It's been revealed that Alex Rodriguez, the controversial yet sensational former Major League Baseball star, who's been closely connected to the PED world, including a 211-game suspension for the 2013 and 2014 seasons, reported the names of fellow players to federal agents about their PED usage in 2014, documents reveal.
Alex Rodriguez ratted out Manny Ramirez, Ryan Braun to feds in PED probe, report says https://t.co/oUpTDHIVrG
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) September 14, 2023
The documents, made available to ESPN, show that A-Rod revealed names of players that Biogenesis founder Anthony Bosch told him were performance-enhancing clients.
The names he reported were Manny Ramirez, Ryan Braun, and an unnamed All-Star who wasn't named because they never officially tested positive.
Rodriguez divulged those names when he met with two assistant U.S. Department of Justice attorneys and seven DEA agents on January 29, 2014. This was just weeks after he received his 211-game suspension.
The former Yankees star was granted "Queen for a Day" status by prosecutors, which means he could reveal the details without fear of legal prosecution.
The documents ESPN obtained also reveal A-Rod admitting to using PEDs he purchased from Bosch, spending about $12,000 per month, but denied it publicly.
Rodriguez paid Bosch that money for "doping protocols fueled by testosterone creams, red, gummy-like lozenges containing testosterone and human growth hormone." This occurred between 2010-2012. He paid for the substances using cash or petty cash from the Yankees traveling team secretary. The secretary wasn't involved in any way with the situation.
While A-Rod only received that one 211-game suspension, he also revealed that his cousin, Yuri Sucart Sr., supplied him with PEDs for a decade.
Per the report, Sucart threatened to blackmail A-Rod for $5 million. Before this, though, Sucart was the "middleman" between A-Rod and Bosch.
The same guy who blackmailed A-Rod was also his "personal handler" since he entered the majors in 1994.
Sucart first approached Bosch in 2009 on behalf of A-Rod for human growth hormone and "gummie" samples. Rodriguez eventually fired him after he "frivolously spent approximately $250,000 to $500,000" of the three-time MVP money without consent.
The blackmail attempt, which would've included Sucart revealing the activities to Major League Baseball, came in December 2012, the same year their business relationship ended. They eventually settled on $900,000.
Finally, the report includes several details and information about Rodriguez lying about his relationship with Bosch to Yankees president Randy Levine in 2012.
To make this all the more interesting, Rodriguez is employed by ESPN. He joined the network in 2018 and co-hosts the "KayRod Cast," which is an alternate feed of ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" game, similar to the Manning Cast for "Monday Night Football."
At the time time, the 14-time All-Star hadn't commented on the report.
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