I think it's likely that if Rodriguez has been using PEDs for the last few years, it's been counter-productive to him actually getting healthy. I suspect he's trying to maintain the workouts he did when he was younger (and definitely on something), and his body simply can't recover anymore, even with the help. I find it somewhat sad that he might be done; as recently as two years ago, it seemed possible he could catch the all time record for Runs, RBIs, HRs, and K's; barring a miraculous recovery, none of those seems possible anymore.  A deeply weird guy, who I rooted for when he wasn't playing the Jays, just because I always hope for the historic.

Can the Yankees simply give him a huge cheque to buy-out his contract and get under the cap that way?

Also, if this story pans out, doesn't it seem stupid to organize cheating at such a massive level? An investigation could hit the company from any of a hundred different directions, and take everyone else down. Like the tennis player who had already been suspended for two years previously...I'd stay as far away from a place he was going as possible. So many guys going to the same doctor seems absurd. But then pro-athletes aren't noted for their humility or ability to think about the downside of things (neither are some doctors). I wonder if anyone will emerge as the "canseco" for this one - again, if true, there must have been a pretty impressive recruitment procedure for athletes...

Ball Players are basically lazy.   The distance between Dunedin (Team-owned site) and Miami is around 360 Km (225 miles), a 3 1/2 - 4 hour drive.   To go for food, entertainment or sex might be a reason to travel so, but to get drugs and find the address - Ball Players aren't that bright.   That being said, it's not impossible.

Buying out or somehow getting free of A-Rod (and his salary) before the 2014 season is a must for New York - it's only money.   It makes getting under the Tax-Line for NY so much easier.  And if they dump his, who's next?

PEDs, which should be legal.

Do you say so because you have medically determined that there are not sufficient health risks to make them controlled substances?  Or are you just saying so because high slugging percentages are awesome?

"Ball Players are basically lazy."

If there is one word I'd use to describe individuals who have devoted themselves (in most cases) to mastering a skill and becoming one of the top 0.001% in the world at their chosen profession, it's definitely lazy.

"To go for food, entertainment or sex might be a reason to travel so, but to get drugs..."

I can definitely see why someone would travel for 4 hours to get a good steak, but wouldn't do it to buy a substance that has the possibility to double his earnings as a professional baseball player, get him to the big leagues, qualify him for a major league pension or something similar.

"... find the address "

If there's one thing that would be unsurmountable to any adult male, it would definitely be finding an address in a different city.

On a different note, Mike makes a good point. I also still believe the narrative, supported by evidence, around when Bonds began to use. With A-Rod, there's no reason to assume that he was PED-free at any point in his career.

I have no problem if somebody is stupid enough to shave years off his life just to make some more money while entertaining me.

However, other ballplayers are forced into a horrible choice: either risk their health by taking PEDs, or lose their jobs to those players who have.

The real problem with PEDs is the health risk - if there was no health risk, taking steroids would be roughly equivalent to taking vitamins.

I suppose it's possible that what really upsets baseball fans is what modern chemistry has done to the record book.

I could not agree with this more.

I don't believe that fans of any sport really truly care about the long-term (and often even short-term) health implications for the athletes, be it as a result of simply participating in a violent sport or because of what the athletes feel they have to do to prepare their bodies for the sport. You care about a player's health only insofar as how it hurts your team now. That's certainly not empathy.

Baseball is driven by numbers. 61 was a controversial number in its day, but with the passing of time ultimately became sacred. The uncomfortably large number of times that 61 has now been exceeded is distasteful to many, cheapening the 61 and the 60 before it. And many feel that the sacred 755 has been cheapened as well.

Had Al Gore invented the internet much earlier, say the 60s, and had the details of the players' drug regimen of the day been known, would there have been a similar outrage, faux or otherwise, over how that group of players was cheapening the numbers that came before them?

Cy Young holds the record (by far) for wins, innings etc despite starting at age 24 not because he was the best pitcher ever or even that he was durable to an otherworldly degree. 

Tough crowd...Cy Young pitched 1350 more innings than anyone, including contemporaries who simply didn't last as long. If Young didn't have otherwordly durability, I don't think anyone ever did (which I suppose is literally defensible, but still....). He only lead the league in IP twice, but those were at ages 35 and 36, and it was hard to lead the league when teams were routinely letting guys blow themselves out in a few years with 400+IP seasons.

He also lead the league in BB/9 14 times, WHIP 7 times, and BB/K 11 times. Pitching is almost entirely different from when Young started to when he finished, and to now. But in context of his own era(s), which straddled a relatively high scoring time and the lowest scoring times, he has an argument as the best.

I care about the humans as much as the spectacle.

"Players get suspended for PED's that are obtained legally in supplements."
Such as?

Poor Manny Ramirez got suspended for taking a woman's fertility drug. He had to choose between his uterus and MLB.

It's a bit ridiculous to set up a contrast between MLB's treatment of drunk driving with their treatment of PED or stimulant users. MLB is not the morality police. It is not their job to police drunk driving, murder, theft, or any other such behaviour -- it is their job to do what they think they need to do to protect the integrity of the game. MLB is no more soft on drunk driving anymore than they are soft on insider trading. It is not their duty to police either behaviour.

It's interesting to contrast their behavior towards DUIs and domestic abuse with their policies regarding dip, 'drugs of abuse', and other things that don't impact on-field performance. While it's fair to say that they're not the arbiters of morality, they do take an active role in trying to foster a wholesome public image and it's a bit sad that DUIs and domestic violence fall under the radar.

Speculation: Maybe that's what Manny was trying to do...

Manny just being Mommy.

I wish I had a picture of the big bag of ice.

After a little research and items on the news, I found I agreed with the evidence, and stopped.

Malcolm Gladwell has taken the same stance towards the NFL and has been especially vocal about his position that college football should be banned. There are certainly going to be some people who take sincere positions against pro athletes risking their health for our amusement, but those tiny voices will be drowned out by teeming hordes who don't care, or at least whose behaviours suggest they don't care. And that's acknowleding that even electing to unglue one's eyes from the TV would be a legitimate tangible objection.

We have evolved from the days of Roman gladiators, but not nearly as much as we like to fool ourselves. Witness the incredible popularity of MMA.

They obfuscate, make concessions, hide ugly truths...

Of this I have no doubt. George Orwell would well recognize the times we live in.

As far as the NFL goes, there will be evidence of pushback from the fans once TV viewership numbers drop and stadium attendance declines. That said, Super Bowl viewership did decline this year from last (in the US, 111 million 108) but the reasons, of course, cannot be easily teased out. Perhaps pushback really was part of it. Perhaps the absence of either Manning or Tom Brady played a role.

It is a mistake, in my view, to attribute these actions as a reflection of hypocrisy of a great majority of the public. 

I, personally, would be reluctant to brandish anyone a hypocrite in this situation. One can have genuine concern for the players and yet still watch the games, the same we can buy goods made in China and deplore their working conditions. These issues are complicated and people can behave in seemingly contradictory ways yet remain genuinely empathetic. Or maybe I'm just rationalizing. Maybe I don't want to feel as though I share any burden of the guilt.

I wonder, though, what will cause reformation in the NFL and NHL? Junior Seau was a much beloved superstar, not an anonymous defensive lineman. I don't know that his celebrity has resulted in the appropriate shock waves. I do condede that I don't follow the NFL too terribly closely so maybe I'm mistaken on this matter.

We have evolved from the days of Roman gladiators, but not nearly as much as we like to fool ourselves. Witness the incredible popularity of MMA.

While I once enjoyed the odd boxing match, I am no longer interested. Similarly to boxers, I can admire the physical training/abilities of MMA fighters, but have never been interested, other than a few minutes here or there to get an idea of what it is all about. In the case of MMA, to me, it's too close to street fighting (i.e. reality).