TAMPA, FLA.— Alex Rodriguez didn’t have much to say the day after a Canadian doctor under investigation in both Canada and the U.S. said he treated the third baseman last year during his rehab.
But A-Rod did say he was “at ease” with things.
Rodriguez, speaking briefly at his locker in the Yankees’ clubhouse Tuesday morning, did not refute, or confirm for that matter, the claim of Dr. Anthony Galea, a sports medicine doctor facing multiple charges, including the distribution of performance enhancing drugs, that he treated Rodriguez with anti-inflammatories.
“I have nothing new to report,” Rodriguez said.
Asked if he wasn’t talking because he doesn’t want to talk or that he’s been told not to, Rodriguez paused and laughed.
“I think the latter,” he said.
Though Rodriguez has been criticized for not talking at length in the last week, rarely, if at all, do individuals involved in such inquiries speak publicly before meeting with investigators.
The Mets’ Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran each talked recently about their interviews with authorities relating to the same case, but did so after their sessions with investigators, not before.
Rodriguez said last week he had been contacted by federal authorities and planned to cooperate but said Tuesday he was still not aware when or where the interview would take place.
Galea told The Associated Press on Monday that he has never given HGH to any athlete and that he treated Rodriguez with anti-inflammatories while the third baseman was recovering from hip surgery.
The doctor who performed that surgery, Marc Philippon, told The New York Times on Monday that he did not know of Galea having treated Rodriguez until Galea’s statements to the AP.
The Yankees privately have expressed irritation with Rodriguez regarding his connection to Galea and they’ll have plenty of questions for him once he talks to investigators, the primary of which might be why he didn’t tell them about possibly seeking medical help outside the club.
Publicly the Yankees have declined to comment beyond the statement they released last week after Rodriguez said he had been contacted by, and would cooperate with, federal authorities investigating Galea.
Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner, speaking Tuesday after the announcement of the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at the Stadium, declined to elaborate on the statement in which the Yankees essentially distanced themselves from Galea, saying they never “authorized Dr. Tony Galea to treat Alex Rodriguez nor do we have any knowledge of any such treatment.”
“There’s really nothing more to say than what we said last week,” Steinbrenner said. “We didn’t know Alex was seeing this doctor. I’m told that he’s going to cooperate with the authorities in full, answer some questions for them. Until that’s done, there’s not much to add.”
Rodriguez said Tuesday he had not spoken to Beltran or Reyes, and also said he was not frustrated that others in the case have started to speak out.
“I’m at ease no matter what,” Rodriguez said. “But like I said, I have nothing else to add.”
Asked if he would just as soon get the matter over with, he nodded.
“Sure.”
McClatchy-Tribune