As scandal after scandal provides new insight into the world of steroids in Major League Baseball (MLB), Alex Rodriguez’s name continues to be connected. Try as he may to hide inside loopholes and claim his innocence, Rodriguez continues to behave differently.
He has already admitted to steroid use early in his career, which helped him attain his first $250 million contract, and has claimed to be drug free ever since. However, when the Biogenesis Clinic in Florida was investigated for distribution of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs), Rodriguez’s name was found to be connected. The investigators found that Rodriguez paid an employee of his to purchase any documents from the clinic attached to his name. It was also found that Rodriguez may have brought other players to the clinic in some cases to attain PEDs. Admittedly, when Rodriguez was caught using the first time, steroids were not banned yet but being involved with a steroid distributor nearly a decade later does not say much about his innocence.
A-Rod believes MLB is targeting him unjustly, but are they? He admitted to cheating once and was rewarded with two of the most lucrative contracts in the sports history. He has continuously been linked to PEDs while avoiding being caught and has opened the door for other players to cheat as well. And when it came time to “pay the piper” he chose to fight the accusations while squeezing out every dollar he could before they suspend him for what may very well be life. As he continues to play baseball fueled with these PEDs, he finds himself in the company of baseball’s most sacred names. Why wouldn’t MLB go after him?
Baseball handled the “Steroid Age” horribly and many of the policies that are in place are embarrassingly flawed but that does not change the fact that A-Rod attempted to beat the system and was caught. Politics alone will keep him from ever being inducted to the Hall of Fame. A-Rod did what was easy, not what was right in order to build his legacy, and now the MLB will understandably do what is right and punish him for it.