FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 file photo, New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez takes batting practice before Game 4 of the American League championship series against the Detroit Tigers, in Detroit. Major League Baseball says it is "extremely disappointed" about a new report that says records from an anti-aging clinic in the Miami area link Rodriguez and other players to the purchase of performance-enhancing drugs. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 file photo, New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez takes batting practice before Game 4 of the American League championship series against the Detroit Tigers, in Detroit. Major League Baseball says it is "extremely disappointed" about a new report that says records from an anti-aging clinic in the Miami area link Rodriguez and other players to the purchase of performance-enhancing drugs. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 18, 2012 file photo, New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez prepares to hit in the sixth inning during Game 4 of the American League championship series against the Detroit Tigers in Detroit. Major League Baseball says it is "extremely disappointed" about a new report that says records from an anti-aging clinic in the Miami area link Rodriguez and other players to the purchase of performance-enhancing drugs. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
This undated booking photo provided by the Miami-Dade Police Department, on Tuesday, Jan 29, 2013, shows Anthony Bosch. Major League Baseball says it is "extremely disappointed" about a new report that says records from an anti-aging clinic in the Miami area link New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and other players to the purchase of performance-enhancing drugs. The Miami New Times said in a story on Tuesday that it had obtained files through an employee at a recently closed clinic called Biogenesis. The report said that the notes of clinic chief Bosch list the players' names and the substances they received, including human growth hormone and steroids. (AP Photo/Miami-Dade Police Department)
FILE - In this Aug. 12, 2012, file photo, Oakland Athletics starter Bartolo Colon tosses the ball after Chicago White Sox's Gordon Beckham hit a two-run single during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Chicago. Major League Baseball says it is "extremely disappointed" about a new report that says records from an anti-aging clinic in the Miami area link Alex Rodriguez and other players to the purchase of performance-enhancing drugs. The Miami New Times said in a story Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, that it had obtained files through an employee at a recently closed clinic called Biogenesis. Other players named by the publication as appearing in the records include Colon, Melky Cabrera, Gio Gonzalez and Nelson Cruz.(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
FILE - In this June 12, 2012, file photo, Texas Rangers' Nelson Cruz breaks his bat while hitting a double during the second inning of their baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif. Major League Baseball says it is "extremely disappointed" about a new report that says records from an anti-aging clinic in the Miami area link Alex Rodriguez and other players to the purchase of performance-enhancing drugs. The Miami New Times said in a story Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, that it had obtained files through an employee at a recently closed clinic called Biogenesis. Other players named by the publication as appearing in the records include Cruz, Melky Cabrera, Gio Gonzalez and Bartolo Colon. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Alex Rodriguez denied a newspaper report that accused him of buying human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing substances from a Miami-area clinic.
The Miami New Times, an alternative weekly, reported Tuesday that it obtained records detailing purchases by Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, Gio Gonzalez, Bartolo Colon, Nelson Cruz and Yasmani Grandal from a clinic called Biogenesis, run by Anthony Bosch. The paper also posted copies of what it said were Bosch's handwritten records, obtained through a former Biogenesis employee.
Rodriguez admitted four years ago that he used PEDs from 2001-03. Cabrera, Colon and Grandal were suspended for 50 games each last year by MLB following tests for elevated testosterone.
"We are always extremely disappointed to learn of potential links between players and the use of performance-enhancing substances," MLB said in a statement. "Only law enforcement officials have the capacity to reach those outside the game who are involved in the distribution of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. ... We are in the midst of an active investigation and are gathering and reviewing information."
A baseball official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements, said Monday that MLB did not have any documentation regarding the allegations. If MLB does obtain evidence, the players could be subject to discipline. First offenses result in a 50-game suspension and second infractions in 100-game penalties. A third violation results in a lifetime ban.
Rodriguez is sidelined for at least the first half of the season after hip surgery Jan. 16. A 50-game suspension would cost him $7.65 million of his $28 million salary.
"The news report about a purported relationship between Alex Rodriguez and Anthony Bosch are not true," Rodriguez said in a statement issued by a publicist. "He was not Mr. Bosch's patient, he was never treated by him and he was never advised by him. The purported documents referenced in the story ? at least as they relate to Alex Rodriguez ? are not legitimate."
Jay Reisinger, a lawyer who has presented Rodriguez in recent years, said the three-time AL MVP had retained Roy Black, an attorney from Rodriguez's hometown of Miami. Black's clients have included Rush Limbaugh and William Kennedy Smith.
Rodriguez spent years denying he used PEDs before Sports Illustrated reported in February 2009 that he tested positive for two steroids in MLB's anonymous survey while with the Texas Rangers in 2003. Two days later, he admitted in an ESPN interview that he used PEDs over a three-year period. He has denied using PEDs after 2003.
If the new allegations were true, the Yankees would face high hurdles to get out of the final five years of Rodriguez's contract, which call for him to receive $114 million. Because management and the players' union have a joint drug agreement, an arbitrator could determine that any action taken by the team amounted to multiple punishments for the same offense.
The Yankees said "this matter is now in the hands of the commissioner's office" and said they will not comment further until MLB's investigation ends.
Gonzalez posted on his Twitter feed: "I've never used performance enhancing drugs of any kind and I never will, I've never met or spoken with tony Bosch or used any substance provided by him. anything said to the contrary is a lie."
Colon was not issuing a statement, agent Adam Katz said through spokeswoman Lisa Cohen. Sam and Seth Levinson, the agents for Cabrera and Cruz, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
Cruz and Gonzalez had not previously been linked to performance-enhancing drugs. Cruz's team, the Texas Rangers, said it notified MLB last week after being contacted by the New Times.
The New Times report said it obtained notes by Bosch listing the players' names and the substances they received. Several unidentified employees and clients confirmed to the publication that the clinic distributed the substances, the paper said. The employees said that Bosch bragged of supplying drugs to professional athletes but they never saw the sports stars in the office.
Rodriguez appears 16 times in the documents it received, the paper said, either as "Alex Rodriguez," ''Alex Rod" or the nickname "Cacique," a pre-Columbian Caribbean chief. The paper said the records list that Rodriguez paid for HGH; testosterone cream; IGF-1, a substance banned by baseball that stimulates insulin production; and GHRP, which releases growth hormones.
Rodriguez's cousin, Yuri Sucart, also is listed as having purchased HGH. Sucart was banned from the Yankees clubhouse, charter flights, bus and other team-related activities by MLB in 2009 after Rodriguez said Sucart obtained and injected PEDs for him.
Also listed among the records, according to the New Times, are tennis player Wayne Odesnik, Cuban boxer Yuriorkis Gamboa and Jimmy Goins, the strength and conditioning coach of the University of Miami baseball team.
Mia Ro, a spokeswoman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in Miami, said she could not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation in Bosch or the clinic.
Associated Pressnicki minaj miguel cabrera Karrueche Tran dodd frank Lark Voorhies Jennifer Livingston Orlando Cruz
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