Barring the revelation of any blatant falsehoods, that was about as good as you can expect from Alex.

Yeah I'm about done with this. Who gives a shit about the nitty-gritty details? Put an asterisk next to his name or whatever, and let's move on. The guy is a weirdo, but it seems like some people think if they ask him enough questions he'll somehow turn normal. No, that aint gonna happen.

I honestly wonder why 'weird' and 'not normal' get attached so aggressively to Rodriguez. I feel same way about 'he's not likable!' or even 'he wants the spotlight' ...

Fans want the weirdest things from their athletes, it sometimes seems. Wanting them 'clean' is one thing, but giving a perfect press conference (or a properly IMperfect one!). Mattpat did you mean that someone else would have given us better satisfaction than Alex there? Cried better? 'Fessed up better?

This is the first such event. Think about it. No precedents in baseball for either the Gammons interview or this media scrum. There are 103 names out there, and lots beyond that (some might be false positives, of course, but others might have been missed). Only one guy's outed, and that's because (can we doubt?) he's the biggest name and a book is coming on him.

I thought he was fine. I also think at times that those celebs, movies, singers, athletes, who get towards that kind of money and entourage young have almost no chance of being 'normal' in ways that the rest of us would relate to ... and the ones that do are either exceptions, or really good at 'handling' us through the media. The guy's a baseball player, a very, very good one. Our 'affection' for these guys is often manipulated and it often CHANGES (Mean Joe Greene anyone? Have a coke.)

One of the sideshows I'm watching for this year is Jeter, shifting from godlike and flawless to being described as selfish and a drag on the team's success as he gets older. It has already started

[3] Yeah. A-Rod's at least better than Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro, etc. who haven't confessed. I'm not saying he's in the right here, he has tarnished his legacy somewhat, but given that there are a lot more PED users out there (or what even counts as a legal vs. illegal PED) at least he's admitted it. Though he was cornered into admitting it.

[3] It's attached by me because I watch him and he comes off as a strange guy ... I honestly don't really know why that would be so mysterious. Same with unlikable: People see him talk and don't like him. This is not an unusual occurrence. Some people rub others the wrong way; some people come off weird to other people.

[3] Again, I'm not going to give A Rod too much credit for confessing ... That's what he should do, so just because THOSE guys didn't doesn't mean he's gone above and beyond or something. Not to mention he's seen the shitstorm that comes around when you deny the obvious. Who knows what he would have done without the benefit of watching Clemens flame out or McGwire's cowardly act, and the reaction to them.

I just think ARod is batshit crazy. He comes across as so sleezy and unbelievable. I would want nothing more to have him on another team, nevertheless, I am forced to deal with him for the next 9 years. Thanks Hank, you effen A-Hole!!!

[3] Well said guy. I guess age has a few (VERY few) advantages.
[5] What can I say guy. You should hear what ARod thinks about you.

What a freakin' circus. Pandora's box is now open. Why oh why oh why, with MILLIONS of dollars of professional help handling this, did they give a press conference? He admitted he did PEDS. He admitted to 3 years of use. Not one time. Not a month. 3 years. He says he's clean now.

IT'S ENOUGH! Anything more was/is just throwing fuel on the fire.

Now, people will hunt down his cousin. Offing him $$ for more dirt. Now, the assholes in the press will hunt down every single thing ARod said, looking for more 'news'. This will never end. In 3 years someone will leak some little fact that contradicts ARod's statement, and BAM!... weeks and weeks of more (media produced and directed) ARod drama.

WHY? When they asked Bush about cocaine, he wouldn't answer the question. Even George W. was smart enough to STFU (unlike Clinton).
WHY did the Yankees let him do this?

If there is ANYTHING he said that isn't 99% accurate, this will NEVER end. SHIT!

Horace, you really have seen no behavior from this man that suggests he loves media attention? And honestly, the aspect of him that is the least likable is the perpetual victim syndrome, which at least we didn't really get today. We still got the absurdity of "young and naive 25 year oid" drilled into our heads, but at least he didn't call anyone a stalker or a racist this time.

Unfortunately, Alex hasn't been the easiest Yankee to embrace, but it's time to find a way to accept him, to realize that he's ours, chaos and all. This can be a long 9 years, thanks to Hank. Who knows, maybe Kabbalah can wield its magic.

He's exasperating. HIs inability to be clutch when we desire it from him. His silly transgressions depicted prominently in the media. He doesn't harmonize well with the universe.

Then again, I would like to be able to not be on his rollercoaster. I'm going to attempt to get off and just take him for what he's worth.

As for the press conference, it was acceptable. I liked his trying to regain composure moment. It's good to see him feeling, even if it's sorry for himself. You can't script that.

I just wish he didn't say anything, I guess the minute he opens his mouth and all that diarrhea starts coming out then that's when I start to feel sick.

I wish this would all go away already. There's a thing called the "fuku" in Dominican culture, if anyone ever read Junot Diaz's book called "The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" he talks about it in detail, anyhow...it's just a hex something or someone can put on another person. ARod is EL FUKU!!!

Seriously, why did he have to pull the cousin angle now? What planet is he from? Tomorrow it'll be something else, it's an ever changing story that will never end because the media wants to see how many different ways "EL FUKU OF THE YANKS" can put his foot in his mouth.

Keep it real, Son!

Mattpat, honestly, not to any degree that stands out in a superstar athlete. I mean, you figure LeBron don't want his props? Michael Jordan got crazy when he retired and lost the media eye, tried BASEBALL as a pro (think he figured there'd be a few cameras?). Shaq is a walking quote machine, loves the press, loves his image. And I don't CARE, they don't bother me with it ... I'll admire Steve Nash and the late Arthur Ashe more as men, but it is their role as athletes that enters my life, and yours. Alex Rodriguez is competitive, superlatively hardworking as an athlete, even among hard workers. Doesn't malinger, checks in every day, puts up stunning numbers ... and gets called (see 6, above) 'batshit crazy' and sleezy (sic) and the Yankee owner is an A-hole for signing him?

THAT, mattpat, is what I'm talking about (I know you didn't go this far). There's a weird (the word of the day) way out of proportion overreaction TO him. And all I see and care about is he performs on the field and is about the opposite of the 'cancer in the clubhouse' type. A star? An ego? You betcha. But he lives under a microscope and that was my point ... people getting 400-500 million dollars to play sports (or sing, or make movies) are going to live ... wait for it ... weird lives.

I see nothing resembling 'perpetual victim' myself, Mattpat. I have some cynical thoughts on being 24 and asserting naivete (but there ARE naive 24 year olds, and 34 year olds!). Frankly, I'll go further ... it IS naive to use steroids yourself without someone who knows what they are doing guiding you. His story CONFIRMS his self-description. Unless you want to say he's making it all up, that he used BALCO South!

I think it really comes down to the Texas contract he signed, and the big target it put on him ... entirely unfairly. And I'll add the era he lives and plays in ... I mean, we KNOW about Ruth and hookers, Mantle and Ford and women and heavy drinking ... and it doesn't bring them down for most of us. We laugh about Ford scuffing baseballs. That ol' devil.

But Alex Rodriguez and his purple lips ... run him outa town!

Maybe I'm in a strange, naive soul, but I like A-Rod because he's a really good baseball player. Everything else is so much bs to me. If he keeps hitting well and playing well, and I believe he will, I'm content.

I'm kind of like you, Shaun, but not quite.
I'm really happy he's on the Yankees because he's awesome at baseball. I don't like him for that. I don't dislike him. I just don't care.
There are a few baseball players I really do like. There are a few, very few, I dislike. But the huge majority I have no interest in as human beings or any particular desire to find out about. I do admit that when our host Alex writes or links to something interesting about a player's life, I do get caught up in it. But mainly I don't find baseball players very interesting, as people.

[5] Oops that second paragraph should have been [4] not [3]

You know, when I think about the time I was 25-26, I think that in some ways I was young and naive. WHy is that so hard to believe?

[12] I second that emotion..A-Rod is a top-10 ALL TIME baseball player and he's still in his prime, on my favortie team. He plays hard every day, he un-selfishly gave up the chance to be the greatest SS of all time to accomdate the Captain, and he'll probably win one or two more MVP awards. Getting injected in the butt for a couple of years doesn't taint anything, me thinks..

I don't understand why, in the context of the outright lies about steroid use by Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Clemens, Palmeiro, et al (not to mention the tens if not hundreds of players who have still not come clean), anyone thinks that an admission of steroid usage by Alex is insufficient. That acknowledgement gives the media and the fans license to call him a cheater and deny him admission to the HoF, so it's hardly an insignificant pound of flesh.

Similarly, I don't understand why anyone needs to know who gave it to him, and/or what exactly he knew about the effects of the injected substances.

I think the bigger story has now become who selectively leaked Alex's name, in possible violation of the criminal law, and why.

Horace,

I don't have a problem with him being a media whore. He very obviously is. He goes out of his way to say and do things that will get him media attention, good or bad.

What annoys me is that when he gets the media attention he so craves, and somehow everyone acts like the press it out to get him. He isn't allowed to say and do the things he says and does and get away without backlash of some kind. People don't have an agenda against the man. They respond to his constant pleas for attention.

[18] Mattpat11, out of 104 positive tests, his was the ONLY name leaked..whether he is a media whore or not, isn't it obvious that the media IS out to get him??

"It's going to be the best season of our lives." This, imo, was a bit cack-indcucing. Oh, well. Hopefully Joba or Jeter puts a crate of tic-tacs in Alex's locker before he shows up tomorrow. : )

I will say one thing. Four five years now, I've never seen A-Rod as a sympathetic figure.

Until tonight when shithead Olbermann did a segment on him. Anyone that Keith Olbermann doesn't like has to have some admirable qualities.

[21] Like Bill O'Reilly? oops, politics injection... sorry!

Olney gives a pretty fair appraisal.

Pete Abe says Cashman is wishing he hadn't re-signed A-Rod.

Cash didn't want to sign A-Rod after he opted, but was overruled by the Steinbrenners. That said, Ham has been relentlessly anti-A-Rod for a long time and Cash's comments are open to interpretation.

Well, think of how many Igawas, Farnsworths, Pavanos and "the next David Ortiz" Wilson Betemits he could get with that A-Rod money...

"Rodriguez blames youth instead of genuinely owning up to mistake" - SI.com

umm, didn't he blame HIS youth? and himself? and aren't they the same thing? How many times does he have to say "I was stupid" before it can be acknowledged that he accepted blame. A-Rod should be harpooned for taking the steroids. But this stuff where they take his words and decide he said something else is ridiculous.

[27] SI and ESPN are revolting sometimes..I agree with Keith Law on this one, the whole issue shows that 90% of the baseball media are idiots

[26] looks like Igawa didn't get asked to the Japan WBC team..

[16]

"he un-selfishly gave up the chance to be the greatest SS of all time to accomdate the Captain"

This is such utter horseshit. There is absolutely no evidence that A-Rod's position change had anything to do with "accommodating" Jeter--this is entirely speculation, and tiresome speculation at that.

And "unselfish"? Please. The man was trying to do anything to escape Texas, and Texas was doing everthing to crawl out from under his contract. When the union shot down the trade to the Sox, A-Rod went with the Yankees' offer, allowing him to play in the largest and most lucrative baseball market, and subsequently renegotiate a whopping contract extension. There was nothing unselfish about his move to 3B.

Now mind you, I am not "blaming" A-Rod for making this career move. Good on him. But let's drop the "unslefish" nonsense, ad also let's not continue to propagate the "Jeter made A-Rod switch positions" myth.

[29] really? "utter horseshit"? What possible other explanation is there for not having Jeter move positions to make way for a better player in the field, who hits 50hrs at SS?? And, I don't think Jeter himself "made" the team do anything, the mgmt just didn't have the cojones to say "we're moving you to 2B", etc etc

[29] A-Rod was clearly the better defensive SS at the time of the trade. If winning is the primary goal, and ensuring that each position is filled by the best player in order to achieve that goal, A-Rod should have been the SS. The reason he wasn't the SS is because it would have been an affront to Jeter (since he didn't offer to move voluntarily). Consequently, putting A-Rod at 3B was a move made to accommodate Jeter.

[30] the mgmt just didn’t have the cojones to say “we’re moving you to 2B”, etc etc

Then his position change was to accommodate the management, not Jeter, and your claim remains horse...er, inaccurate. And whatever the case, A-Rd to 3rd was not an unselfish gesture--that's just plain silly. It was a practical maneuver that facilitated his sought after escape from Texas.
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Now, to the more interesting substance of this discussion: should the Yankees have tried to move Jeter to third or second? That is not so clear cut. Yes, A-Rod would have been more valuable at SS. But would Jeter have been as valuable at 3B? And, if they moved him to 2B (as you suggest), who would have played 3rd? No matter how they shuffled the deck, Jeter and A-Rod would still be hitting in teh same lineup, and from that perspective it doesn't matter whether A-Rod's 50* HRs came from 3B or SS.

Meanwhile, in 2005, the Yankees added a player called Robinson Cano at 2B. Had Jeter been moved to 2B, it's likely that Cano would have been blocked.

Much of the complaint that Jeter was not moved from SS stems from his declining defense, but at this point, it's not clear that the much bulked-up A-Rod would still be a good fit at SS himself (hell, I predicted he's move to 3B when he went to Texas).

So in the end, it is not at all clear that the Yankees made a clearly bad decision by moving A-Rod to third rather than moving Jeter to 3r or 2nd.

Now, one can argue that Jeter should have rotated to the OF years ago. But that argument is independent of A-Rod's position change.

[31] The reason he wasn’t the SS is because it would have been an affront to Jeter...

Can you please cite the evidence for this? Quotes from players? Torre commented on this in his book? Cashman?

...(since he didn’t offer to move voluntarily)...

Again, what is the evidence? Did Jeter offer and the management said no? Did A-Rod inform the team ahead of time that he wanted to change positions?

...Consequently, putting A-Rod at 3B was a move made to accommodate Jeter.

I'm sorry, your conclusion does not follow logically.

[32] "Now, one can argue that Jeter should have rotated to the OF years ago. But that argument is independent of A-Rod’s position change."

Fair enough, but I would still say, it's part of the GM's job to look at his roster and envision it 5 years down the line..and to see that Jeter's D would continue to decline. I don't know, but the Robin Yount example to me is a perfect one. Even Pete Rose moved positions several times..

The press conference sucked and Alex's staged attempt to cry was hilarious. He is so freaking disingenuous that he couldn't even force his eyes to water with some tears. It was embarrassing for him, the Yankees organization and his teammates. No wonder Cashman couldn't even fake empathy. Alex has no remorse for cheating and lying. He is just sorry he got caught. Whatever, dude. I can deal as long he hits the damn ball.

[30] It is actually double "utter horseshit." Cashman told the media that it was made clear to Alex and the Rangers that they already had a shortshop and they were trading for a 3rd baseman. Alex didn't have to agree to the trade. He could have honored his contract and waited for another possible trade opportunity with the Red Sox that Gammons was convinced would happen or he could have waited for his opt out year. Itiis Alex's selfishness that made him accept the trade to the Yankees. This fallacious argument to make Alex look good is tired and old now and after his cheating butt has been caught seems even more ridiculous.

[35] In that case, the organization is at fault for not putting the better player in his proper position.

I'd question your view on this..how many times must someone apologize before you would believe he has "remorse"? Also, again, it's not cheating if what you are doing is not against any rules.

[36] how many times must someone apologize before you would believe he has “remorse”?

When it comes to remorse, quality counts more than quality. I don't happen to believe A-Rod is "remorseful" or "sorry" (other than for the fact he got caught), and that opinion will not change just because he holds a series of press conferences and/or interviews. Maybe someday I'll think he's sorry.

In any case, I don't really care whether he's sorry or not. I have my views on this situation, and on PED use in general--they are well known to those who read these threads. All of this grandstanding, by the commissioner and the media and A-rod and other players, doesn't have a lot of substance, and the endless flogging of the story (by the media and fans alike) grows tiresome.

"...the endless flogging of the story (by the media and fans alike) grows tiresome."

Agreed! How about some Sir Sidney jokes?

[31] Are familiar with the legal phrase res ipsa loquitur? It means "the thing itself speaks."

One doesn't have to be a stat person (the Torre/Cashman distinction made in Torre's book) to realize that Jeter's 2003 UZR/UZR 150 of -2.0 /-3.5 was reflective of a real world reality that A-Rod (11.0/11.2) was a vastly superior defensive SS.

So if we credit both Torre and Cashman with being able to understand that obvious fact, whether they reached that assessment through observation or a reliance on statistical analysis, what other reasonable conclusion can be reached to explain the decision to leave Jeter at SS?

I would argue that the absence of quotes attesting to that fact is further evidence that no one wanted to risk hurting Jeter's feelings.

I do remember reading at the time that Jeter was quoted as saying that Alex knew that he had to play 3B in order to come to the Yankees, so it's not like he was willing to open the position up to a competition.

Also, I read a curious quote by Cashman this week:

“We are a bad defensive team, so a guy that prevents the ball from being put into play is a good thing for us.”

If Gardner plays CF, he showed signs of being very good defensively. Damon, in terms of range, grades out well in LF, and Swisher is at least average in RF. Tex is highly regarded at 1B and Alex is about average at 3B.That leaves the middle infielders, and Cano, imo, has the potential to be good defensively when his head in his the game. Just sayin'.

Sorry @ 33.

And honestly, If I thought for even a second that A-Rod coming to this team as shortstop would some how make things better, I'd build the frigging time machine right now.

Ultimately, I think we'd have the same string of failure, with A-Rod continuing his antics (because I don't think he can help himself) and Derek Jeter pouting for five years. So the constant frigging circus that is this team would just add a tent.

FACT: A rod was born on July 27, 1975.

FACT: A rod claimed he was 24/25 years old when he took steroids.

FACT: When A rod turned 25, he was a Mariner.

FACT: In 2003 (the last year he claimed to have taken steroids) he was 27/28 years old.

POSSIBLE FACT: A rod took steroids when he was a Mariner?

PROBABLE FACT: A rod doesn't know how old he is.

**side note: A rod said his two best seasons were when he was 20 and when he was...in 2007. (A rod cannot subtract 2 from his current age)

[42] I very vaguely remember how old I was when I did what I did any more than 5 years ago. Can I sit down and start to add things up? Would it be easy? sure. But do I? No I usually try and ballpark it. People get the idea. Trying to make mountains out of molehills because technically he was x years old is ridiculous. Get mad at him for what he did, not for such over-parsing.

[43] umm, and yeah, so that means he was 25 when he became a Ranger... Just like he said.

The ARod excuses are old already. The guy is an embarrassment to himself and the Yankees. Now this thing has grown like a cancer, it has evolved into something more than the PED issue, now he's telling lies - if you guys want to believe the cousin story now then so be it - all that is going to come out of the investigative reporting is more embarrassment. You know papers have their line of investigative reporters getting their expense reports ready to go and find "el primo".

We all want it to end, even me, I'm tired of this shit, but ARod, the greatest baseball player EVAH, the guy that unselfishly gave up his position to accommodate the inferior Jeter, the guy with the 158+ VORP, ARod just can't make it all go away by being truthful and giving the media enough plausible and factual information to make them happy.

I wonder if they will ask ARod these questions during the WBC:
1. Has it been a lifelong dream of your cousin that you play for the Dominican Republic too?
2. Is he here in Puerto Rico watching you?

The circus WILL never end with this guy. He's too stupid to stop tripping over his own dick. I guess if he went to college he'd be better at that. Then again, I went to college and it hasn't helped me. Oh well.......9 more "glorious" years left.

Wow, Lupica I'm afraid to say, hit the nail on the head with this:
Yes, Rodriguez has now said more than any other great baseball player ever has about his own personal drug use. Yes, he has said more than Bonds, or Mark McGwire, or Roger Clemens. But he is like someone who keeps walking around the pool, dipping a toe in the water occasionally, but never diving in. You can get by trying to define your own reality this way, but only with suckers.

[43] Obviously the holes in this story go much deeper than his age but still, the difference between 24 and 28 is a pretty huge one when your main argument is "young and naive" (not that 24 is really that young). And a guy who's turning 34 in July shouldn't really have a tremendous problem ballparking that he wasn't 24 six years ago. I'm just pointing out the obvious here: A rod is not a smart man.

[46] I take anything Lupica says with a huge mountain of salt. I liked him writing for the NY Daily News back in the 70s - early 80s, but he's gone downhill a lot since then.

So when do actual spring training games start again?

Dimelo, you've got a LOT of anger here, haven't you? We can all discuss the story without over-the-top insults to an athlete, right? And you've read others on the Banter (including me) expressing different perspectives. Upping the rants doesn't count as discussion, seems to me. But the Junot Diaz novel was very good, yes.

It amuses me to see the move to 3rd base issue still generating heat, too. It is so hard for some to even grant the guy unselfishness? If the management was stupid in moving him, if they weakened team D, they did it for a reason, no? That reason is surely personnel, 'team chemistry', ego. Michael Young certainly didn't go gently to 3rd base this spring, did he? He's there (for now) but compare it to ARod's process. It isn't necessarily a slagging of Jeter to note that Rodriguez made the move with an absolute minimum of fuss, and considerable hard work.

I think I asked this before: would any ballplayer NOT have taken that contract from Texas, given what Seattle had tabled? And my strong sense is that Rodriguez's 'troubles' date precisely to that signing.