According to new reports, 33-year-old Alex Rodriguez was one of 104 major league baseball players who tested positive for steroids in 2003. The use of steroids has been officially condemned by MLB since 1991, but there were no penalties until 2004, after the 2003 drug tests found that 5% of players used performance enhancing drugs. In 2004, the government was supposed to seize the testing results of the 10 players under investigation in the BALCO scandal from a lab facility in CA, but they also took the results of other players, including A-Rod. Now information has leaked that he was a user, even though he was not originally associated with the steroid scandal. The player’s association is in a legal battle with government prosecutors, claiming that A-Rod’s results were seized without warrant. If the player’s association wins, the government will not be able to use the results against Rodriguez.

The results of that year’s survey testing of 1,198 players were meant to be anonymous under the agreement between the commissioner’s office and the players association. Rodriguez’s testing information was found, however, after federal agents, armed with search warrants, seized the ’03 test results from Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc., of Long Beach, Calif., one of two labs used by MLB in connection with that year’s survey testing. The seizure took place in April 2004 as part of the government’s investigation into 10 major league players linked to the BALCO scandal — though Rodriguez himself has never been connected to BALCO.

The list of the 104 players whose urine samples tested positive is under seal in California. However, two sources familiar with the evidence that the government has gathered in its investigation of steroid use in baseball and two other sources with knowledge of the testing results have told Sports Illustrated that Rodriguez is one of the 104 players identified as having tested positive, in his case for testosterone and an anabolic steroid known by the brand name Primobolan. All four sources spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the evidence.

Primobolan, which is also known by the chemical name methenolone, is an injected or orally administered drug that is more expensive than most steroids. (A 12-week cycle can cost $500.) It improves strength and maintains lean muscle with minimal bulk development, according to steroid experts, and has relatively few side effects. Kirk Radomski, the former New York Mets clubhouse employee who in 2007 pleaded guilty to illegal distribution of steroids to numerous major league players, described in his recent book, Bases Loaded: The Inside Story of the Steroid Era in Baseball by the Central Figure in the Mitchell Report, how players increasingly turned to drugs such as Primobolan in 2003, in part to avoid detection in testing. Primobolan is detectable for a shorter period of time than the steroid previously favored by players, Deca-Durabolin. According to a search of FDA records, Primobolan is not an approved prescription drug in the United States, nor was it in 2003. (Testosterone can be taken legally with an appropriate medical prescription.)

Rodriguez finished the 2003 season by winning his third straight league home run title (with 47) and the first of his three MVP awards.

[from Sports Illustrated]

Even if the results are allowed to be used against him, A-Rod isn’t at much risk financially. His contract has no stipulations about steroid use that would affect his pay. There may be other penalties, but at least he’ll still have the cash to shack up with Madonna and pay alimony to his ex-wife. When the Yankees signed A-Rod in 2007, the deal was a 10-year contract that would potentially amount to $305 million if certain incentives were reached. $275 million of that amount was guaranteed, while much of the rest would require that he make promotional appearances. His steroid use will certainly give his public persona a beating, especially with all of the negative speculation about his relationship with Madonna, but he’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Alex Rodriguez is shown outside the gym on 9/22/08. Credit: WENN