04/24/24
November 06, 2014
Despite Vehement Public Claims of Innocence, A-Rod Admitted to DEA He Used Steroids: Jay Weaver of the Miami Herald broke this story Wednesday: "For 21 tumultuous months, New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez has defiantly maintained he never used banned substances from a Coral Gables anti-aging clinic, that he is the victim of a Major League Baseball 'witch hunt,' and that he would fight to the end to clear his name. But in a Drug Enforcement Administration conference room back in January, facing federal agents and prosecutors who granted him immunity, baseball's highest-paid player admitted everything: Yes, he bought performance-enhancing drugs from Biogenesis of America, paying roughly $12,000 a month to Anthony Bosch, the fake doctor who owned the clinic. Yes, Bosch gave him pre-filled syringes for hormone injections into the ballplayer's stomach, and even drew blood from him in the men's room of a South Beach nightclub." Now the Yankees must deal with a star player of diminished skills with three years and $60 million left on his contract, plus another $90 million in potential home run milestone incentives. Janet Macur of the New York Times writes, "In a million years, in a million baseball seasons, I never would have dreamed I'd ever say this: I feel sorry for the Yankees."
Wouldn't this give the Yankees grounds for cutting him? I know he got immunity from prosecution, but that doesn't mean he necessarily gets to keep his job.
posted by opel70 at 08:38 AM on November 06, 2014
The Yankees can cut him any time they want. They'll still be on the hook for the $60million in guaranteed money. If they were worried that ARod has reverted into a HR hitting machine, it might be in their best interest to cut him to save any future milestone incentives.
posted by grum@work at 10:52 AM on November 06, 2014
It seems the main reason the Yankees are keeping Rodriguez is fiscal: if he re-injures himself, or retires due to an inability to play because of his hip surgeries, then the club can run his salary through an insurance claim and recoup 75 or 80 cents on the dollar.
As grum says, if they cut him, they'd make a bunch of fans like me happy, but even the Yankees have a hard time throwing away $61,000,000 for PR goodwill. The team looked into cutting him for lying and cheating previously and found no contractual out clauses. Not to mention that he could play well out of spite and club 20-25 homers and actually earn his keep, in which case many fans would probably just shrug and let him keep hitting.
With the negativity surrounding him, though, I'd love to see the Yanks take a hard-line stance and kick him to the curb, or try outrighting him to the minors. The current club lacks likability even without Rodriguez on the team.
posted by werty at 11:27 AM on November 06, 2014
I'd love to see the Yanks take a hard-line stance and kick him to the curb, or try outrighting him to the minors.
He's been in the majors for more than 5 years, so any attempt to send him to the minors without his permission would be the same as releasing him (and still paying him). He'd simply refuse to go.
Even with a year off, I still think he hits much better than Jeter did this season.
posted by grum@work at 01:07 PM on November 06, 2014
As grum says, if they cut him, they'd make a bunch of fans like me happy, but even the Yankees have a hard time throwing away $61,000,000 for PR goodwill.
They do have some leverage here, presuming A-Rod is dying to play in the MLB again. They could threaten to cut him unless he reaches a deal to play somewhere else at a rate much lower than that contract.
posted by rcade at 02:20 PM on November 06, 2014
They do have some leverage here, presuming A-Rod is dying to play in the MLB again. They could threaten to cut him unless he reaches a deal to play somewhere else at a rate much lower than that contract.
MLBPA won't let him take a pay cut to get traded, and there is precedent for this...involving Alex Rodriguez.
posted by grum@work at 03:01 PM on November 06, 2014
Alex Rodriguez would have made the Hall of Fame without steroids.
James once developed a long-term career forecast model called Brock2 essentially a very early progenitor of a full-fledged projection system like PECOTA which could produce an expected career stat line for a player based on his career performance through a given age. Feed it Rodriguez's age 20-24 seasons, and it produces an absurd set of projected career totals: 3,573 hits; 668 doubles; 1,075 home runs. As mean projections for anybody, those numbers are silly (Trout through age 22 also generates a forecast of 3,646 hits, 740 doubles, and 826 home runs), but they underscore how incredible Rodriguez's first five full MLB seasons were. (Through 20 seasons, Rodriguez now has 2,939 hits, 519 doubles and 654 home runs.)
All of this, it bears mentioning, matters only if you believe Rodriguez began using PEDs in 2001, and didn't before that.
posted by rumple at 06:19 PM on November 06, 2014
"In a million years, in a million baseball seasons, I never would have dreamed I'd ever say this: I feel sorry for the Yankees."
This statement is fairly stupid. There's no reason to feel sorry for the Yankees. A-Rod is one of many players in this day and age who are signing contracts they'll never, ever live (or produce) up to (ex. Prince Fielder).
As for Rodriguez coming out and admitting to all this now, what's the difference? Everyone assumed he was lying all along. Do we feel differently about Clemens, McGwire, Bonds, etc. because they haven't come out and admitted what we all assume is the truth? Is Ryan Braun any less reprehensible because he chose to completely trash and ruin other people during his time of denial before admitting what we already assumed was the truth?
As grum mentioned above, A-Rod, health permitting, will still be more productive offensively than Jeter was this past season. That won't matter, though, because with him back in the limelight, on the field, it's once again open season to bash each and every move he makes. I don't like the guy, wish he would disappear, and enjoyed not hearing about him last season, but it seems we should stop acting as if he's the only one who was (and continues to be) untruthful regarding this topic.
posted by dyams at 07:04 PM on November 06, 2014
McGwire has already admitted he used PEDs.
posted by grum@work at 11:03 PM on November 06, 2014
I stand corrected on McGwire. Guess I stopped paying attention to the guy in the 13 years since he retired. Only took him nine years after retiring to come clean, something he refused to do in front of Congress. Never liked him, was only good at power which was brought on by steroid use (or base on balls which were in large part due to his steroid power), and teams still employ him as a hitting coach?
Not sure if it's A-Rod in general, his personality, his contract, or both those things that always make him more interesting in this long, boring saga.
posted by dyams at 11:33 PM on November 06, 2014
Never liked him, was only good at power which was brought on by steroid use (or base on balls which were in large part due to his steroid power)
His power has always been there, before there was any hints that he was using PEDs.
He holds the MLB record for home runs by a rookie (49), in 1987. He also had an incredible batting eye in the minors, drawing a large number of walks before his power developed.
Just a reminder that PEDs don't mean guaranteed power, as this guy was one of the first players to test positive for PEDs.
posted by grum@work at 01:14 AM on November 07, 2014
Studies have shown persons doing no exercise and no weight training experienced no significant changes. No surprise there. Persons doing steroids and no weight training were able to build about 7 pounds of muscle. Pretty amazing. Persons doing weight training and no steroids were able to build about 4 pounds of muscle. Finally, persons doing steroids and weight training were able to build about 13 pounds of muscle.
I believe McGwire did take steroids and also weight train heavily. His muscle and body growth became significant as years went on. Prior to his rookie year he probably used steroids to some extent, but likely didn't have the resources to advance that use significantly until he was established in the major leagues. Being able to benefit from professional trainers and facilities would obviously help this process.
One thing I do believe about McGwire is that he used illegal substances and trained very hard. I doubt all players who have tested positive had that desire to put in such work in the weight room.
posted by dyams at 06:26 AM on November 07, 2014
I don't think McGwire was using PEDs during his rookie year:
He admitted using them during his 70 HR season:
posted by grum@work at 08:13 AM on November 07, 2014
What A-Rod's revelation reinforces is that MLB and its purists will have to admit at some point that there was an entire era of baseball that was awash in PEDs and people doing them.
Then, they have to think about how to deal with that entire era, and the stats it produced.
posted by Bonkers at 08:33 AM on November 07, 2014
even drew blood from him in the men's room of a South Beach nightclub
I'm struggling to come up with a scenario where that is both necessary and sensible. Dr. Nick Riviera would blush. The timing on these revelations is pretty handy for baseball and the Yankees.