Alex Rodriguez a long-time steroid user?

Additional details from the forthcoming book on Alex Rodriguez by Sports Illustrated's Selena Roberts have been leaked by the New York Daily News. Roberts alleges that Rogriguez used steroids and/or HGH dating back to high school and during his Yankee career. Here's a tasty morsel:

Roberts broke the story that A-Rod failed a steroid test in 2003. Yankees teammates, Roberts writes, nicknamed Rodriguez "B-tch T-ts" in 2005 because he put on 15 pounds in the offseason which included round pectorals, a condition called gynecomastia that can be caused by anabolic steroids.

2005 was A-Rod's second year with the Yankees.

José Canseco, a former teammate of Rodriguez, concurs, speculating that A-Rod juiced in high school.

"Was he on steroids in high school?" Canseco said in the book, the Daily News reported. "I think probably so. I worked out with him when he was 18. He could lift almost as much as I could."

While that offers no empirical evidence it is peculiar that Rodriguez, at 18 years of age, could lift nearly as much as an admitted steroid user in the midst of his professional career.

The Daily News also alleges that Alex Rodriguez "pitch tipped" when he played for the Rangers by letting opponents at the plate know which pitch was coming in lopsided games. A-Rod allegedly expected players he helped would return the favor when he was having an off night and needed to improve his overall numbers.

If this is true, A-Rod could (and should) become one of the game's most reviled players. And if this is true, A-Rod should be black-balled from the Hall Of Fame no matter what his career numbers are.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.