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The Associated Press and the New York Times reported Tuesday that Alex Rodriguez will finally meet with federal investigators who are looking into a Dr. Anthony Galea who allegedly may have supplied HGH and other illegal drugs to athletes. Sources indicated to both that Rodriguez will meet with investigators on Friday in Buffalo, NY.
Rodriguez has ties to Galea because the doctor assisted him with his rehabilitation last season from hip surgery. During a March 8 interview with the AP, Galea said that he has only prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs to Rodriguez in the past.
Mets shortstop Jose Reyes said earlier this month that he also met with federal investigators regarding Galea.
As I said earlier this month, this is nothing serious and should not come back bad on A-Rod in any way. For A-Rod to be associated with this doctor after his hip surgery, we can only assume that the Yankees approved this association and we can only assume they looked into the guy beforehand. It is, however, unfortunate that A-Rod has to deal with this distraction by taking a day to fly from Tampa to Buffalo.
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Last year I predicted that reigning AL MVP Joe Mauer would sign with the Yankees in the 2010 offseason. Boy was I wrong.
Monday it was made official. It was announced that Mauer had signed a 8 year extension with the Minnesota Twins to remain their catcher through at least the 2017 season. The deal is for $184 Million and average of $23 Million a year and includes a full no-trade clause.
Mauer has been one of the best hitters in the American League, winning the batting title three times and was the clear-cut winner for the MVP in 2009 hitting .365 with 28 homers and 96 RBI. Oh, and he missed the first few weeks of the season.
Mauer grew up in the midwest and is considered to be a hometown boy so it’s not surprising the Twins wanted to keep their fans happy by signing Mauer long-term. However, had Mauer waited to re-sign, he could have tested the free agent open waters this fall and would have easily gotten anywhere from $175-$225 Million. I had predicted the Yankees might be willing to offer him 6 years in the neighborhood of $190 Million, or $32 Million a year.
That would more than exceed the $27 Million that Alex Rodriguez averages annually, but then again, Mauer has won 3 batting titles in his 6 seasons as a big league and established himself as the best player in the American League last season.
The Twins are most definitely trying to prove to their fans that they are serious about competing with the Yankees and Red Sox and this move is a good way to make that point. However, I hope they don’t make the same mistakes with Mauer that Texas made with Rodriguez from 2000-2003, causing the team with the best player in the league to finish at the bottom of the standings every year.
ESPN is reporting that Alex Rodriguez will meet with federal investigators in the near future regarding disgraced doctor Tony Galea, to whom Rodriguez apparently has ties to. A-Rod has been contacted by the government investigators and has announced he plans to cooperate.
Again, as I stated earlier today, there is probably nothing in this about A-Rod specifically – meaning he shouldn’t get into any trouble. It appears that he never met Galea directly and only has ties to him through another man.
Rodriguez would be the second MLB player to meet with federal investigators regarding Galea. NY Mets shortstop Jose Reyes met with the FBI last week.
“They just asked me basically how I met the guy and stuff like that and what he put in my body,” Reyes said to the AP. “I explained to them what he [was] doing. … I don’t worry about anything because I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Galea is known for a controversial, but not illegal or rule-breaking, technique where blood is removed from the body, spun in a centrifuge, and then reinserted to help healing. This blood spinning technique is designed to speed recovery from injuries.
UPDATE 4:55 pm : Statement from NY Yankees (via Lohud Yankees Blog)
“The New York Yankees have not been contacted with regard to an investigation of Dr. Tony Galea. The Yankees never authorized Dr. Tony Galea to treat Alex Rodriguez, nor do we have any knowledge of any such treatment. The Yankees authorized Dr. Marc Philippon to operate on Alex and oversee his rehabilitation. At the request of Dr. Philippon, we also authorized Dr. Mark Lindsay to supervise the daily rehabilitation program established by Dr. Philippon. We will continue to monitor the situation.”
The Daily News has linked slugger Alex Rodriguez to a sketchy Canadian doctor named Tony Galea who has been accused of illegally bringing HGH and other drugs into the US from Canada. At this time,I think it is important to point out that Rodriguez only appears to be linked to this guy through Mark Lindsay, a chiropractor who is associated with Galea and assisted A-Rod with his hip rehabilitation last season.
I don’t really read too much into this. Lindsay was also linked to the BALCO shenanigans in the past and I sincerely doubt the Yankees would have allowed Rodriguez to associate with this guy if he was still shady – plus there does not seem to be any evidence that A-Rod even met or associated with Galea himself. It’s still too early to say exactly what might come of this, but I think it’s just the Daily News getting on A-Rod and being an admitted steroid user in the past doesn’t really help.
Galea does seem to have a serious connection with Tiger Woods – having visited him several times during his 2008 knee rehab.
Check out the story here.
Although this is old news – it happened Saturday – I wanted to throw out a quick post about this. Alex Rodriguez is finally being honored for a great postseason. After struggling in the postseason most of his career, Rodriguez stepped up in the ’09 postseason, leading the Yankees with a .365 BA, 6 homers and 18 RBI in 15 games. The 18 RBI tied a postseason record.
As a result of his play at the plate, the Yankees were able to capture their 27th world championship – and the first for A-Rod. He was given the award at the annual New York Baseball Writers dinner.
I’m proud of the way A-Rod stepped up this season after being outed as a steroid user and his transformation into a good teammate and Yankee has been amazing. After the postseason he had, he was most deserving of the award.
In the past, current Yankees Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera have won the Babe Ruth Award.
