Alex Rodriguez talks pressure to 'cheat' and steroid scandal in new HBO documentary

Alex Rodriguez opened up about his steroid scandal in HBO Max's Alex vs. A-Rod trailer, confronting the choices that turned a Hall of Fame career into baseball’s biggest

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It's been more than a decade since Alex Rodriguez's Hall of Fame-caliber career was plagued by one of MLB's ugliest scandals. But only now is the former New York Yankees star beginning to unpack the choice that would later define his career. He has since transitioned to sports ownership, submitting a bid to acquire the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In a new HBO Max documentary titled Alex vs. A-Rod, the 14-time All-Star revisits the pressure, ego, and dual identity that fueled his downfall. The series outlines Rodriguez's transformation from generational shortstop to being perceived as the most hated after becoming the main figure in MLB's Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug scandal.

The trailer, released on Thursday on YouTube, shows Rodriguez facing the camera and speaking with a self-awareness that once seemed impossible. It was then that he realized the pressures of cheating in baseball, which a radio host just accused the Blue Jays of doing against New York in this year's MLB playoffs.

"I felt like pressure to produce and play at a really high level. At all costs," he said.

"There's an arrogance that often comes with power," he says in the clip. "There’s a sense that I won't get caught, because you actually think you're better than other people. There's nothing more stupid than that," he continued. "I learned that the hard way."

The baseball star shared the pressure to perform as a member of the Yankees, the most winning franchise in baseball history.

The trailer closes with the interviewer's single question: "Am I talking to Alex or A-Rod?"

Early in the video, Rodriguez's brother described that split himself and said, "Alex is caring. A-Rod is the killer."

Rodriguez’s “killer" instincts once made him baseball’s highest-paid player.

His 2014 suspension was reduced from 211 to 162 games, but it remains the longest non-lifetime ban in MLB history. It caused him to miss an entire season and resulted in roughly $24 million in salary relief for the Yankees.

MLB’s arbitrator concluded Rodriguez not only obtained banned substances from the now-defunct Biogenesis clinic in South Florida but also tried to obstruct the league’s investigation.

Rodriguez maintained his innocence, pointing out that he never tested positive for PEDs, though he had admitted in 2009 to using steroids from 2001 to 2003. He was the only player to appeal his punishment, even as 12 others quietly accepted shorter bans, with Ryan Braun’s 65-game suspension the longest among them.

MLB’s investigation into Biogenesis began after reports that the clinic's founder, Anthony Bosch, supplied players with synthetic testosterone, human growth hormone, and other substances.

Bosch later testified that he was paid $12,000 per month to provide drugs to Rodriguez, turning state witness only after claiming he feared for his life. He was sentenced to four years in prison.