A-Rod Focusing '100 Percent' On Rehab, Wants To 'Be A Part' Of Yankees
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Embattled Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is "100 percent" focused on coming back from hip surgery.
That leaves no room for worry regarding MLB's latest performance-enhancing drugs scandal -- a headache with A-Rod at the center of it all.
"Right now I'm dedicating 100 percent of my energy and focus on my rehabilitation. I am conducting two rehab sessions each and every day in an effort to get back on the field and rejoin my Yankees teammates," Rodriguez said in a statement Thursday. "I think we have a great team and I want to be a part of it."
A-Rod had hip surgery on Jan. 16, and isn't expected to return until after the All-Star break at the earliest. But many wonder if Rodriguez will ever be welcomed back to the Yankees after he was named last month in a growing scandal linking MLB pros and prospects to Biogenesis, the now-shuttered clinic in Florida that allegedly supplied athletes with human growth hormone and other PEDs.
Rodriguez, who admitted in 2009 to using steroids from 2001-03 with the Texas Rangers, has denied involvement. He insisted in a previous statement that he had no relationship with Biogenesis head Anthony Bosch.
According to the New York Daily News, MLB investigators are also "looking at testimony provided to federal authorities" by A-Rod and others in the case of disgraced Toronto sports physician Anthony Galea, who was sentenced to time served in 2011 for bringing banned and mislabeled drugs — including HGH — into the U.S.
MLB can suspend a player for PEDs without a positive test if it believes it finds justifiable evidence.
A-Rod isn't at the Yankees' complex in Tampa with the rest of the team. He's instead rehabbing in New York, where he was spotted Wednesday at an Upper West Side eatery.
The 37-year-old is owed $114 million over the final five years of his contract.
Do you think we'll see A-Rod in a Yankees uniform again this season -- or ever? Be heard in the comments...
