Current, Former Players React to A-Rod

Everyone's got an opinion on the Alex Rodriguez confession to using an illegal steroids. People in the public eye are going to have to deal with questions on the subject, even if the circumstances make the question a tad bit inappropriate -- like when someone felt it was necessary to question President Obama during a national telecast about the nation's economy. For the record, he basically responded in a political manner and said he was disappointed.

Baseball players, past and present, are already dealing with the onslaught of questions. Here's a sampling of what we've seen thus far.*David Wright still thinks A-Rod is going to be known as the best player to ever play the game. He also expressed his hope that every single person who is currently "cheating" gets caught and punished. That said, he also praised A-Rod for coming clean.

"You can't ever condone using banned substances," Wright said. "You can't ever condone cheating. But with that being said, I think he did a tremendous job owning up to it and I think his apology was sincere. Kids and fans alike can look at the mistake he made and take positives from that and learn from that. When you have a guy like that who sits down and shows that kind of emotion, is apologetic and admits that he made a mistake -- it takes a man to do that."

*Derek Jeter is using foresight to make a very astute move. He doesn't want to talk about it until the entire team is around.

"If you've got baseball questions, I'll do that," Jeter said. "I don't want to talk to you guys today and have three more people show up tomorrow. It's better to get everyone together."

"I understand you guys have a job to do," Jeter said. "You have to understand we have a job to do, and it's much better for me, it's much better for the team to address it one time and get it over with."

*Jorge Posada is still standing strong behind his boy.

"I was surprised. Alex is my teammate and Alex is going to be my friend forever. I'm going to support him any way I can. There's not much we can say."

*Doug Glanville is not a big name player, but he did play with A-Rod for half of a season in 2003. In fact, he had a locker directly next to the world's new villain. In this very insightful and engaging piece, Glanville discusses his thoughts on the subject at length. I highly recommend this read for a true opinion from someone who saw things first-hand. As I mentioned earlier today, Glanville was shocked that the tests did not remain confidential, especially since players were told they'd be anonymous in 2003.

*George Brett is "crushed" by the news. He also said he was happy he came clean, but that his career has been ruined. He did make one very salient point I haven't seen anyone mention yet:

"There's no pressure on you if you sign a $250 million contract. What pressure do you have? It's guaranteed. You break your leg the next day and you get $250 million. There's no pressure in that," he said.

*Kevin Youkilis said it was a good thing that A-Rod admitted his mistake, and thought the situation seems like a bit of a witch hunt. He's also worried about the reputations of himself and all clean players.

"I've never done anything like that in my life and I plan on never doing it. ... I want the fans really to know that not everyone does it."

Finally, I know he never played baseball, but Dickie V is freakin' livid, baby!