Uh-oh, Steroids are Back and You’re Gonna Be in Trouble (Maybe)

Well, it was a nice, peaceful time while it lasted. This morning, the Miami New Times released leaked documents from BioGenesis, an anti-aging clinic in Miami where, you guessed it, Major Leaguers were going to get all the HGH, testosterone, and pink creams they could get their hands on.

Among the files were the personal ones of Anthony Bosch, the head of the clinic. And this is where the most damning information is from:

“Yet there was his name, over and over again, logged as either “Alex Rodriguez,” “Alex Rod,” or his nickname at the clinic, “Cacique,” a pre-Columbian Caribbean chief. Rodriguez’s name appears 16 times throughout the records New Times reviewed.

Take, for instance, one patient list from Bosch’s 2009 personal notebook. It charts more than 50 clients and notes whether they received their drugs by delivery or in the office, how much they paid, and what they were taking.

There, at number seven on the list, is Alex Rodriguez. He paid $3,500, Bosch notes. Below that, he writes, “1.5/1.5 HGH (sports perf.) creams test., glut., MIC, supplement, sports perf. Diet.” HGH, of course, is banned in baseball, as are testosterone creams.”

And naturally, all of this information flies in the face of Rodriguez’s claim that he stopped using performance enhancing drugs in 2003.

Of course, there were other ballplayers named as well:

Melky Cabrera’s name popped up 14 times. It also appears that Cabrera had an outstanding debt.
Yosmani Grandal, already suspended for PEDs.
Bartolo Colon, already suspended for PEDs.
Nelson Cruz, whom Bosch nicknamed “Mohamed.” This is really not the time for Cruz to be coming off a three year stretch in which his production has dropped every season.
Gio Gonzalez, though it may actually be his father and not the pitcher on Bosch’s regimen.

It’s a messy situation and one that baseball will again have to clean up. It also makes you wonder how far ahead of this piece they were. Since the union and owners agreed to HGH testing over the winter, it wouldn’t shock me if there was a little bit of strong arming the union with threats that this information is out there and wouldn’t it be nice to get ahead of the PR blast first.

But even with the new blood testing in the sport, I’m not sure what can be done. Either Bosch wasn’t very good doping the players as three of the Major Leaguers on Bosch’s list have already been busted for steroids, or, in some way, MLB’s testing system works.

But until there are no financial rewards for players to dope (Cruz will earn $10.5 million next year, setting himself up for life), the drug testers will always be behind the drug dealers. And we’ll have to figure out if we can accept sports like that.