It took 21 months for the information to reach the public, but Alex Rodriguez has finally come clean. According to the Miami Herald, Rodriguez confessed to DEA officials and federal prosecutors in January that he indeed purchased and used PEDs provided by Biogenesis of America owner Anthony Bosch.
Based on the prior information the MLB received from Bosch and others who worked at Biogenesis of America - the anti-aging clinic that illegally distributed PEDs to baseball players from the high school to professional level - Rodriguez was suspended for the entire 2014 season for his then-alleged involvement with the establishment. 12 others were given 50-game suspensions and Brewers' outfielder Ryan Braun was banned 65 games.
After nearly two years of claiming to be part of Major League Baseball's "witch hunt," Rodriguez came clean to the DEA in January and admitted to purchasing testosterone cream, testosterone gummies and HGH injections from Bosch. He also said Bosch informed him how to dodge urine drug tests, telling A-Rod to only use mid-stream urine. Only 18 days after Rodriguez stated he "did not use performance-enhancing substances" and that he was going to take the case to federal court, he caved to the DEA.
"Rodriguez injected the HGH into his stomach," the DEA report stated, via the Miami Herald. "Rodriguez said Bosch told him the HGH would help with sleep, weight, hair growth, eyesight and muscle recovery." It was also noted that Bosch "injected Rodriguez in the buttocks with a red liquid substance" and told A-Rod it was "vitamins, not testosterone."
In his admission, Rodriguez was granted immunity and will not face punishments from federal prosecutors or the MLB. His statements are being used to further build the case against Bosch and his accomplices associated with Biogenesis of America, including Rodriguez's cousin, Yuri Sucart. Bosch pleaded guilty in October and his sentencing is set for December 18, while Sucart pleaded not guilty and plans on going to trial in February. Just days ago, documents filed in a U.S. District Court in South Florida stated that Rodriguez paid Sucart $900,000 to keep quiet about the three-time MVP's PED use. In those papers, Patrick Sullivan, the prosecutor in Sucart's criminal case, stated:
"[Rodriguez] has a prominent role in the government's proof of Count 1 and Count 2 conspiracies to distribute testosterone and human growth hormone."
His January statements will now reportedly be used against Sucart, who knew Bosch before the clinic owner met Rodriguez. The three had a meeting in Rodriguez's hotel room back in 2010, during which Bosch claimed he had treated over 100 baseball players, including former big leaguer Manny Ramirez. During their meeting, Bosch told Rodriguez that "he could help him lose weight, reduce his pain from injuries and increase his energy" and deemed him "fat" to further sell his case. He eventually ran tests on Rodriguez's blood to check his testosterone levels. After sending his blood samples to a laboratory under a fictitious name, Bosch told A-Rod his "testosterone levels were low for a man his age," according to the report.
Two weeks later, Rodriguez was taking the PEDs supplied by Bosch, with Sucart playing the role of the middleman until 2012 when he and Rodriguez had a dispute over money. The Yankees' third baseman then started obtaining his supply from Bosch on his own, during which he continued to spend thousands of dollars per month for the PEDs. Bosch also told the DEA that after Biogenesis shut down in 2012, Rodriguez agreed to cover payments for the clinic's 20 other customers (who were no longer purchasing from Biogenesis) so Bosch would keep quiet about Rodriguez's involvement.
That all came to an end when the Miami New Times ran the infamous story about the Biogenesis Scandal thanks to Porter Fischer, a former Biogenesis employee who supplied the newspaper with pertinent documents and files of MLB players involved with the clinic. Bosch then dropped Rodriguez's name to the MLB in order to cover himself and prove he was cooperating during the league's investigation in the event a federal investigation was launched. Due to his cooperation with the MLB, DEA and other prosecutors, Bosch is likely to avoid the maximum 10-year sentence he faces this December.
However, Rodriguez's comments do not help Bosch's case at all. The Yankees' third baseman had his suspension lifted on October 29 and the team expects him to be back in 2015. It'll be interesting to see how the federal court handles Bosch's punishment, and even more interesting to see what kind of reception A-Rod receives in his return to Yankee Stadium.