TAMPA, Fla. — After he praised the drug-testing policy that Major League Baseball has now, New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was asked if he heard enough today in Alex Rodriguez’s lengthy press conference here to be sure his star — and, heck, other stars — were now playing the game clean.

“I hope so,” Cashman said.

It’s what he now refuses to say that truly echoed.

For the second consecutive spring training and the third time under his watch as Yankees general manager, Cashman sat in front of the media and a few feet away from one of his players as they answered questions about past use of banned substances. First, it was Jason Giambi. Then, last year, it was Andy Pettitte. And today it was Rodriguez, the game’s once-golden slugger. Cashman said when he negotiated a record-setting, 10-year deal with Rodriguez last offseason — a contract complete with about $30 million in incentives for reaching historic home run marks — he did so assuming that Rodriguez was free and clear of the Steroid Era. He assumed Rodriguez was clean.

He’s done assuming.

“The guy I used to be would have crawled out on that limb. I’m not doing that anymore,” Cashman said. “A lot of bad stuff took place and we’re all dealing with it.”

Rodriguez spoke to the media for more than 30 minutes this afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field (nee Legends Field). He gave details about the type of banned substance he used, how he received the drugs (”injected”), and offered a rough estimate of how many times he used from 2001 to ‘03 (20 to 30). He presented apologies and he bit back tears as he turned to address the roster load of Yankees who showed up to offer support at the press conference.

Cashman agreed that the motivation for the players was probably “a blend” of those who genuinely cared about Rodriguez the person and those who genuinely understand the value to the team of Rodriguez the player.

“First bear with me,” Rodriguez said before reading a prepared statement. “I’m a little nervous, or a lot nervous.”

Rodriguez went on to say:

• “I know I’m in position to earn … trust back.”
• “It was pretty evident (when taking the substances) that we didn’t know what we were doing.”
• “I’m not sure what the benefit was.”
• “I’m here to take my medicine.”
• “I knew we weren’t taking Tic Tacs.”
• “Look, for a week here I’ve been looking for people to blame and I keep looking at myself.”

He said much more and already articles are popping up all over the Internet (including this live blog of the press conference at USAToday). I’ll be writing a story shortly for tomorrow’s Post-Dispatch, and you can be sure every morsel of Rodriguez’s press conference today will be available somewhere by dinner time — complete with a heaping side of analysis and opinion.

Afterward, Cashman held court and he talked candidly about his hopes and worries entering today.

The Yankees general manager said he hoped Rodriguez wouldn’t hold a “short and sweet” press conference because it wouldn’t satisfy the masses, wouldn’t stem the doubt. Rodriguez needed to be detailed and answer questions, Cashman said, and he did. Cashman also acknowledged the “shelf life” of this story — even pointing out how it will be the headline every time the Yankees go into a new town. “Yankees go to Chicago, Yankees go to Oakland, Yankees go to Texas… ,” he recited.

Cashman said the Rodriguez who came to the Yankees from Texas couldn’t have handled today’s press conference and this controversy as well as the Rodriguez he knows now.

“If you want to use that analogy — this is Humpty Dumpty,” Cashman said. “We’ve got to put him back together again and get him back up on the wall.”

As part of the press conference, Rodriguez said he and Don Hooton have entered into a partnership to help support the Taylor Hooton Foundation’s educational goals. The Foundation was established by the Hooton after their linked their son’s death to his steroid use. There are many lessons that he can learn from this experience, Rodriguez repeatedly said during the press conference. And there are lessons here for baeball, too.

Cashman talked about the testing in place right now gives him the feeling that what he’s watching on the field “is real.” But can he be sure? Can he really know? Fool me once …

There is also the lesson of Tuesday’s press conference. Cashman hopes that other players or young players saw Rodriguez’s attempt to save his reputation as a warning. This is the punishment that awaits. Not the suspension. Not the fines. Not the asterisks or lost statistics. But shame. Shame awaits.

“More of a deterrent is this public bloodletting of the stars, the fallen stars,” Cashman said. He hopes young players think “‘I don’t want to go through that. I don’t want to be the poster child.’ They might make a different choice (about using) now than they would have a generation ago.”

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