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DEA documents from 2014, recently obtained by ESPN, reveal Alex Rodriguez narced on other Major League Baseball players in an attempt to try and distract from his own PED usage.
“The unredacted documents spell out the extreme lengths A-Rod and his camp pursued to obstruct and discredit Major League Baseball’s investigation, how the Yankees’ third baseman initially tried to buy off [Biogenesis clinic operator Tony Bosch], and how Rodriguez ultimately resorted to desperate, scorched-earth tactics to preserve his reputation,” Mike Fish of ESPN wrote.
Among the revelations that were revealed in the DEA documents are the fact that Rodriguez named Manny Ramirez, Ryan Braun and another All-Star player as PED clients of Biogenesis. Somehow, that third player “never tested positive for any PED use, was never interviewed by authorities and was never suspended by MLB,” according to Fish.
Rodriguez made cash-only payments to Tony Bosch in an attempt to hide his relationship to the Biogenesis clinic operator.
Rodriguez also said he used testosterone creams and gummy-like lozenges containing testosterone and human growth hormone and that his cousin was his source of PEDs for at least a decade.
His cousin also allegedly tried to extort $5 million from A-Rod or he would tell Major League Baseball. They eventually reached a confidential financial agreement.
Rodriguez also admitted lying to New York Yankees president Randy Levine about his involvement with Biogenesis and cited his Fifth Amendment rights when interviewed by Major League Baseball.
A-Rod also admitted he illegally received Cialis and Viagra from Bosch for “fun.”
His camp leaked documents to Yahoo Sports implicating Ryan Braun and then-Yankees teammate Francisco Cervelli in the PED scandal.
The scorched-earth strategy employed by A-Rod’s PR team brought near daily drama. A source close to Rodriguez referred to it as “absolutely jihad against MLB.” The antagonism ranged from accusing the Yankees of having provided him shoddy medical care to personal attacks against the likes of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and top MLB leaders.
“He basically did everything he could to distract from his own behavior,” a Yankees source said of A-Rod.
The source added: “I mean, Alex is a complicated person. He had a lot of layers to him, and I think he’s remorseful, but he did some bad things to a lot of people.”
Bosch, during interviews with investigators, claimed Rodriguez and another All-Star player were the source of a testosterone cream that he distributed to players after A-Rod brought it to him and asked if he could “emulate what it was.” He could and did.
Fish, in his story, would call Alex Rodriguez’s return to the good graces of Major League Baseball one “of one of the greatest image makeovers in American sports history.”
Considering that on Tuesday, the day before Fish’s extensive report on the DEA document was released, A-Rod was the subject of a profile published on SI.com titled “Alex Rodriguez Shares the Secrets to His Business Success” which heaps praise on him as a businessman, Fish is probably not wrong.