MILWAUKEE - Three days after signing a $10 million contract on closer Eric Gagne, the Milwaukee Brewers found out Thursday he was named in a report on performance-enhancing drugs. The long-awaited Mitchell Report accused Gagne of having purchased human growth hormone in 2004 while with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The hormone wasn't banned in the league until 2005. The report culminated a 20-month investigation by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, hired by commissioner Bud Selig to examine the Steroids Era...

"Today I was informed by a reporter that I was on the 2003 list of MLB players to test positive for performance-enhancing substances. This happened right before our game, and the news blindsided me.

"I want to talk about this situation and I will as soon as I have more answers. In the meantime I want to let you know how I am approaching this situation. One, I have already contacted the Players Association to confirm if this report is true. I have just been told that the report is true. Based on the way I have lived my life, I am surprised to learn I tested positive.

"Two, I will find out what I tested positive for. And, three, based on whatever I learn, I will share this information with my club and the public. You know me -- I will not hide and I will not make excuses."

Ortiz, who emerged as one of the premier sluggers in the game in 2003 with Boston after spending six largely forgettable years in Minnesota, believes all players on all teams should be tested three or four times a year, and any players testing positive should be banned for the rest of that season.

"If I test positive by using any kind of banned substance, I'm going to disrespect my family, the game, the fans and everybody," Ortiz said. "And I don't want to be put in that situation. So what I will do, I won't use it. I'm pretty sure everybody is on the same page."

Ortiz is good friends with Alex Rodriguez, who attended Ortiz's charity golf tournament in the Dominican Republic in December. It was difficult for Big Papi to hear that his buddy had tested positive for steroids in 2003, but he commended A-Rod for admitting his sins on ESPN last Monday.

"The A-Rod situation was a little tough for the game because you're talking about the best player all the way around," Ortiz said. "At the same time, people have to give the guy credit because he came out and said what he said at the point of his career where he had done it all. On top of that, that was what, six years ago? The guy has put up numbers his whole career."

Ortiz said one comment stood out to him above the rest during A-Rod's interview on ESPN.

"One thing that he said that caught my attention a lot was that he was young and at the time, that was (happening) all around the league," Ortiz said. "When you're young and somebody comes to you with an idea of improving your production and things like that, sometimes you make a wrong decision like he did. But he's been playing clean and still producing, and he's still been the best player in the game.

"If I'm a fan and I had to judge a guy, I would put that in the past and move forward," Ortiz continued. "The guy, he works hard, man. He's still doing his thing. He still has nine more years on his contract and he's definitely going to do some damage."

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