Big Papi and Angel Presinol...What's Up?

Angel Presinal...does that name mean anything to you? It didn't to me until ten minutes ago. He's a trainer who owns a training facility in the Dominican Republic. He has been linked to Alex Rodriguez and steroids. Now, Big Papi David Ortiz' name has come up, too, among others. Appearing on Comcast SportsNet’s “Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight,” Ortiz confirmed he used Presinal’s facility in the Dominican Republic. Presinal, who has close ties to Alex Rodriguez and is banned in big league clubhouses, was the subject of a New York Daily News story yesterday that linked Ortiz and a dozen other Dominican players to Presinal’s gym in Santo Domingo. But Papi characterized the relationship as strictly a player/trainer one. He said this. My comments will follow...

“This place where he works out is a facility that’s like five minutes away from my house,” Ortiz said. “It’s like an Olympic place where everyone goes and hits, runs, gets all their work in. It’s like in the middle of everyone’s houses, so we all go down there and work out. He’s a good trainer. He’s the guy that teaches you how to train, how to get your body ready to go. Besides that, I have no idea about any of this. He got into some trouble before from what I hear, and that’s something he’s got to deal with, especially with what’s going on,” Ortiz said.

I believe David Ortiz. I've been to the DR and know where the training facility is. It's nice and in a suburban area. If it's THAT close to Papi's home, there's no reason why he shouldn't use it...until the AROID controversy, that is. But the important thing is to believe in our DH, and I do. 100%. By the way, it seems that Presinal was banned from big league clubhouses in 2001 after border agents in Toronto intercepted a gym bag full of steroids that Presinal signed for. When questioned, he told investigators it belonged to Indians outfielder Juan Gonzalez. He sounds like someone Big Papi should stay away from...I hope he will.

Have a great Saturday and a terrific weekend. You can click on this post's title to be directed to the Boston Herald Red Sox homepage. You'll find all the details there. My thanks to the Herald for the quotes from John Tomase's intriguing article. As always, BE WELL. Cheers. Skol. Aloha and Shalom. See ya.