Red Sox David Ortiz downplays link to trainer
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By John Tomase / Baseball | Saturday, February 21, 2009 |
http://www.bostonherald.com |
Boston Red Sox
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Photo by Herald Staff photo
<!--//article Image//--><!--//article//-->Red Sox slugger
David Ortiz [stats] last night admitted working out at the gym of suspected steroids supplier Angel Presinal, but characterized the relationship as strictly between player and trainer.
Appearing on Comcast SportsNet’s “Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight,” Ortiz confirmed he used Presinal’s facility in the Dominican Republic. Presinal, who has close ties to Alex Rodriguez and is banned in big league clubhouses, was the subject of a New York Daily News story yesterday that linked Ortiz and a dozen other Dominican players to Presinal’s gym in Santo Domingo.
“This place where he works out is a facility that’s like five minutes away from my house,” Ortiz said. “It’s like an Olympic place where everyone goes and hits, runs, gets all their work in. It’s like in the middle of everyone’s houses, so we all go down there and work out. He’s a good trainer. He’s the guy that teaches you how to train, how to get your body ready to go. Besides that, I have no idea about any of this.”
Presinal was banned from big league clubhouses in 2001 after border agents in Toronto intercepted a gym bag full of steroids that Presinal signed for. When questioned, he told investigators it belonged to Indians outfielder Juan Gonzalez.
“He got into some trouble before from what I hear, and that’s something he’s got to deal with, especially with what’s going on,” Ortiz said.
Major League Baseball investigators want to talk with Rodriguez about his cousin and Presinal. The New York
Yankees star said his cousin injected him from 2001-03 with a banned substance obtained in the Dominican called “boli.”
Second baseman Orlando Hudson reached an agreement on a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Reliever Jason Isringhausen signed a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Brian Roberts signed a $40 million, four-year extension with the Baltimore Orioles.