Despite his suspension, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has always claimed that other than the period of 2001-03, when he played for the Texas Rangers, he has never used performance-enhancing drugs. But the Miami Herald obtained and reviewed a 15-page synopsis of A-Rod's meeting with the feds on Jan 29, 2014, in which he laid out his extensive use of performance-enhancing drugs from 2010-2012.
A-Rod admitted he bought performance-enhancing drugs from Biogenesis of America, paying roughly $12,000 a month to Anthony Bosch, who owned the clinic. He also confessed that Bosch gave him pre-filled syringes for hormone injections into the ballplayer’s stomach, drew blood from him in the men’s room of a South Beach nightclub, and that Rodriguez's cousin and personal assistant, Yuri Sucart, was his steroid "delivery boy."
After an arbitrator reduced his punishment on Jan. 11, 2014, Rodriguez issued a defiant statement, saying “I have been clear that I did not use performance-enhancing substances ... and in order to prove it, I will take this fight to federal court.”
But 18 days later, Rodriguez gave a sworn statement to the DEA and prosecutors that, between late 2010 and October 2012, he did use substances prohibited by Major League Baseball. It was completely at odds with his public statements.
According to a written “report of investigation,” Rodriguez admitted paying Bosch for supplies of testosterone cream, lozenges laced with testosterone (aka “gummies”) and human growth hormone injections.
“Rodriguez injected the HGH into his stomach,” the DEA report stated. “Rodriguez said Bosch told him the HGH would help with sleep, weight, hair growth, eyesight and muscle recovery.”
The report also noted that during the ballplayer’s relationship with Bosch, the phony doctor “injected Rodriguez in the buttocks with a red liquid substance.” Bosch told the ballplayer that it was “vitamins, not testosterone.”
“Rodriguez was alarmed about the red liquid substance and did not want to take an injectable form of testosterone,” the report said.
Bosch also injected Rodriguez with a “clear liquid substance in the buttocks,” which he told him was “vitamins.”
In total, the report said, Bosch injected Rodriguez with the “vitamin cocktails” 5 to 10 times.
Rodriguez also described how Bosch gave the ballplayer “tips on how to beat MLB’s drug testing,” according to the DEA report.
The secret? According to Rodriguez, “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.”
It worked. A test he took while using the drugs came up negative.
The rest of the report explains the payments Rodriguez made to keep various people quiet, including Bosch, his cousin, and other people at Bosch's clinic.
A-Rod was given immunity for his testimony, and is expected to testify against his cousin and personal assistant, Yuri Sucart, when he is brought to trial.
