Biogenesis founder Anthony Bosch said he injected Alex Rodriguez with banned substances, according to a CBS News report on Saturday.
According to the report, Bosch told “60 Minutes” he personally injected Rodriguez because “Alex is scared of needles, so at times, he would ask me to inject.”
Bosch was Major League Baseball’s chief witness in its case against Rodriguez. He cooperated with the league after it dropped Bosch from a lawsuit and paid his legal fees. Rodriguez’s legal team fought Bosch’s credibility and argued that MLB’s arrangement tainted his testimony but it helped secure a 162-game suspension, as well as the postseason, for Rodriguez in 2014.
In the interview, set to air Sunday, Bosch said he personally delivered banned substances, including testosterone, insulin-like growth factor 1 and human growth hormone to Rodriguez at least a dozen times and Rodriguez paid him $12,000 a month in cash.
Rodriguez has denied using PEDs as a Yankee and vowed Saturday to bring his fight to federal court after Saturday’s ruling by independent arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, which reduced the original suspension of 211 games.
“60 Minutes” also said it obtained text messages between Bosch and Rodriguez, showing daily communication about the “protocol” and Bosch added that Rodriguez associates attempted to prevent him from cooperating with MLB’s investigation.
MLB COO Rob Manfred told “60 Minutes” the “concerns seemed credible, particularly given that he identified individuals that we had our own concerns about.”
Bosch previously had said he did not distribute PEDs to any athletes, and his camp released a statement following Horowitz’s ruling.
“Tony Bosch doesn’t take joy in seeing Alex Rodriguez suspended from baseball but he believes the arbitrator’s decision was appropriate,” the statement read. “He is glad to have the arbitration behind him and believes he can play a valuable role in the future by educating athletes about the dangers of performance enhancing drugs.”