A-Rod Gave Investigators Names During Biogenesis Probe

A new ESPN investigation shed new light on just how much information former New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez gave to federal authorities during their investigation into Biogenesis of America.

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted a 21-month investigation into Biogenesis and its founder, Tony Bosch. Biogenesis has reportedly supplied athletes, including baseball players, with performance-enhancing drugs and helped others dope.

Rodriguez was suspended for the entire 2014 season after an MLB arbiter found that he impeded the league’s investigation into the scandal and was suspected of using PEDs. Rodriguez never admitted to using PEDs supplied by Bosch.

That is, until he sat down with DEA investigators in January of 2014.

ESPN obtained DEA documentation that detailed Rodriguez’s meeting with investigators and several things came to the surface.

First, he was given “Queen for a Day” status during the interview. That means that investigators couldn’t use anything he told them that day against him in a courtroom.

Granted that immunity, A-Rod, well, spilled his guts.

During that interview, he admitted for the first time that he used PEDs supplied by Bosch. He also discussed payments made to Bosch for a variety of PEDs, with those payments typically running $12,000 a month.

Rodriguez and his handlers went to great lengths to keep his connection quiet, including attempting to buy off Bosch and paying for PEDs for Bosch’s remaining athletic clients when Biogenesis closed. A-Rod and his handlers even offered Bosch a six-figure fee to leave the country.

But, perhaps the most stunning revelation is that A-Rod turned rat during the interview, providing investigators with the names of three players that he said Bosch had told him were his clients. They included Manny Ramirez and Ryan Braun. Those two were already on investigators’ radars.

But Rodriguez gave them the name of a third place, an All-Star, who wasn’t on their radar. ESPN did not name the All-Star noted that his player never tested positive for PEDs, was never interviewed by investigators and never served an MLB suspension.

As for Rodriguez, the scandal has tainted his reputation, even though he has rehabilitated it to the point where he calls games on television and is part-owner in two professional teams. He was listed on 40.3 percent of ballots for the Baseball Hall of Fame in January, his second year of eligibility.