Freelance reporter Joe Lavin broke the story today on what lies within Jose Canseco’s new book, entitled “Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and The Battle to Save Baseball.”

The book was not supposed to reach store shelves until Monday, just in time for April Fool’s Day.  However, Lavin seems to have stumbled by chance upon a copy at a Cambridge, Massachusetts book store.

The big revelation is that Alex Rodriguez’s name has been added to the Jose Canseco list of steroid abusers.  Thus we are beginning this season the way we ended last – with A-Rod taking large chunks of sports print away from the Red Sox.

According to Lavin, “Canseco says he didn’t inject Rodriguez, but that he ‘introduced Alex to a known supplier of steroids.’” Canseco didn’t mention Rodriguez in the first book because he ‘hated the bastard.’ He was worried that people would have ‘questioned [his] motives’ had he included Rodriguez.

Why all the hatred, you ask. Well, Canseco claims that A-Rod was trying to sleep with Canseco’s wife. Apparently, even after Canseco had been nice enough to help A-Rod find a friendly steroids supplier, A-Rod kept calling Canseco’s wife.

Canesco ends his section on Rodriguez thusly: “So A-Rod, if you’re reading this book, and if I’m not getting through to you, let’s get clear on one thing: I hate your f***ing guts.”

Alas, with all that has been revealed in the past few months, can anything Canseco writes in his book really shock us?  Even if it might be true?