Earlier in the month, it was reported that 20 players had been listed in a report from the Biogenesis Clinic, and that those players received performance-enhancing drugs from said clinic.
One of the names listed was that of Alex Rodriguez, who has been connected to steroids in the past. And with the names, the MLB announced that they were planning on handing out suspensions to players who were named in the report.
The problem became that, other than the list of names, there was little to no hard evidence that proves those players were guilty. Normally, a failed drug test is required to make a suspension, and that was not present in this case.
But now, at least for A-Rod, there is some more evidence of his guilt. A man named Porter Fischer came out claiming that Anthony Bosch, founder of the clinic, visited A-Rod during the ALCS in Detroit, likely to help A-Rod combat his slump.
Fischer then claimed that the MLB payed him $5,000 in exchange for the list of names, that he chose to give up when he left Biogenesis. He reportedly left due to a conflict with Bosch, that included Bosch being $4,000 short on a payment to Fischer. On top of that, Fischer said that A-Rod, after hearing that he was going to release the info, gave Bosch “at least 4,000 ‘to make it go away.'”
It seems that the MLB finds what Fischer says credible, at least enough to continue an investigation. It isn’t clear if it is in fact true or not, but we can’t know for sure at this point. If it is, it could be enough to punish A-Rod for real.
