A-Rod ignores new bio

NEW YORK (AP) — A new, unflattering biography of Alex Rodriguez reportedly says he may have used steroids as early as high school and as late as with the New York Yankees, charges the star wouldn’t address Thursday as he readied for a return to the major leagues.

Rodriguez admitted in February to using steroids while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03, but insisted he stopped before he was traded to the Yankees in February 2004. He brushed off a question Thursday about details from Sports Illustrated writer Selena Roberts’ upcoming book “A-Rod” that cast doubt on his earlier statements.

“I’m not going there,” he said after homering in an extended spring training intrasquad game in Tampa, Fla. Rodriguez has been rehabbing from hip surgery in March and hasn’t played for the Yankees this season.

The Daily News reported in Thursday’s edition that Roberts’ book offers an portrait of the three-time AL MVP as a needy personality who wanted his ego stroked constantly and a player who tipped opponents to pitches in blowout games, hoping the favor would get returned someday.

A high school teammate of A-Rod’s told Roberts that the future No. 1 draft pick was on steroids as a prep player and his coach knew it — an allegation the coach, Rich Hofman, denied.

Rodriguez said he wasn’t worried that the steroids issue was being brought up again.

“No. Not really,” he said. “I’m in a good place.”

In the book, an unidentified major leaguer is quoted as saying A-Rod and former Yankees pitcher Kevin Brown, who was named in the Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drug use, were seen together with human growth hormone in 2004.

The book also goes on to say that two anonymous Yankees said they believed A-Rod was using banned substances based on visual side effects, and that a clubhouse staffer said management had a suspicion that that the third baseman may have been juicing.

Rodriguez went 1-for-6 with two walks as a designated hitter in Thursday’s extended spring game. He had a long homer to left-center in his sixth plate appearance.

He was slated to play in another extended spring game Friday against Pirates minor leaguers at Pittsburgh’s complex in Bradenton.