In 1994, Alex Rodriguez made his major league debut in baseball for the Seattle Mariners after being the number one pick in the draft in 1993. It obviously didn’t take him long to make the major league club because he was a tremendous talent. For the rest of the 1990s, Alex played and excelled for the Mariners until the year of 2000. He then became a free agent which is a turning point in his life.
When Alex became a free agent, he signed a deal with the Texas Rangers for 10 years and $252 million dollars, the richest deal in all of baseball's history. It was when he was in Texas that Alex was starting to feel the pressure to perform at a level that matched his contract. That is when Alex, by his own admission, started to take steroids. The only evidence that he took steroids was in the 2003 season where the results of all major league drug testing was seized by the federal government in the Balco investigation. At the time, there was no penalty in major league baseball for using performance-enhancing drugs. Alex didn’t face any penalties just rumors which, at the time, he denied. For a player who is on pace to set the all time home run record, this will tarnish his reputation and any records that he might set in the future, as well as his three MVP awards he has already received.
At this time Alex says that he no longer takes the drugs to help him play better. He has said, however, that this level of play is still one of the best of any player in the game. Regardless of whether or not he still takes the drugs, his admission will no doubt his past, and well as future record.
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