Jorge Posada Apologizes for Comments About Former Teammate Alex Rodriguez

Jorge Posada had some strong words about players who used performance-enhancing drugs, including former teammate Alex Rodriguez. Posada even implied that he may have won the 2003 MVP were it not for Rodriguez and his steroid use, via an interview with Mark Strassmann of CBS News (h/t Don Burke and George A. King III of the New York Post).

The most telling part of Posada's comments was that he doesn't feel PED users should be allowed into the Hall of Fame, essentially saying former teammates such as Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and A-Rod shouldn't be granted a place in Cooperstown:

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No, I don’t think it’s fair for the guys that have been in the Hall of Fame … who played the game clean.

I don’t think it’s fair, I really don’t. I think the guys that need to be in the Hall of Fame need to be a player who played with no controversy.

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Rodriguez addressed Posada's comments, via Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News:

On Thursday, Posada apologized for the comments, according to David Brown of CBS Sports: 

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Posada apologized on the "Boomer and Carton" show...still apparently full of regret because he was manipulated into saying something "controversial":

"I tried to text him yesterday," Posada said of Rodriguez. "I feel like I was cornered into this answer. I know better. I was really caught off-guard."

"The thing is, the book is not a controversial book," Posada said. "And the questions that have been asked from the get-go are very controversial."

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Posada—who was on the program to discuss his upcoming book, The Journey Home: My Life in Pinstripes—spent the entirety of his 17-year MLB career with the New York Yankees, finishing as a .273 hitter with 275 home runs and 1,065 RBI. He was a five-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger winner who won four World Series titles.          

He became a staple of the Yankees during his time there, joining the likes of Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte as the central figures—the Core Four—during their generation. So when Posada speaks out against PED users being elected into the Hall of Fame and snipes at Rodriguez's MVP in 2003, it carries clout.