Jorge Posada: A-Rod, PED Cheats Shouldn't Make Hall Of Fame

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Jorge Posada says performance-enhancing drug users have no place in the Hall of Fame -- and that includes ex-teammate Alex Rodriguez.

In an interview that aired Wednesday on "CBS This Morning," the former New York Yankees catcher made it clear he thinks Hall voters should continue to keep the cheaters out of Cooperstown.

Mark Strassmann: Should players who are known to have used steroids -- should they be in the Hall of Fame?

Jorge Posada: No.

Strassmann: No?

Posada: No. No, I don't think it's fair for the guys that have been in the Hall of Fame that have played the game clean.

Strassmann: Even an Alex Rodriguez?

Posada: I don't think it's fair. I really don't. I think the guys that need to be in the Hall of Fame need to be (players) that played with no controversy.

Strassmann: Have you told him that?

Posada: No.

Strassmann: Would he be surprised to hear it?

Posada: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Posada -- promoting his new book, "The Journey Home: My Life in Pinstripes" -- was also candid when asked if he resented the players whose accomplishments were artificially boosted during the Steroids Era. The five-time All-Star pointed to the 2003 season, when he finished third in AL MVP voting.

The winner that year? Rodriguez.

"I was almost there," said Posada, who batted .281 with 30 home runs and 101 RBIs in '03. "What could have happened if, you know -- it's tough. It's really tough."

Posada retired in 2011 after 17 seasons with the Yankees and was an integral member of four of five World Series-championship teams during that span.

Rodriguez was traded from Texas to New York in 2004. Five years later, he admitted to using PEDs from 2001-03 while with the Rangers. A-Rod served a yearlong drug ban in 2014 for his role in the Biogenesis scandal.

In:
• Alex Rodriguez