Bosch asserts his life was threatened
— -- NEW YORK -- Anthony Bosch, the founder of now-shuttered South Florida anti-aging clinic Biogenesis, said in a "60 Minutes" interview that aired Sunday night that after he rejected Alex Rodriguez's request for him to sign an affidavit, it was suggested he "leave town" until the case was over and that he was then offered money and a trip to Colombia.
Bosch said when he rejected the trip, his ex-girlfriend received a text in Spanish that said Bosch would not live until the end of the year.
The affidavit he refused to sign had said he never gave the New York Yankees third baseman performance-enhancing drugs, Bosch said.
Rodriguez's lead attorney, Joseph Tacopina, also appeared in an interview on the news show and denied it all.
"Absolutely not. He didn't bribe anyone. There was no allegation that he bribed anyone," Tacopina said. "And the notion that Bosch is now coming on a television interview without the benefit of cross-examination or an oath -- is laughable."
Baseball's key witness in its case against Rodriguez said on the CBS program that he designed and administered an elaborate doping program for the 14-time All-Star starting in 2010.
Rodriguez paid Bosch $12,000 per month to provide him with an assortment of banned drugs that included testosterone and human growth hormone, and Rodriguez passed more than 12 MLB-administered drug tests, Bosch said.
Baseball finally got its breakthrough with Bosch after it sued him. A lawyer advised Bosch to "align yourself with somebody as powerful as Alex."
In a scene out of a suspense movie, Rob Manfred, the chief operating officer of Major League Baseball, said he and a top league lawyer met with Bosch at a Miami restaurant. Bosch had chosen to cooperate in the investigation in part because he feared for his life, Manfred said.
"He was fidgety, nervous, uncomfortable," Manfred told CBS. "His principal concern from the very beginning was his personal safety."
"He told us that there had been threats on his life," Manfred continued. Rodriguez's lawyers have said they were talking about nutrition in their exchanges. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
