A-Rod on "60 Minutes"

At 7 o'clock Sunday night, Alex Rodriguez talked to Katie Couric on "60 Minutes". In his interview, he was grilled by Couric about his opting out during the clinching game of the World Series. A-Rod ensured everyone watching that he was as shocked as them when on-field reporter Ken Rosenthal claimed that Alex would be opting out of his contract with the New York Yankees. He insisted that the timing of the announcement could be put solely on the shoulders of his agent, Scott Boras. (Source)

A-Rod told Couric that he was under the impression that the announcement would come one or two days after the World Series was over, thus confirming Scott Boras' selfishness and also putting to bed one of the issues fans still have against him. She asked about his situation with Boras, and Alex said that they are not speaking at the moment. Couric then asked if they would speak again and A-Rod replied "We'll see."

Couric then moved on to the topic of the week: steroids. When asked if he ever used steroids, human growth hormone, or any other performance enhancing drug, A-Rod simply said "No". When asked if he was ever tempted to use any of these drugs, A-Rod said "No". The conversation continued as follows:

Couric: You never felt like, 'This guy's doing it, maybe I should look into this, too? He's getting better numbers, playing better ball.'

Rodriguez: I've never felt overmatched on the baseball field. And I've felt that if I did my work as I've done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn't have a problem competing on any level. So, no.

The interview then turned the way of other players, like Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens. A-Rod declined comment on them besides saying that if all of it was true, it would be a "black eye" for the game of baseball. He did not throw any of his teammates under the bus, regardless of what he really thought, he kept his opinions to himself. 

A-Rod realized he got perhaps the first break of his life when it comes to the media. There is a huge debate right now in the baseball world about the Mitchell Report, a report not containing the name "Alex Rodriguez". But as A-Rod knows, this is the first time in a long time that he can wake up and read about a crisis in baseball without seeing his picture on the back page of the Daily News.