TAMPA — Alex Rodriguez says he isn’t concerned that the feds wanting to talk to him about Dr. Tony Galea will develop into a distraction for him and the defending World Series champion Yankees.
At the same time, the Yankees quickly distanced themselves from any involvement with Galea, a Canadian who was arrested in Toronto in October and charged with smuggling HGH and Actovegin into the U.S. His lawyer, Brian H. Greenspan, has said his client denies any wrongdoing.
Rodriguez acknowledged yesterday the feds have contacted him and that he plans to talk to them about his relationship with Galea.
But he refused to comment about his relationship with Galea, saying, “I can’t get into it.”
He did say, when questioned by reporters at George M. Steinbrenner Field yesterday on whether the situation could develop into a distraction: “This is about someone else.”
“I’m going to cooperate the best I can and focus on baseball,” said Rodriguez, who didn’t have a date for a meeting but said, “I am waiting for instructions.”
It could be as soon as today, since the Yankees have a team outing planned but no workout.
While the nature of the Rodriguez-Galea relationship — if any — is not known, A-Rod likely was introduced to Galea by Toronto chiropractor Mark Lindsay, who monitored Rodriguez’s rehab from hip surgery last spring.
The Yankees said they authorized Dr. Marc Philippon, who did the surgery, and Lindsay to work with their superstar and cleanup hitter, but that they didn’t do the same with Galea.
“The New York Yankees have not been contacted with regards to the investigation of Dr. Tony Galea,” the club said in a statement.
“The Yankees never authorized Dr. Tony Galea to treat Alex Rodriguez, nor did we have any knowledge of such treatment. The Yankees authorized Dr. Marc Philippon to operate on Alex and oversee the rehabilitation. At the request of Dr. Philippon, we also authorized Dr. Mark Lindsay to supervise the daily rehabilitation program established by Dr. Philippon.”
MLB is monitoring what the feds do with Rodriguez, who met with MLB investigators last spring after he was outed as having used steroids from 2001-2003.
The feds likely want to ask Rodriguez what, if any, treatment he received from the doctor whose specialty is plasma replacement therapy, which is designed to quicken the rehab process.
Galea treated Tiger Woods when the world’s greatest golfer was coming back from knee surgery.
Lindsay and Galea have worked together at Affinity Health, a Toronto sports medicine facility.
Mets shortstop Jose Reyes was treated by Galea, and last week the FBI questioned Reyes about Galea. Reyes had his agent in the room for the interview.
Rodriguez, since returning from hip surgery May 8, has avoided controversy.
What this amounts to doesn’t seem like much. However, when Rodriguez is involved, even the smallest issue has the ability to quickly grow into a colossal one.