Until this past weekend, one of the worst things that could have happened to the baseball world would be if Manny Ramirez, Bobby Abreu and all of the other top-notch free agents were still unsigned.

Let me stress the importance of “this past weekend.”

On Saturday, Sports Illustrated reported that Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez tested positive for anabolic steroids in 2003 while he was still with the Texas Rangers.

The MLB won’t punish him because the tests were from a survey taken of all players, of which 5 percent tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Nonetheless, it doesn’t excuse Rodriguez from his actions.

I don’t want to speak for everyone, and I’m sure there are people who disagree with me, but Rodriguez is one of the last players I expected to take performance-enhancing drugs.

I thought he was one of the few superstars who could hit home runs on his own without help from the cream and the clear. With Barry Bonds effectively ruining baseball’s image, Rodriguez was supposed to save it, and until last Saturday, he was doing a pretty good job.

For baseball fans across America, it seems like the quiet MVP won’t be the MLB’s savior anymore. In fact, he may ruin baseball’s image more than Bonds ever did.

If he denies it, he’s probably lying. If he accepts the allegations, then he’s a cheater. Either way, it doesn’t look good, and baseball gets some more bad rep.

When Sports Illustrated reporters approached him for a possible comment on the issue, however, Rodriguez wasn’t willing to either admit or deny the accusation.

“You’ll have to talk to the union,” he said.

Quiet as always; A-Rod will have to come up with a better answer than that before the season starts. Maybe he can get some advice from fellow Yankee Andy Pettitte, who admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs and now seems to have moved out of the spotlight.

Or maybe he’ll go the Roger Clemens route, briefly ignoring the accusations then vehemently denying them a few weeks later. If he decides to choose that path, he could end up just like Clemens — under constant ESPN radar with the media watching his every step.

Looking at the evidence, which was recently confirmed by multiple sources, including ESPN, Rodriguez doesn’t really have much of an argument, but it doesn’t matter — the damage has been done.

Now, Rodriguez joins the group of players — including Bonds and Clemens — who were superstars without steroids but decided to use them to gain an even bigger edge on their opponents.

These accusations are especially untimely for the Yankees’ third baseman. It’s not like Rodriguez hasn’t been under a bit of heat recently, even if the stories might not be baseball related.

Last week, Yankees legend and current Dodgers manager Joe Torre released excerpts of his book that portrayed Rodriguez as a selfish player in the clubhouse. Over the summer, his divorce dominated headlines along his alleged affair with Madonna.

But none of those are worse than this. We could deal with him cheating on his wife, being a bad teammate and even being a Yankee.

Now, after all of this, he’s an unfaithful, drug-abusing bad teammate? Not exactly a recipe for success, especially with his star status dwindling in New York.

I thought I knew Rodriguez didn’t take steroids. I stood up for him when people questioned his integrity and his numbers during the steroid era. Now, instead of knowing, I’m hoping.

I’m hoping Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson aren’t in that group, something that before this weekend, were thoughts that barely crossed my mind.

But if A-Rod took steroids, couldn’t anybody?

Jonah is a sophomore majoring in journalism and Hebrew and Semitic studies. Think Rodriguez’s acts are despicable? Did he let the baseball world down? Send your comments to [email protected].