NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids during his 2003 American League MVP season with the Texas Rangers, four sources independently told Sports Illustrated in a report published Saturday.Rodriguez's name appeared on a list of 104 players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball's 2003 survey testing, SI said. He reportedly tested positive for testosterone and an anabolic steroid called Primobolan while playing for Texas.There is no indication that Rodriguez has tested positive for steroids since 2003. When approached by SI's Selena Roberts on Thursday at the University of Miami, Rodriguez refused to discuss the test results."You'll have to talk to the union," Rodriguez said. When asked if there was an explanation for his positive test, he said, "I'm not saying anything."There were no penalties for a positive test in 2003, with testing conducted to determine if MLB would impose random drug testing for 2004. But MLB's drug policy has expressly prohibited the use of steroids without a valid prescription since 1991.The SI report also indicated, citing three Major League players, that Rodriguez had been tipped by MLBPA chief operating officer Gene Orza in early September 2004 that he would be tested later in the month. Rodriguez declined to respond to SI when asked about the warning Orza allegedly provided him.When Orza was asked on Friday in the union's New York City office about the tipping allegations, he told SI's David Epstein, "I'm not interested in discussing this information with you."In a statement released Saturday, the MLBPA said that there had been no improper tipping of players in 2004 about the timing of drug tests. The MLBPA said that information and documents relating to the results of the '03 tests remain both confidential and under seal in California by court order."We are prohibited from confirming or denying any allegation about the test results of any particular player(s) by the collective bargaining agreement and by court orders," the MLBPA statement said. "Anyone with knowledge of such documents who discloses their contents may be in violation of those court orders."SI reported that two sources familiar with the evidence the government gathered in its investigation of steroid use in baseball, and two other sources with knowledge of the results, said that Rodriguez was one of the 104 players who tested positive.
SPARKNOTES- A-Rod tested positive for steroids in 2003 the same year he won the MVP with the Rangers. He also got a tip off in 2004 that there was going to be a random drug test.