A-Rod Claims He Was Tricked Into Using Steroids

Alex Rodriguez is in the midst of appealing his 211-game suspension to an arbitrator and according to the New York Daily News, A-Rod's defense is based at least partly on the claim that he did not know he was using banned substances.

"According to a source with knowledge of Rodriguez's ongoing arbitration hearings, the embattled Yankee and his lawyers have presented a case based partly on the idea that Rodriguez believed the substances he procured from the Biogenesis anti-aging clinic were innocent legal supplements."

This directly contradicts the testimony of Major League Baseball's key witness, Anthony Bosch, the founder of the Biogenesis clinic. MLB will also argue that amount of money A-Rod gave to the clinic as well as the secretive nature of their communications does not fit the pattern of an athlete who thought he was doing nothing wrong.

A-Rod's defense also aligns with recent comments made by Victor Conte, the Balco Founder who has also been linked to performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. According to Conte, Rodriguez met with Conte about obtaining performance-enhance products but that A-Rod only wanted products that were legal.

A-Rod's defense may also cause a problem for the MLB's case as Bosch, whom A-Rod's defense will claim is biased, is the only evidence they have to contradict A-Rod's claims. Bosch was paid for the Biogenesis evidence and MLB dropped a lawsuit based on Bosch's cooperation.