Story highlights
The Miami Herald reports Rodriguez confessed behind closed doors in January
He paid some $12,000 a month for performance-enhancing drugs, the newspaper says
A spokesman for the New York Yankees slugger declines to comment
Publicly, New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez has maintained he never took performance-enhancing drugs from a clinic in Miami.
But privately, he confessed he did, according to a story published Wednesday by the Miami Herald.
Rodriguez reportedly admitted in late January to using steroids, facing prosecutors and federal agents who gave him immunity. The Miami Herald said it had reviewed a 15-page synopsis of Rodriguez’s meeting.
“Yes, he bought performance-enhancing drugs from Biogenesis of America, paying roughly $12,000 a month to Anthony Bosch, the fake doctor who owned the clinic,” the article stated. “Yes, Bosch gave him pre-filled syringes for hormone injections into the ballplayer’s stomach, and even drew blood from him in the men’s room of a South Beach nightclub. …”
When contacted by CNN, a spokesman for Rodriguez, Ron Berkowitz, declined to comment on the report, which details Rodriguez’s involvement with the now-defunct Biogenesis anti-aging clinic in Miami.
According to federal officials, Bosch, the founder of that clinic, dispensed performance-enhancing drugs to professional baseball players and to impressionable high school athletes in South Florida and teenagers in the Dominican Republic.
He surrendered to the Drug Enforcement Administration in August.
The investigation led to the suspension of 14 players for violating the league’s drug policy. In addition to Rodriguez, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, the 2011 National League MVP, was suspended.
Rodriguez was initially given a 211-game suspension. The penalty was later reduced to 162 games, but he still missed the 2014 season.
A lawyer whose client is accused of conspiring with Bosch to distribute steroids to high school athletes issued a statement on the Miami Herald story.
“I can for your report confirm that the report by the Herald is accurate as to what Rodriguez said. I don’t have a dog in this fight. My client has no involvement with any major league players concerning the use of banned substances,” said attorney Frank Quintero.
Rodriguez is eligible to return to the field with the Yankees for the 2015 season.
CNN’s Jason Carroll, Ray Sanchez and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.