Yankees Blog

Yankee officials have told Alex Rodriguez that Yuri Sucart, believed to be the cousin who injected Major League Baseball’s biggest star with steroids, is no longer welcome at team facilities or hotels.

Baseball sources told the Daily News Thursday that the Yankees’ front office issued the ban after Rodriguez was seen jumping into an SUV driven by Sucart after Wednesday’s spring training opener against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla.

Rodriguez did not protest the decision, after he was told that Sucart, who serves as the star’s driver and go-fer, would no longer be given access to clubhouses, training rooms and other team facilities.

He acknowledged that it was a problem, one source said.

During his Feb. 17 press conference at Steinbrenner Field, Rodriguez said a cousin had secured an over-the-counter, performance-enhancing drug he called boli in the Dominican Republic and injected him with it from 2001 to 2003. Rodriguez declined to name the cousin at the press conference, but he was later identified in media reports as Sucart.

Sports Illustrated reported earlier this month that Rodriguez tested positive for testosterone and Primobolan during MLB’s 2003 survey testing year. Primobolan is not available over the counter in the Dominican Republic and must be obtained from a doctor’s prescription or on the black market.

The Daily News reported last week that controversial trainer Angel Presinal also traveled with Rodriguez during the 2007 season, often sharing a hotel room with Sucart. Rodriguez won the American League’s MVP award that year.

The News reported that Rodriguez was careful not to be seen in public with Presinal, who was banned by Major League Baseball from big league clubhouses following a 2002 incident in Toronto linking him to a gym bag filled with steroids and syringes.

Rodriguez is expected to meet with MLB investigators Thursday or Friday in

Posted in Spring Training, Yankee News |

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