A man named Joseph Dion says he is the person identified in Jose Canseco's book as "Max," the person Canseco claims was a steroids dealer he introduced to Alex Rodriguez, Sports Illustrated reported on its Web site Friday. "That's gotta be me," Dion was quoted as saying during a Tuesday interview with SI. Dion said he trained Rodriguez for four years when A-Rod was with Seattle. Dion denied Canseco's account in "Vindicated" that "Max" was a fan of steroids.

"That's really, really funny because I am the one person that hates steroids," Dion was quoted as saying. "I'm against it 100 percent. And, A-Rod, at the time that I trained him - and this I swear to God - was 100 percent against steroids. He was one of the hardest working guys, and most natural guy, that I've met in my life. He hated steroids. We talked about it."

Dion said he would speak with federal investigators if they wanted to interview him, SI reported.

Canseco did not return a telephone message seeking comment. He is scheduled to meet next week with federal investigators probing whether Roger Clemens lied during testimony to Congress when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs.

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