Players try to put steroid talk to rest

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa hoped he was addressing the steroid issue for the last time this spring. After the Detroit Tigers' first official workout, All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez tried to put Jose Canseco's accusations to rest, too.

La Russa has been responding for a week to claims made by Canseco in his new book about steroid use on the LaRussa-led Oakland Athletics. On Friday, he told a large media contingent at the Cardinals' spring training complex in Jupiter, Fla., that he suspected the slugger was using the illegal substance.

"In the late '80s, I didn't see anything unusual with Jose," La Russa said. "But in the '90s I could see the change in the way he went about his business. I could see he was not working as hard, and I confronted him. I had my suspicions, but I couldn't prove anything."

In his autobiography, published this week, Canseco said he used steroids and introduced several other sluggers to the drug, including Oakland teammate Mark McGwire. On the day the NL champion Cardinals' pitchers and catchers reported to training camp, La Russa refused to reveal the details of a discussion he had with McGwire.

"McGwire is a big boy and can speak for himself," La Russa said.

But La Russa did say of Canseco's assertion that he and McGwire injected each other and talked casually about the subject: "I don't believe what he writes."

In Lakeland, Fla., a slimmed down Rodriguez denied Canseco's claims that he showed the 1999 AL MVP how to use steroids after he was traded to Texas in 1992.

"Some very serious comments were said that were not true," Rodriguez said after Detroit's first workout. "I didn't use any of that stuff. I don't need it. I've been in baseball for 14 years and I don't need it. The comments that were said were not true. I've just got to move on and concentrate for this coming season."

Rodriguez reported to camp weighing 193 pounds, 22 pounds lighter than his weight last season, when he hit.334 with 19 homers and 86 RBIs in his first year with the Tigers.

"I've been running a lot of sprints on the track and changed my program a little bit," Rodriguez said. "I'm watching my eating, and I feel in good shape."

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Wilson Alvarez's first day in Vero Beach, Fla., also included questions pertaining to Canseco's allegations. Alvarez and Canseco were teammates on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999. Canseco played in just 113 games before injuring his back.

"I never took anything," Alvarez said. "I met (Canseco) in 1999, his first year with the Devil Rays. Two months later, he got surgery on his back. The next year, I had surgery on my arm... so I never had a chance to get to know the guy."

Alvarez said that his 6-foot-1, 255-pound body, with a bit of a pot belly, is evidence enough.

"People can say whatever they want. It's a free country. All I can say is look at my body. I never took anything."