Inside Baseball

DRUG PROBE

Report: Alex Rodriguez, other local athletes linked to steroids

 

Seven major-league players and a University of Miami strength coach were among those who allegedly bought drugs from a Coral Gables “anti-aging’’ clinic, the Miami New Times reported.

WEB VOTE Alex Rodriguez denies a report that he bought performance enhancing drugs at a Miami Clinic. What do you believe?

sdegnan@MiamiHerald.com

A Miami New Times story published Tuesday linked the names of several Major League Baseball players — including Yankees star Alex Rodriguez — as well as University of Miami strength and conditioning assistant coach Jimmy Goins to an “anti-aging’’ clinic that distributed performance enhancing drugs through 2012.

The clinic, called Biogenesis and reportedly run by 49-year-old Anthony Bosch, “the son of a prominent Coral Gables physician named Pedro Publio Bosch,’’ New Times reported, is now shut down and abandoned. It is located across the street from the UM campus.

UM, already the subject of a nearly two-year-old NCAA investigation into football and basketball improprieties connected to former booster Nevin Shapiro, issued this statement Tuesday:

“The University is aware of media reports regarding one of our employees and an intensive review is under way. Per our policy, we will not comment further on personnel matters.’’

Rodriguez, who previously admitted to PED use from 2001-2003, “appears 16 times throughout the records New Times reviewed,’’ beginning in 2009 and as recently as 2012, according to the report, which was based on a three-month investigation. Anthony Bosch and PED distribution in South Florida are being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Major League Baseball.

Major League Baseball issued the following statement:

“We are always extremely disappointed to learn of potential links between players and the use of performance-enhancing substances. These developments, however, provide evidence of the comprehensive nature of our anti-drug efforts. Through our Department of Investigations, we have been actively involved in the issues in South Florida.’’

A baseball official, speaking to The Miami Herald on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday that MLB did not have any documentation regarding the allegations. If MLB does obtain evidence, the players could be subject to discipline ranging from a 50-game suspension for a first offense to a lifetime ban for a third offense.

Rodriguez is sidelined for at least the first half of the season following hip surgery. He has reportedly hired high-profile defense attorney Roy Black.

“The news report about a purported relationship between Alex Rodriguez and Anthony Bosch are not true,’’ Rodriguez said in a statement issued by a publicist. “He was not Mr. Bosch’s patient, he was never treated by him and he was never advised by him. The purported documents referenced in the story — at least as they relate to Alex Rodriguez — are not legitimate.”

Also listed in the report, which backed its findings with what it called “an extraordinary batch of records from Biogenesis,’’ are former UM players Yasmani Grandal and Cesar Carrillo, Miami Monsignor Pace graduate and Washington Nationals All-Star Gio Gonzalez, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera, Oakland A’s pitcher Bartolo Colon, and Texas Rangers power hitter Nelson Cruz.

The story wasn’t limited to baseball players. Also linked to the PEDs were Miami boxer Yuriorkis Gamboa, a Cuban defector; and pro tennis player Wayne Odesnik.

Odesnik, who lives in Weston, vehemently denied the allegation to The Miami Herald.

Read more Inside Baseball stories from the Miami Herald

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