'America's Pregame': Can A-Rod get out from under PED cloud?
It's safe to say the New York Yankees wouldn't be in first place in the American League East without Alex Rodriguez. In fact, under other circumstances, he could even be considered part of the Most Valuable Player discussion.
Rodriguez, who turned 40 on Monday, is having a stellar season as the Yankees' designated hitter, batting .277 with a .375 on-base percentage, 23 homers and 58 RBI entering Monday night's game in Texas.
But after serving a year suspension for issues related to performance-enhancing drugs and his admission of previous steroid use, that cloud of PED suspicion may never go away. Watch FOX Sports 1's "America's Pregame" crew discuss A-Rod in the video above.
When asked before Monday's game what a 40-year-old A-Rod would tell the 30- or 20-year-old A-Rod, he first said he wasn't in position to give anyone advice, including himself. But he then said there was a point in time when hitting home runs and being a great player were all that mattered to him.
"I figured that if I hit more home runs, it would justify for whatever behavior I had off the field," he said, without being specific. "And I realize today that it's not that way at all. Hitting home runs doesn't make you a good father. It doesn't make you a good friend. And it certainly doesn't make you a good teammate. And to me, they're both important."
Speaking of his year away from the game, Rodriguez said:
"I had a lot of time to think and evaluate. It was a dark time, for sure. To be able to come back this year and look back, and hopefully I'm going to be a better player but more importantly a better person for the next 40 years."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
