Union boss tipped off Rodriguez about tests: report

Alex Rodriguez was tipped off about an upcoming doping test in September of 2004 by Major League Baseball Players Association chief operating officer Gene Orza, according to media reports.

The New York Post reported Wednesday that a report in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated says three players told the magazine that Orza had told Rodriguez about the impending test.

Rodriguez admitted Monday to ESPN that he took performance-enhancing drugs from 2001 through 2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers, saying the pressure of being Major League Baseball's highest-paid player prompted him to cheat.

Two days earlier, Sports Illustrated had reported "A-Rod" tested positive for steroids in 2003 during a survey testing program that was meant to be secret and anonymous before federal officials obtained samples and matching names.

Orza denied allegations he notified Rodriguez about tests to the New York Times on Monday, saying, "It's not true. Simple as that."

The Post reported that a player told Sports Illustrated that Rodriguez was told about the 2004 test so he could "make sure there's nothing in your system."

The Mitchell Report investigation into doping in baseball that was made public in December of 2007 said Orza told a player that he was going to receive a random doping test in September of 2004 but the player involved wasn't named.