Free Republic

In 2003, when he won the American League home run title and the AL Most Valuable Player award as a shortstop for the Texas Rangers, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids, four sources have independently told Sports Illustrated. Rodriguez's name appears on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball's '03 survey testing, SI's sources say. As part of a joint agreement with the MLB Players Association, the testing was conducted to determine if it was necessary to impose mandatory random drug testing across the major leagues in 2004. When approached...

Alex Rodriguez makes more this year than his hometown Florida Marlins. Boosted by his new deal with the New York Yankees, A-Rod tops the major league baseball salary list at $28 million, according to a study of contract terms by The Associated Press. The 33 players on the Marlins' opening-day roster and disabled list total $21.8 million...

In the public imagination, sports negotiations unfold along the lines of "Jerry Maguire" and other fictional portrayals -- fast-talking, bare-knuckled agents going to head-to-head with cigar-smoking team owners in a game of "Show Me the Money." But when New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez stumbled in his efforts to ink a stratospheric new contract, he turned to a different set of characters: Omaha investor Warren Buffett and two executives from Goldman Sachs Group Inc...

Alex Rodriguez opted out of his $252 million, 10-year contract with the Yankees on Sunday in what appears to be the end of his tumultuous career with New York. Rodriguez's decision, announced by agent Scott Boras as the rival Boston Red Sox completed their World Series sweep of Colorado, makes the third baseman eligible to become a free agent. Boras said he attempted to notify Yankees general manager Brian Cashman of the decision but couldn't reach him, so he left a voice mail. "He was traveling and I was traveling," Boras said. Rodriguez loses the final $72 million in guaranteed...

Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter are among the headliners on the 30-man U.S. team roster announced on Tuesday for next month's inaugural World Baseball Classic. ADVERTISEMENT The 16-nation tournament will feature the world's best players competing for their home countries staged over three weeks. Clemens, 43, winner of a record seven Cy Young Awards for major league pitching excellence, will be joined by fellow-starters Dontrelle Willis, Jake Peavy and C.C. Sabathia on a pitching staff that will be stacked with 10 relievers. "I'm excited to be a part of it," Clemens, a free agent after going 13-8 with...

NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball players made new proposals Saturday on the key issues of revenue sharing and a luxury tax, and owners immediately slammed them as moves backward. ``We could not have been more disappointed in the proposal we received,'' said Rob Manfred, the owners' chief labor lawyer. ``This is raw regressive bargaining.'' Six days before the union's Aug. 30 strike deadline, the sides appear to be on a collision course for baseball's ninth work stoppage since 1972. There was no immediate response from the union. Manfred accused players of backtracking on increased revenue sharing. The union proposed Saturday...