Obligatory A-Rod entry

So the big news is that Alex Rodriguez is among players implicated in a clinic that supplied PEDs. Big whoop.

I don’t know what’s more troubling: the fact the he’s another player who has lied or that the newspaper that broke the story, according to the NY Times “said it had received the records from an unnamed former employee of the clinic, which is now closed, and that they included handwritten notations listing various drugs that were allegedly distributed to various players…. However the documents have not been independently authenticated.” [my emphasis]

Is anyone else bothered by this seeming lack of journalistic ethics? Unnamed former source? Handwritten notations? Not independently authenticated?Not to mention that these seem to be personal medical records, which one might expect to garner some degree of privacy (although I may be wrong given the nature of the “clinic”).

Granted, Rodriguez has a very low credibility rating among a lot of sportswriters (and probably a fair share baseball fans, too), and we’re tired of being lied to, but how about a little more investigation winning out over the need to break a story? Are we so intent on hanging the increasingly unpopular ballplayer that we forgo any semblance of fairness? I almost feel sorry for him.

Tony Kornheiser even asked (tongue-in-cheek) on yesterday’s Pardon the Interruption, if perhaps the Yankees, now remorseful over signing Rodriguez to a $275  million, 10-year contract in 2007, aren’t the one’s who leaked the information. They’re seeking avenues in which they can void the remainder of the contract.When you think about it, they’re paying more than $32 million for a third baseman this year: A-Rod’s $20+ and the $12 for Kevin Youkilis, who will hold down the position until Rodriguez returns (which may or may not be this season).

To my mind, the Yankees, which is only now finally realizing it can’t sustain those famous Steinbrenner-conceived free agent deals, is at fault for agreeing to this in the first place.

The Times‘ Tyler Kepner takes a fairly-even handed approach in today’s column. You know there are hundreds of writers who are calling for the Yankees cut cut bait here. As much as I might dislike him, I am not among them, at least until more evidence is substantiated.

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