A cousinly business association that connected former Yankees star Alex Rodriguez with Anthony Bosch, the founder of Biogenesis, took a dark turn and ended up involving blackmail. The player’s cousin, who was once his confidant, extorted money from him to keep his PED taint under wraps.
An explosive report from ESPN, relying on documents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, lays out the sequence of events where Alex Rodriguez’s elder cousin, Yuri Sucart Sr., paved the way for him to procure performance-enhancing substances from Bosch. This ultimately led to Alex Rodriguez’s suspension.
The connection between the two deteriorated to such an extent that Sucart attempted to extort $5 million from the Yankees’ third baseman, leveraging his business dealings with Bosch and threatening to report it to Major League Baseball.
Alex Rodriguez’s admission about cousin’s blackmailing
Alex Rodriguez disclosed this startling revelation during a meeting on January 29, 2014, attended by seven DEA agents and two assistant attorneys from the Department of Justice. The meeting centered on his association with Bosch, who had been supplying performance-enhancing drugs to MLB stars.
Yuri Sucart, who had once held the role of Alex Rodriguez’s “well-compensated assistant,” had been entrusted with the responsibility of being Alex Rodriguez’s personal handler since the young phenom entered the major leagues at the age of 18 in 1994, as per ESPN’s account.
According to the report, the three-time MVP disclosed to federal agents that his cousin had been a supplier of performance-enhancing drugs for more than a decade.
In 2009, Alex Rodriguez publicly acknowledged that an associate, later identified as Sucart, had aided him in acquiring performance-enhancing substances from the Dominican Republic for use during his tenure with the Rangers from 2001 to 2003. The Yankees subsequently acquired the player for the 2004 season.
Sucart, acting on behalf of Alex Rodriguez, initiated contact with Anthony Bosch in 2009 to inquire about human growth hormone, eventually requesting some of Bosch’s “gummy” samples. This connection was facilitated by Jorge “Ugi” Velazquez, a friend of Bosch.
In a troubling turn of events, Sucart threatened to extort Rodriguez on December 24, 2012. He demanded the previously mentioned sum of $5 million under the threat that he would expose Rodriguez’s unlawful activities to Major League Baseball, as outlined in ESPN’s report.
Rodriguez asserted that they had come to a “private financial arrangement” to withhold specific particulars. In contrast, Sucart’s representatives contended that Rodriguez had previously proposed a confidential agreement, but they couldn’t reach an accord regarding the financial terms.
The Miami Herald reported that Rodriguez referred to it as an “extortion letter” when discussing it with DEA agents, ultimately agreeing to pay $900,000.
Cousin procured PED substances for A-Rod
Bosch shared with ESPN that Ugo, a mutual friend, had introduced him to Sucart, describing Sucart as a special individual. He also mentioned that Sucart would be wearing Yankees attire and a 2009 World Series ring.
Sucart and Velazquez proceeded to facilitate a meeting between Bosch and Alex Rodriguez in 2010, as outlined in the report. The Miami Herald reported that their business association had come to an end in 2012.
According to ESPN, Alex Rodriguez initiated payments to Bosch amounting to approximately $12,000 per month for performance-enhancing substances. Eventually, in 2013, he faced a 211-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
From 2010 to 2012, Alex Rodriguez received “doping protocols” that included testosterone creams and red, gummy-like lozenges containing testosterone and human growth hormone from Bosch.
Sucart, who declined to comment when approached by ESPN, assumed the role of a “middleman responsible for channeling cash” to Bosch.
Alex Rodriguez used his business account to issue checks for Sucart and also provided cash payments to Bosch. However, his relationship with Sucart deteriorated significantly. The former Yankees third baseman informed federal agents that he had terminated his cousin’s employment after Sucart had “recklessly expended an estimated $250,000 to $500,000” of his funds without obtaining Rodriguez’s consent, as reported in the account.
As a twist in the tale, Rodriguez provided federal agents with sensitive information about Sucart that had the consequence of involving other individuals in the federal investigation records. This included disclosing the identity of Sucart’s married girlfriend. Sucart was subsequently sentenced to seven months in prison in 2015 and permanently barred from entering MLB facilities.
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Arod, in my opinion, was a target of MLB rath. He was difficult to get along with, he constantly put himself above the game. Yes, he was exceptionally talented, a constant game winner, 3 time MVP. No one can deny his ultra talent. But he never stopped letting everyone in the clubhouse know just how special he was and demanded special treatment. This kind of clubhouse behavior was never accepted among his peers and also in MLB history. Greats like Mantle, DiMaggio, Maris and Aaron,etc, we’re humble giants in baseball, total gentlemen. I won’t mention the great Ted Williams, he had a terrible habit of spitting on fans. What ever happened to the gentlemen of our national pastime