There’s some numbers to support such a theory. Further, as I have seen the question posed elsewhere on the ‘net today: A-Rod conveniently started using PEDs immediately after he signed the biggest contract in baseball history? Does that make any sense?

Oh, that’s right, it was the “culture” in Texas that led him start using…meanwhile, the team that he played for just before that, the Seattle Mariners, were also, reportedly, a merry band of PED-users. But, for some reason, when he was younger, playing in a park not friendly to hitters, working towards his free agency payday, A-Rod was able to plug his ears with bees’ wax and ignore the PED sirens. I dunno…maybe it’s that Texas heat that just makes one susceptible to temptation? Yeah, that’s the ticket.

Also, it would not shock me to hear that Alex used some form of PED after playing for the Texas Rangers. Sure, as his agent Scott Boras is quick to tell, Rodriguez has been tested several times in the last five years and never came up positive for any banned substances. But, again, they can’t test for everything these days. They don’t test for HGH. And, I’m sure that someone with A-Rod’s disposal income would be able to obtain the cream of the crop, undetectable, designer PEDs that are light-years ahead of what can be tested for…at this moment.

Let’s pause here for a minute – so that I can ensure that I’m being perfectly clear here. I am not claiming that Alex Rodriguez used PEDs before and/or after the period that he confessed to, today, while he was with the Texas Rangers. More so, I’m just sharing that it would not shock me, all things considered, if it was found out that he did use PEDs while he was in Seattle and/or New York (in addition to his time in Texas).

Lastly, on this topic, did you notice A-Rod’s response today when Gammons asked him whether his steroid use took place only from 2001 through 2003? Alex’s answer was: “That’s pretty accurate, yes.”

Hmmm…if that’s not leaving the door open a bit, what is?

There were other issues with A-Rod’s comments today. For example, does he truly think anyone is going to believe that he wasn’t really sure what he was taking back then? That’s what he said, and, I quote: “Peter, that’s the thing. I mean, again, it was such a loosey-goosey era. I’m guilty for a lot of things. I’m guilty for being arrogant, of being naive, not asking all the right questions. To be quite honest, I don’t know exactly what substance I was guilty of using.”

Com’on Alex…you make it sound like it was Woodstock and everyone was passing the peace-pipe and you just took a hit with the rest of the gang. Somehow, I find it hard to believe that’s how it all went down.

Moving along, while I give Alex high marks for confessing albeit tempered because of the delivery method and some vague answers, his attack today on Selena Roberts was a terrible plan on his part. He would have been much better off doing his best Borat impression and saying something like “If Ms. Roberts were here right now, I would say to her ‘Listen pussycat, smile a bit’ and nothing more.”

The whole smear campaign on Roberts this afternoon makes A-Rod sound like he’s sweating something that’s going to be in her new book (on him) and this was a somewhat preemptive strike.

In any event, it’s done now. The story has been broken. A-Rod has offered a confession. And, because of this whole mess, the President of our country, during his first prime-time news conference this evening, had to field a question on Alex – and the CIC offered that, when, “you take shortcuts you may end up tarnishing your entire career.”

And, that’s where A-Rod is today. His career is tarnished. His integrity is to be forever questioned. Think about that for a minute. If Alex hits 55 homeruns this season, many people will wonder if he’s using something that’s beyond detection. If Rodriguez bats .275 with 32 homeruns this season, many people will wonder if he’s been scared straight and this is the A-Rod you get without PEDs. Or, they will wonder if his head is so messed up over the PED situation that he’s now a Jimmy Pearsall case.

But, Alex brought this all on himself, right? It’s just too bad, as Yankees fans, that we have to watch the whole thing go down in our own backyard.

Yankees fans can only hope this is the last “A-Rod situation” that they will have to endure. Then again, nine years is an awful long time for Alex to stay out of the news…and, like I said, beware that Selena Roberts book coming this spring…and, of course, beware the fact that the A-Rod PED file has now been opened. It may just not be an open and shut case…even with Alex’s confession to Gammons today.

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Via ESPN -

His voice shaking at times, Alex Rodriguez met head-on allegations that he tested positive for steroids six years ago, telling ESPN on Monday that he did take performance-enhancing drugs while playing for the Texas Rangers during a three-year period beginning in 2001.

“When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure, felt all the weight of the world on top of me to perform, and perform at a high level every day,” Rodriguez told ESPN’s Peter Gammons in an interview in Miami Beach, Fla. An extended interview will air on SportsCenter at 6 p.m. ET.

“Back then, [baseball] was a different culture,” Rodriguez said. “It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naïve. I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time.

“I did take a banned substance. For that, I am very sorry and deeply regretful.”

Rodriguez’s admission comes 48 hours after Sports Illustrated reported that Rodriguez was on a list of 104 players who tested positive for banned substances in 2003, the year when Major League Baseball conducted survey tests to see if mandatory, random drug-testing was needed in the sport.

He blamed himself and his $252 million contract he signed with the Texas Rangers in 2001 for his decision to use performance-enhancing drugs.

“Overall, I felt a tremendous pressure to play, and play really well” in Texas, the New York Yankees third baseman said. “I had just signed this enormous contract I felt like I needed something, a push, without over-investigating what I was taking, to get me to the next level.”

Rodriguez added: “I am sorry for my Texas years. I apologize to the fans of Texas.”

Rodriguez, who joined the Yankees for the 2004 season after a trade from Texas, said “all my years in New York have been clean.” He also described the recent turn of events as the biggest challenge of his life but added it felt good to be honest about what he’s done in the past.

I will have commentary on this news later this evening. In the meantime, what do you think of A-Rod’s confession?

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There’s a segment within the master-set population of baseball fans who now want to suggest that Alex Rodriguez is a victim in all this hubbub about his PED usage in 2003. And, their logic is that the tests conducted in 2003 were confidential, as agreed upon by the MLBPA and MLB, and that the feds/public had no right to see who tested positive or negative, etc. – and it’s “unfair” that this information is now out.

I get that. In fact, if it I were A-Rod in this situation, I would be extremely angry that my test results were leaked. Further, what it’s worth, I would look into going after the parties that assured me that these tests would be confidential, etc.

Now, that said, given that the cat is out of the bag, is it “unfair”?

Well, think about this: Suppose that someone trashed your car. That would be bad. But, the good news here is that the cops have called and shared they knew who did – because they have the guy’s confession on tape.

Sounds great, right? But, wait, the cops then call you back and say that they forgot to read the guy his Miranda Rights, and, as a result, his confession is not valid – and his statements were ones that no one should have heard…because of the rules around Miranda Rights, etc.

At that point, as the owner of the car that was trashed, do you really care about the guy’s Miranda Rights? Probably not. At this junction, you want to see the guy pay for what he did to you car.

And, that’s how I see the thing here with Rodriguez. Was the information obtained in a manner that is questionable? Yes, no question – just like the guy who didn’t get his Miranda Rights. But, now that you know about it, you want to see some sort of justice applied, nonetheless, right?

So, if some baseball fans want to see A-Rod now held accountable, even if it’s just a Scarlet Letter application, I can understand that – and I don’t believe that Alex should get some kind of buddy-pass here just because the information was supposed to be confidential.

What do you think?

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Via the Daily News -

What’s the highest-paid baseball player in history to do when his legacy is on the rocks?

Party in a tropical paradise, of course.

Just hours after the steroid-tainted slugger earned his nickname A-Fraud, Alex Rodriguez was drowning his sorrows with Grey Goose and Red Bull in the VIP area at Aura Nightclub in the Bahamas.

There, the staff takes pride in “treating every guest as a VIP and every VIP as a king.”

A-Rod certainly wasn’t getting the royal treatment back home – or in the Yankees’ front office.

One Yankees official said the team has no intention of coming to the party boy’s defense, and general manager Brian Cashman has not returned reporters’ calls, which is no surprise, the official noted.

“The ball is really in Alex’s court,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Hal and Hank Steinbrenner spent the weekend at the family’s Ocala Horse Farm in Florida and were talking to team President Randy Levine about the debacle, a source said.

Team brass are expected to take the position that A-Rod’s positive steroid test doesn’t affect the team because it took place before he joined the Yanks.

That devastating news seemed hardly on A-Rod’s mind Saturday night as he kicked back in the 70-degree island air with his sexy entourage in tow and a personal butler waiting in his $15,450 suite above.

Rodriguez avoided any ‘roid rage by staying at the luxurious Atlantis Resort, one of his favorite escapes. He crashed in a two-bedroom suite in the exclusive and lush Cove section of the hotel, complete with private gardens, waterfalls and the butler.

Hotel staff said A-Rod partied so hard Saturday night that he slept late into the day Sunday before eating and leaving.

The butler in A-Rod’s suite told reporters that he had gone to a Grammy party for the evening and was not expected back at the hotel Sunday night.

Nero played the fiddle while Rome burned. I guess A-Rod has to settle for downing Grey Goose and Red Bull cocktails while partying it up in VIP suites in the Bahamas…

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Via Ken Davidoff -

The baseball world awaits Alex Rodriguez’s next step, and it will be A-Rod’s move.

The Yankees, having been rebuffed in their independent efforts to confirm the SI.com report Saturday that A-Rod tested positive for two anabolic steroids in 2003, have no choice but to support baseball’s highest-paid player. But they don’t anticipate being heavily involved in the preparation of any public statements.

“He’s got to clean up this mess,” a person familiar with the Yankees’ thinking said Sunday. “He’s got the keys to the kingdom. It’s his show.”

The Yankees’ first full-squad, spring training workout in Tampa, Fla., is Feb. 18, so Rodriguez – who is currently in the Bahamas – could avoid making a statement until then. Yahoo Sports reported that the University of Miami will honor Rodriguez at a dinner Friday.

I’m not sure if Hazel Burke, Mr. French and Rosie the Robot, combined, could “clean up this mess.” Good luck Alex.

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Tom Verducci rings on on the A-Rod situation…

(more…)

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Some interesting numbers on Alex Rodriguez…where…

XH/PA = Extra Base Hits per Plate Appearance
XH/OUTS = Extra Base Hits per Outs Made
HR/PA = Homeruns per Plate Appearance
HR/OUTS = Homeruns per Outs Made

YEAR	XH/PA	XH/OUTS	HR/PA	HR/OUTS
1996	0.13	0.22	.0532	.0861
1997	0.10	0.15	.0361	.0528
1998	0.11	0.16	.0561	.0832
1999	0.12	0.17	.0734	.1085
2000	0.11	0.19	.0610	.1015
2001	0.12	0.19	.0710	.1130
2002	0.12	0.19	.0786	.1242
2003	0.12	0.18	.0657	.1042
2004	0.09	0.14	.0516	.0786
2005	0.11	0.18	.0671	.1121
2006	0.09	0.14	.0519	.0803
2007	0.12	0.20	.0763	.1262
2008	0.11	0.18	.0589	.0921

Notice that, A-Rod’s XH/PA and XH/OUTS numbers through the years are somewhat steady…around .11 and .18, respectively, each season. So, in terms of getting extra base hits, Rodriguez has been pretty consistent in that department since he’s been a full-time big league hitter.

However, his HR/PA and HR/OUTS numbers do not show that type of consistency. In fact, they show this pattern:

A jump up in 1999, from his 1996 through 1998 levels, which is maintained through 2003. And, then a dip in 2004, an increase in 2005, another dip in 2006, another increase in 2007, followed by another dip in 2008.

Now, this could just be an age thing…as A-Rod turned 23 in 1999 and then was 28 in 2004. Maybe he just matured at 23 and then started to show signs of age when he started to approach 30? It could be…

Or, maybe, he started using something in 1999 to help some of those doubles and triples (in his steady stream of extra base hits) turn into homeruns, and, kept using it until 2003? And, then, come 2004, thanks to the MLB PED policy, he stopped using it…until he used it again in 2005 (to get the New York fans and media off his back for a sub par 2004) and then he used it again in 2007 (to have a huge year in his opt out season)?

Now, keep in mind that this supposition above is 100% conjecture and not based on any hard evidence. If Roger Murtaugh were to read this, he would probably say “Pretty thin, huh?” and Martin Riggs would surely answer “Anorexic.”

But, if, somehow, it’s proven that Alex started using PEDs back in 1999, it would then explain some of these numbers…to an extent. What do you think?

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Via Mark Feinsand -

While the team’s front office had nothing to say about Sports Illustrated’s report that A-Rod failed a drug test in 2003, Yankees reliever Brian Bruney threw all of his support behind his teammate.

“We’re all very supportive of all our teammates,” Bruney said. “Alex has no reason to do anything like that. I’ve seen firsthand – as I’m sure everyone has – how hard Alex works. I don’t believe it. That’s where I stand. I honestly don’t believe it.”

“It’s unfortunate that something like this comes out with no backbone on it,” Bruney said. “Alex, honestly, is the hardest worker I’ve ever seen in any sport. It’s pretty impressive to see how he works and takes care of himself, what he eats. He’s kind of like a robot. He already is the best player to ever play this game, in my opinion, and he would have no reason to do anything like that.”

“In the clubhouse, we all love Alex and we support everything he does,” Bruney said. “I know I’m glad he’s on my team, that’s for sure.”

…It’s pretty impressive to see how he works and takes care of himself, what he eats. He’s kind of like a robot…

Isn’t that what everyone used to say in defense of Barry Bonds?

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Has anyone heard anything yet from Suzyn Waldman or Michael Kay on the A-Rod news? I would love to see someone track them down, now, for a comment.

Is Kay doing his ESPN Radio Show on Monday? Should be good, there’s no way that he can ignore this one, right?

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He’s just not saying when. Via the AP -

Major League Baseball and the players union issued statements Saturday, refusing to confirm or deny the report on Rodriguez, citing player confidentiality.

Scott Boras, Rodriguez’s agent, said Saturday that Rodriguez was out of the country but would issue a response “as we go forward.” SI.com reported that, when it asked for comment, Rodriguez said: “You’ll have to talk to the union.”

According to sources, A-Rod is in the Bahamas.

Now, what’s interesting here is that Selena Roberts approached A-Rod, to talk to him about this story, last Thursday at a gym in Miami. Is it just me, or, did Alex get his rear-end out of the country as fast as possible once he heard this whole thing was on the verge of breaking?

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Well, it seems like some guys in Seattle, back then, were using. From a Mike Fish ESPN.com report back in December 2007:

Most big leaguers and recent baseball retirees have been scrambling to distance themselves from the Mitchell report. Some have called on their agents or used a neatly crafted statement to explain away their performance-enhancing drug use. But here comes Shane Monahan out of nowhere to confess, unsolicited, his past misdeeds.

Monahan, now 33 and living with his family in Vail, Colo., openly admits to being a juiced player in baseball’s steroids era.

He says he used anabolic steroids when he played for the Mariners. He says Deca-Durabolin and Winstrol were his primary enhancers. He says he got them from “guys” who regularly hung around the clubhouse. And he says he regularly used amphetamines, better known around baseball as energy-boosting “greenies.”

Monahan says he began taking steroids late in the 1998 season.

“I saw what kind of money it is going to get you,” he says. “I had great minor league seasons, but I wanted to stay in the big leagues. I know my teammates and I know guys on other teams are doing it, and they’re hitting home runs left and right. And I’m sitting there going, ‘All right, well, what I’m going to do?’

“I read up on it. I learned how to use it. I started lifting weights and I went from like 190 pounds to 215. I mean, muscles on my body where I didn’t know you had muscles. I already ran fast. I could hit. I had a good arm. But all of a sudden now, recovery time felt better. Everything was a lot better.”

The one-time fringe major leaguer turned to the dark side, he says, partly because he believed that steroids were rampant throughout the Mariners’ clubhouse and the game. If that’s what it took to level the playing field, he was willing to try them.

During his brief time in Seattle, Monahan came to believe steroid use was widespread in the Mariners’ clubhouse, although he refuses to identify those he suspects were using. The Mitchell report identified a handful of players whose tenures overlapped with his in Seattle, including Ryan Franklin, Glenallen Hill, David Segui and Todd Williams.

Monahan says that back then, Major League Baseball had yet to tighten access to clubhouses, and that many players regularly worked out with their personal trainers while using team facilities.

Sources for steroids and amphetamines, he says, floated freely through the Seattle clubhouse. They were friends of team members who, at the time, had access to the players’ sanctuary. He remembers paying cash, and even bartered baseball gear, for steroids and amphetamines.

“There were two or three guys,” he says of the suppliers, though he says he is unable to recall their names. “You’d go up to them and say, ‘Hey, I need some greenies. What is it going to take?’ Well, it might be 100 bucks here. It is a jersey here, or a dozen baseballs and two bats. And you’d give it to him.”

If what Monahan said here is true, now that the A-Rod usage (in 2003) story has come to light, you have to wonder if someone from that Mariners’ scene in the late 1990′s will now come out of the woods and say that they have more about Alex and PEDs, dating back to when he was in Seattle.

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On February 14, 2004, Yankees G.M. Brian Cashman swung a trade to acquire Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers. And, on February 7, 2009, it was reported that (in spite of claims in the recent past from A-Rod that he never used, or considered using, performance-enhancing drugs) Alex Rodriguez tested positive in 2003 for having two anabolic steroids (in his system).

In a period just one week short of five years, the Yankees’ “A-Rod Story” has taken an interesting turn, huh?

On the plus side, in his Yankees career, to date, A-Rod has come to the park, just about everyday, ready to play ball. According to FanGraphs.com, from 2004 through 2008, including the post-season, Alex has hit 1,000 groundballs – how about that for a nice round number? – and I’m pretty sure that he’s run everyone of them out, hard. And, by the way, he won the league MVP award in 2005 and 2007. Geez, what’s not to like about all that?

Well, there’s been some other events during A-Rod’s Yankees career too – between the time the Yankees traded for him and today (when the news came out about his reported usage of illegal steroids). Here’s a summary of some of that stuff:

July 2004: A-Rod gets into a fight with Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek – which many claim became a season rallying event for Boston that year.

October 2004: A-Rod tries to slap the ball out of Boston’s Bronson Arroyo’s glove and is ruled out for interference during Game 6 of the ALCS.

October 2005: A-Rod bats .133 in the ALDS.

November 2005: A-Rod is cautioned by the New York Yankees that playing poker in illegal clubs could be dangerous and harmful to his image.

December 2005: A-Rod creates a bunch of drama regarding which team he will play for in the World Baseball Classic.

September 2006: An embarrasing feature on A-Rod, where he is spoken of negatively by other Yankees, appears in Sports Illustrated.

October 2006: A-Rod bats .071 in the ALDS.

November 2006: A-Rod stands up Yogi Berra at a charity event.

February 2007: A-Rod holds a press conference where he says that he and Derek Jeter have been “lying” about having a great relationship.

May 2007: A-Rod is caught cheating on his wife with a muscular stripper.

May 2007: A-Rod yelled “Mine!” or “Ha!” (or something like that) as Blue Jays third baseman Howie Clark tried to catch a Jorge Posada pop fly with two out – causing the ball to drop in and annoying the heck out of the Toronto players.

July 2007: A-Rod’s wife wears a shirt to a game at Yankee Stadium which contains an obscene word.

October 2007: A-Rod strikes out 6 times in 15 At Bats during the ALDS.

October 2007: During the World Series, A-Rod opts out of his Yankees contract.

July 2008: A-Rod is caught having an affair with Madonna – leading to a divorce with his wife and many tabloid headlines.

July 2008: A-Rod leaves Yankee Stadium before the completion of the 2008 All-Star game – and catches some heat for not sticking around.

And, that’s just the list of A-Rod related embarrasing things that I can remember, as of this moment. There’s an excellent chance that I missed a few.

So, this all said…whaddaya say Yankees fans…when you look back at the first 1,820 days of A-Rod in pinstripes, factoring it all in, has it been worth it?

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