Fire A-Rod's Continued Contact With His Cousin

A-Rod is causing himself another headache.

It seems Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez is still in contact with his cousin whom he said supplied him with performance-enhancing drugs, a move that further taints his image and should be stopped.

According to the New York Daily News, A-Rod's cousin Yuri Sucart was seen at the Yankees team hotel in San Francisco this week and has been with the team regularly on the road since last year. This is the same cousin whom A-Rod said injected him with drugs while he played for the Rangers.

MLB seems relatively powerless to stop A-Rod from associating with his cousin except at team facilities. Rob Manfred, MLB's executive vice president of player relations, told ESPN.com that Sucart is banned from any "non-public" areas such as clubhouses, team buses, etc. The Yankees have agreed to the ban, but he can't be prevented from going into a hotel where the team is staying, Manfred said. MLB is, however, looking into the extent of Sucart's ongoing contact with A-Rod.

A-Rod seems to be the sort of guy who does whatever he wants until he's told to stop, like when he was asked to stop playing cards for money. Given his track record of making bad decisions, MLB needs to tell him firmly to cut ties with his cousin. A-Rod said he has been clean since 2003. Some people will never believe him no matter what he does, but his continued contact with his cousin doesn't exactly scream "I'm not cheating anymore!" If A-Rod wants us to believe him, he needs to dump Sucart.