TAMPA — Alex Rodriguez didn’t shuffle off to Buffalo yesterday, but he certainly did some dancing around the subject.
Rodriguez, reportedly expected to meet with the feds in Buffalo yesterday, had his meeting postponed by mutual consent, a person familiar with the delay told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no statements were authorized.
Rodriguez, perhaps because of that prohibition, was vague when asked about why he hasn’t talked with the FBI and when he will.
“This is what I can tell you,” A-Rod said yesterday, “is nothing’s changed.”
Rodriguez reportedly was to meet with the FBI yesterday to discuss his involvement with Toronto doctor Anthony Galea. But in an unexpected twist, Rodriguez was with the Yankees yesterday afternoon, getting ready to play the Phillies last night, and said his FBI summit to discuss the reputed HGH doctor never happened.
Instead, Rodriguez said the meeting’s time is still to be determined and that he would speak with both the FBI and MLB soon, though he declined to say exactly when.
“We’re going to continue to work together. We’re going to cooperate. And we’re going to talk with the feds and Major League Baseball shortly,” Rodriguez said.
He is optimistic the meetings will occur before Opening Day.
“No guarantees,” he said, “but that is certainly the hope, and we’re confident it will be.”
If Rodriguez originally was supposed to have an FBI meeting yesterday, why he did not have it is unknown. One of his lawyers, Jay K. Reisinger, did not return an e-mail seeking comment.
Asked if he was supposed to have something — a meeting, in other words — that got postponed yesterday, Rodriguez said, “Not that we talked about. … No one said [there would be one yesterday]. You’re not supposed to believe everything you read.”
Rodriguez insisted that he spent Thursday night in Tampa, but when asked if he was in Buffalo yesterday, he replied, “Again, I can’t say anything else.”
Yesterday The Post’s Joel Sherman reported Rodriguez is planning to tell the FBI that he visited Galea for platelet replacement therapy, just as other elite athletes did, and that the therapy helped him get on the field faster. He said he never knew Galea before and that the doctor was recommended to him by chiropractor Mark Lindsay, to whom hip doctor Marc Philippon directs post-op patients.
After Rodriguez has his meeting with the FBI, he will also have a meeting with MLB, as The Post reported earlier this week. The league’s Department of Investigation will be the one handling it, just as it handled his steroid revelations last year.
Mets stars Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes already spoke to the FBI about their involvement with Galea, but Rodriguez said he was not delaying his own summit. Since his steroid revelations last year, Rodriguez has become particularly cautious. Thus, it’s not surprising that he’s taking a more deliberate path here than both Reyes and Beltran.
“No, we’re not delaying it. I don’t think anyone is to blame here,” he said. “I think we all have the same goal in mind, to cooperate with both parties and we’re going to move forward. And everything’s going to be fine.”
A-Rod, who was in last night’s lineup against the Phillies, also said he does not want this drawn out, saying his goal is to “just go in and go out and keep it simple. And not create more of a big show.”
GM Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi refused to say much on Rodriguez, with Cashman declining to comment outright and Girardi essentially no-commenting nearly everything he was asked.
“When anything involves the government,” Girardi said. “I’m not really going to speak to it.”