Today was the end of the Age of A-Rod. Oh, he might not realize it yet, although I suppose he might, but I would be shocked if he plays again, and if he does play, I doubt he will even be a shadow of the shadow of his old self. Because, today, he was named in a Miami New Times (a news weekly in… Miami) report on an anti-aging clinic called Biogenesis. In addition to Alex Rodriguez, the New Times noted mentions in files that indicate that Melky Cabrera, Yasmani Grandal, Bartolo Colon, Nelson Cruz, Gio Gonzalez as well as Jimmy Goins, the strength and conditioning coach of the University of Miami baseball team. Gonzalez and Cruz, to the best of my knowledge, had never been linked to PEDs before today, although Gio Gonzalez’s case is seemingly connected to things that may not be banned and they listed no specifics on Nelson Cruz.

However, make no doubt, this is a story that, at least initially, is all about Alex Rodriguez. Remember, in 2009, he had claimed that he had ceased using performance-enhancers in 2003, but this report seems to suggest otherwise. This also likely means that he was using PEDs during the 2009 postseason, the one postseason where Alex Rodriguez hit like the elite player he was during the regular season.

And so, Alex Rodriguez, who already could be out the whole season due to his injury, and who has a gigantic albatross of a contract, now has been shown to possibly be a liar and a continued cheater. The New York Yankees, no doubt, want him to just sort of disappear, and are no doubt going through his contract looking for something, anything that could provide them an out. It’s doubtful that they can.

But it’s possible they won’t need to: with his injury, Rodriguez could, maybe, decide to call it a career. While it seems unlikely that he will, it could be the only way he’ll be able to escape this on anything even remotely resembling his own terms.

Time will tell what happens.