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November 23, 2009

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Saturday, February 07, 2009

A-Rod did Steroids

This is somewhat huge:

In 2003, when he won the American League home run title and the AL Most Valuable Player award as a shortstop for the Texas Rangers, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids, four sources have independently told Sports Illustrated.

Rodriguez's name appears on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball's '03 survey testing, SI's sources say. As part of a joint agreement with the MLB Players Association, the testing was conducted to determine if it was necessary to impose mandatory random drug testing across the major leagues in 2004.

When approached by an SI reporter on Thursday at a gym in Miami, Rodriguez declined to discuss his 2003 test results. "You'll have to talk to the union," said Rodriguez, the Yankees' third baseman since his trade to New York in February 2004. When asked if there was an explanation for his positive test, he said, "I'm not saying anything."

Instant takeways:

It was always silly to play the "this guy was juicing, this guy was not" game, but now it is downright absurd, because anyone who comes out now and says that they thought A-Rod was doing steroids is lying. Well, except for Jose Canseco, who I once again must note has a better track record for accuracy on this subject than anyone. How nice it would have been if he wasn't such a scumbag with respect to everything else.

It was always silly to play the "this guy would have utterly sucked if he weren't juicing" game but now that too is downright absurd, because A-Rod clearly didn't suck before steroids, and clearly doesn't suck now, assuming of course he's clean.

It was always silly to believe that the Mitchell Report brought any closure or finality to the steroid discussion, but now that is downright absurd.

Given that it is now inevitable that all of the names who tested positive in 2003 will come out, maybe it's in the union's best interest to release every name now rather than deal with the drip, drip, dripping of names over time. Pull the band-aid off quickly, if you will. I know most players would never go for it, but we're getting into a situation where guys are going to be unduly pilloried as cheating freaks while other guys go scot free. A-Rod is going to take it on the chin major in the coming days and weeks. Doesn't fairness and historical accuracy and all of that demand that we know who else tested positive in 2003?

I'll grant that many of those points are colored by my own interest and may not all be what the players and the union and the league would like. But like they say, sunshine is the best disinfectant. Let's do what the Mitchell Report didn't do and completely clear the decks on this. All names from 2003 out now. Let's end the parlor games and character assassination and get on with the business of fact-telling and the accurate chronicling of history.

UPDATE: Here is my latest -- and more comprehensive -- take on all of this business.

(thanks to The Common Man for the heads up)

Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 11:53am