Rodriguez by 2007 had become a legend of the game. He had made headlines both on and off the pitch. By the end of his career, he was a 14-time All-Star and had garnered a lot of praise for his stint with both the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees. However, sandwiched in the middle was a brief three-year spell with the Texas Rangers that ended up being highly controversial.
In 2009, a report by Sports Illustrated showed that Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids, testosterone and Primobolan, during his 2003 season playing for the Texas Rangers. However, there was no arbitration for the players testing positive at the time. This report completely put to shame Rodriguez’s admission on CBS News’ 60 Minutes in 2007 that he had never taken PEDs.
Alex Rodriguez’s 2007 interview came after Jose Canseco came out in public and accused A-Rod of being a hypocrite over the use of PEDs and wanted to follow up his bestseller book Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big with a second part. This was written off as some personal grudge against Rodriguez by Canseco.
Alex Rodriguez defended himself by stating “he felt a lot of pressure”
In defense of his actions, Alex Rodriguez came forward and talked about the immense amount of pressure he was facing at the time while at Rangers. He had recently signed the biggest ever contract in baseball history: a 10-year deal worth $252 million and thought that he had to justify his price tag.
Alex Rodriguez was further embroiled in a doping controversy towards the fag end of his career in the 2013 Biogenesis scandal where apart from him thirteen other players were suspended by the MLB for prolonged use of PEDs from an American anti-aging clinic, Biogenesis. Rodriguez was banned from playing for the entirety of the 2014 season.
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