TAMPA, Fla. — Unable to punish Alex Rodriguez for flunking a drug test that was supposed to be anonymous, Bud Selig could only chastise him.

"What Alex did was wrong and he will have to live with the damage he has done to his name and reputation," the commissioner said yesterday, three days after the Yankees star admitted using banned substances from 2001-2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers.

"While Alex deserves credit for publicly confronting the issue, there is no valid excuse for using such substances, and those who use them have shamed the game," Selig said.

Rodriguez's admission followed a Sports Illustrated report that he was on a list of 104 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003, when testing was intended only to determine the extent of steroid use in baseball.

The results were seized by the government in 2004 and remain under seal.

Because it was an anonymous test and because Rodriguez's confession involved years before the drug agreement took effect, there is little Selig can do in terms of punishment.

Players and owners didn't agree to a joint drug program until August 2002, and testing with punishment didn't start until 2004.

"It is important to remember that these recent revelations relate to pre-program activity," Selig said. "Under our current drug program, if you are caught using steroids and/or amphetamines, you will be punished. Since 2005, every player who has tested positive for steroids has been suspended for as much as 50 games."

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that because of Rodriguez's admission, "I'm not confident about anything, about anybody."

CLEMENS' SUIT AGAINST FORMER TRAINER TOSSED

A federal judge in Houston dismissed most of Roger Clemens' defamation lawsuit against his former personal trainer yesterday, saying statements made in the Mitchell Report on doping in baseball are protected.

Brian McNamee has told federal agents, baseball investigator George Mitchell and a House of Representatives committee that he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998-2001.

McNamee's attorneys said Clemens' lawsuit should be thrown out because McNamee was compelled to cooperate by federal investigators.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison agreed, but he left in McNamee's statements to Andy Pettitte, Clemens' former New York Yankees teammate. McNamee told Pettitte that Clemens had used HGH and steroids.

ANKIEL SIGNS WITH CARDS TO AVOID ARBITRATION

Outfielder Rick Ankiel and the St. Louis Cardinals agreed to a one-year contract yesterday, avoiding arbitration.

Ankiel had sought $3.3 million while the Cardinals offered $2.35 million. The Cardinals did not reveal the terms of the deal, which came on the day the parties were set to meet at a hearing in Phoenix, Ariz.

Ankiel made $975,000 last season. He hit .264 with 25 home runs and 71 RBIs in a season shortened by a hernia operation in September.

MARLINS' UGGLA RECEIVES $5.35M IN ARBITRATION

Second baseman Dan Uggla won his arbitration case against the Florida Marlins yesterday and was awarded $5.35 million.

Arbitrators Richard Bloch, Fredric Horowitz and Steven Wolf made the decision one day after hearing the case. The Marlins had offered $4.4 million.

Uggla hit .260 with 32 homers and 92 RBIs last year. Eligible for arbitration for the first time, he made $417,000 in 2008.

Uggla was the third player to go to a hearing this year. Washington Nationals pitcher Shawn Hill won $775,000 and All-Star catcher Dioner Navarro lost to the Tampa Bay Rays and was given $2.1 million.

TWINS, YOUNG AGREE TO ONE-YEAR, $1.1M DEAL

Delmon Young and the Minnesota Twins agreed to terms on a $1,152,000, one-year contract yesterday.

Young gets a raise from the $700,000 he made last season, but his salary is technically being cut the maximum allowable 20 percent when the final prorated share of his initial $3.7 million signing bonus ($770,000) is factored in.