Report: A-Rod Came Clean To Feds About PEDs, Biogenesis
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Embroiled in Major League Baseball's biggest scandal since BALCO, Alex Rodriguez insisted publicly that he didn't take performance-enhancing drugs from Biogenesis of America or its disgraced founder, Anthony Bosch.
He told the Drug Enforcement Administration a different story, according to the Miami Herald.
Rodriguez came clean to federal agents in exchange for immunity during a meeting on January 29, 2014, less than three weeks after his suspension from MLB was reduced to 162 games in a contentious appeal process, the Herald reported.
The Herald, citing a "15-page synopsis" of the sit-down, reported that the Yankees slugger admitted to meeting with Bosch, paying cash for the PEDs and receiving injections of human growth hormone.
"Rodriguez injected the HGH into his stomach," the report said, according to the Herald. "Rodriguez said Bosch told him the HGH would help with sleep, weight, hair growth, eyesight and muscle recovery."
The paper also said Bosch gave A-Rod pointers on how to get past baseball's mandated drug tests: "Bosch advised him to only use mid-stream urine for MLB drug testing. Bosch told Rodriguez not to use the beginning or the end urine stream."
According to the Herald, A-Rod told agents that his cousin, Yuri Sucart, "was very aggressive and persistent about Rodriguez meeting the doctor." A-Rod and Bosch had their first face-to-face in Tampa in 2010, the paper reported.
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A-Rod told the DEA that he "decided to start taking (performance-enhancing substances) specifically from Bosch" two weeks after the meeting. Sucart, now facing federal drug charges, was used as a middleman, A-Rod reportedly told the feds.
Rodriguez, who reportedly paid Sucart nearly $1 million for his silence, also said that Bosch drew his blood "about 10 times" between the first meeting and Oct. 2012, the Herald reported.
Sucart was arrested in August and pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute testosterone and human growth hormone. Bosch pleaded guilty and has agreed to cooperate with the investigation.
In 2009, A-Rod admitted to using PEDs from 2001-03 while a member of the Texas Rangers, fingering Sucart as his so-called "drug mule." He has publicly denied all wrongdoing in the Biogenesis matter, which was blown open in a bombshell January 2013 report in the Miami New Times.
"My position doesn't change," Rodriguez told WFAN's Mike Francesa in November 2013. "I didn't do it."
Rodriguez, 39, is expected to return to the Yankees for the 2015 season. He's owed $61 million plus milestone bonuses through 2017.
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