MLB probing A-Rod's contact with banned cousin

The cousin who Alex Rodriguez said was his accomplice to using performance enhancing drugs back in 2003 has been spotted at the Yankees team hotel on a recent road trip, according to the New York Daily News. Now Major League Baseball is investigating what kind of access, if any, has been granted to Yuri Sucart -- the cousin in question, ESPN New York reports.

CBSSports.com's Matt Snyder notes that during spring training of 2009, Rodriguez discussed with reporters his drug use back in 2003, and said that he had a cousin who would travel to the Dominican Republic and get access to performance-enhancing drugs and bring them back for Rodriguez's use. That cousin was later revealed to be Sucart.

Since then, Sucart has been banned by the Yankees from having contact with the team and MLB has forbidden him from gaining access to restricted areas, Snyder reports.

When Sucart was spotted at a hotel in San Francisco where the Yankees stayed during their series against the Oakland A's -- in addition to the Daily News report that Sucart has been a "constant presence" on the road for the Yankees since last season -- a red flag was raised.

According to ESPN, MLB is investigating if Sucart has been given access to stadiums - on the road or at Yankee Stadium.

"We are looking into this," MLB senior vice president of public relations Pat Courtney said Thursday morning.

Sucart is not, however -- and could not be -- banned from maintaining a relationship with his cousin or seeing him in any public place.