So who hasn’t used the juice during the steroid era?
David Wells isn’t suspicious of every player from the mid-1990s to present day, but the former pitcher says there is only one name among active players that would stun him if ever it appeared in conjunction with illegal performance enhancers.
“If Derek Jeter tried it I’d be [shocked], and the rest of the field is on its own,” Wells told The Post yesterday as news was spreading Alex Rodriguez had admitted to juicing from 2001-03 with the Rangers.
SHERMAN: ON ‘ROID TO RUIN OR RECOVERY
DISGUSTED FANS ARE CALLING IT FOUL BALL
“Baseball would fold if Derek Jeter came out and said he did steroids. He’s just such a good individual. He’s a model citizen of Major League Baseball and probably a good role model for the world. That’s the one guy it would surprise the hell out of me if he did it.”
The revelation that Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003 did not surprise Wells. The lefty said he had his suspicions about several members of the Rangers, based on what he saw beginning in the 1990s.
“You look at Pudge Rodriguez . . . you look at all these guys who were on that Texas team,” Wells said. “Then you see how skinny those guys were and then all of a sudden the next two years they’re freaking monsters. That’s when I raised my suspicion, when those guys were together.”
Jose Canseco, a Ranger from 1992-1994, said in his book that he introduced Ivan Rodriguez to steroids, though he was not implicated in the Mitchell Report or any other investigation.
Canseco said he also introduced Juan Gonzalez, a Ranger from 1989-1999, to steroids. The two-time MVP was stopped at the Canadian border in 2001 and found with steroids and syringes, though he said they belonged to his personal trainer.
While neither Pudge nor Gonzelez were in the Mitchell Report, it did include several players with Texas ties, including Rafael Palmeiro.
Kevin Brown (a Ranger from 1986-1994), Ken Caminiti (2001), Randy Velarde (2001), John Rocker (2002), Mike Stanton (1996), Gregg Zaun (1999) are also in the Mitchell Report.
Wells released a controversial book in 2003 that claimed as many as 40 percent of MLB players at the time were using steroids. Wells later amended the comment – he claims he was misrepresented in his own book – saying the number was probably closer to 15 percent.
But based on what has transpired the last few years, with BALCO and the release of the Mitchell Report, Wells, who last pitched in 2007, laughs at his low estimate.
“I look like an idiot there, I should have said 90 [percent],” Wells said. “Everybody should have said 90. If you’re writing a book, say 90 percent.
“You hear people saying, ‘I’m so sick of steroids,’ but you know what, it needs to be addressed, so I’m not sick and tired of it. You have to clean up the game.”
From the Yankees’ perspective, Rodriguez’s situation obscures the release of Joe Torre’s controversial new book, in which Wells is a target. Wells said he recently obtained a copy of the book.
“[Torre] is an idiot for doing it,” Wells said. “Now you look at it, and what are these Dodger players going to do? If I were them, I’d tell Torre just to stay the hell out of the clubhouse and just stay in your office.”
mpuma@nypost.com