MLB still probing A-Rod’s connection to Galea

Alex Rodriguez hanging out with his cousin is only news in the sense that he’s a famous person who did something. The story carries a little more interest, because of Yuri Sucart’s connection to steroids — after all, A-Rod was the one who outed him. But the meeting happened in a public space, and even MLB said there wasn’t any wrongdoing. Yet that has apparently led to an actual story, which Michael S. Schmidt and Serge F. Kovaleski reported in the Times yesterday. Apparently, MLB is still investigating Rodriguez’s connection to Dr. Anthony Galea, who is accused of supplying athletes with PEDs.

This is one of those things where you’re definitely better off reading the source article than our summary of it. Schmidt in particular has been following this story, and he lays it out in a reasonably easy to understand manner. But, for those who just want the facts, here’s what we know right now about the issue.

• A-Rod met with MLB before last season to discuss the former’s connection to Galea. He denied having received PEDs.
• Apparently A-Rod also testified before a federal grand jury for the case. I don’t think I’d heard that before. There is no word of what his testimony comprised, because of the rules of secrecy for grand jury proceedings. His lawyers wouldn’t even confirm that he did make the appearance.
• MLB specifically wants Galea’s medical records pertaining to Rodriguez, and he has acquiesced. “Alex fully cooperated with Major League Baseball and federal authorities in Buffalo regarding his treatment with Dr. Galea, including granting a release of his medical records,” his lawyers said in a statement.
• It is unclear why MLB has not yet received the medical records, which might be a bigger part of this story. If A-Rod did indeed give clearance, then why haven’t they seen them yet?
• Galea maintains that he didn’t give HGH to athletes, but rather to other patients. If you’re looking for a reason why MLB is continuing their investigation, there it is. That just sounds fishy. If he’s distributing HGH, is he really going to withhold it from athletes?

As was the case last time this story came to the fore, I expect it to again fade into the background until something moves in Galea’s case. For now there appears to be no connection between Rodriguez and Galea beyond the anti-inflammatories the latter gave the former. But with A-Rod’s hip doctor, Mark Philippon, sounding skeptical upon hearing about the connection, there are definitely loose ends in this case. Since MLB seems eager, maybe even overeager, to punish anyone remotely connected to anything that might be a performance enhancer, I don’t expect this to fully go away until Galea’s case is decided.