A-Rod Heads to Sarasota

MLB investigators were supposed to meet with Alex Rodriguez today to discuss his steroid use, his cousin, his association with baseball persona non grata. Except A-Rod was on his way to Sarasota for today's game with the Reds.

After today's game, A-Rod will be traveling with the Dominican team in the World Baseball Classic, making it harder to set up a meeting.

Perhaps will get an OJ like chase down the highway sans Ford Bronco.

Cano Worked out with Banned Trainer

To Robinson Cano, the accusations against banned trainer Angel Presinal are all hearsay. Cano hasn't witnessed Presinal using performance enhancing drugs as part of his workouts and has never had any discussions about the subject. To Cano, Presinal is a guy "who knows what he's doing" when it comes to exercise and getting in shape, and that is why Cano worked out with Presinal this winter.

While Cano sees nothing wrong with Presinal, he did admit that he saw Presinal around when the Yankees were on the road in 2007. Alex Rodriguez stated that he didn't use steroids after 2003, but this obviously shines a light of doubt on that statement.

Cano told the Daily News' Mark Feinsand, he'd have no problem working out with Presinal again.

"He's great about conditioning guys. I can tell you that myself, last year I was healthy all season," Cano said. "To be honest, I don't care what happened with him in the past. ... If I had to go back and work with him if I'm hurt, I'd go back."

Presinal has been linked to other players as well including Cano's good buddy Melky Cabrera. David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero, Ervin Santana, and Francisco Cordero have all worked out with Presinal, who was part of the Dominican Republic's training staff during the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Presinal defended himself to ESPNdeportes.com:

"I have never advised a player [to take steroids]; I have never talked about steroids with any athlete, with any baseball player," Presinal added. "I just wish there was someone out there with the courage to accuse me directly. That will never happen because folks respect me."

Ortiz came to Presinal's defense as well:

In an interview last night on Comcast SportsNet, Ortiz said that Presinal is a good trainer. "The place where he works, it's a facility that is like five minutes away from my house, it's like an Olympic place where everybody goes and hits and runs," Ortiz said. "He's the guy that knows how to teach you how to train, how to get your body ready to go. But beside that, I have no idea about all this."

It is interesting that Presinal was banned from all MLB clubhouses in 2001 after being found with a bag full of syringes and steroids, but no action was taken against Juan Gonzalez, whom the bag reportedly belong to. Translation- Bug Selig and MLB doing their best to look the other away.

A-Rod's Associates Coming to Life

Alex Rodriguez is way off base if he thinks he can just move on now after admitting steroid use and holding a press conference. A-Rod's nefarious cousin was revealed yesterday by the NY Daily News to be Yuri Sucart. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Angel Presinal was banned from all MLB clubhouses after he was caught with a bag of steroids at a Toronto airport in 2001. At the time, he said they belonged to Juan Gonzalez. Now comes word from the Daily News that Presinal was a regular companion of A-Rod's in 2007. That's right, A-Rod's best season as a Yankee and in his contract year.

The source said Rodriguez avoided being seen in public with Presinal.

"He was around Alex in 2007," the source said of Presinal. "Every hotel they went to, he stayed in the same room with Yuri. You would never see Alex with [Presinal]. They would meet in one of their rooms."

Presinal was not around A-Rod and the Yankees during the 2008 season, the source said, but Sucart remained a constant presence around Rodriguez, at home and on the road.

"Yuri is his driver," the source said. "He takes care of him all the time. His clothes, his food; he's with Alex every day."

Brian Cashman was quick to clarify that the Yankees had no association with Presinal, while A-Rod's agent, Scott Boras, declined to comment.

MLB already wants to talk to A-Rod as they did with Jason Giambi after his PED revelation, but now it's possible that the US government could be calling A-Rod in for a meeting.

You just get the feeling this is going to get a whole lot uglier.