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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Alex Rodriguez’s return from a yearlong suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs has gone swimmingly.

He has been a central figure in the Yankees’ surprisingly strong start to the 2015 season, regaining his powerful batting stroke and his spot in the heart of the order.

He has also stayed away from controversy, expressing both contrition and gratitude to be playing again. Rodriguez has repeatedly taken the high road, even after the Yankees said they were refusing to pay him a $6 million bonus for moving up the career home run list.

So it is somewhat surprising that one of the few ripples of public criticism of Rodriguez has come from Jorge Posada, a respected former teammate.

Posada, appearing Wednesday on “CBS This Morning” to promote his new book, “The Journey Home: My Life in Pinstripes,” said that Rodriguez (and, for that matter, Roger Clemens) did not belong in the Hall of Fame and that he resented Rodriguez for perhaps costing him a chance to win the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award in 2003, when he finished third behind Rodriguez, then a Texas Ranger, and Carlos Delgado.

“No. No,” Posada said in reply to a question of whether players who were linked to performance-enhancing drugs should be inducted into the Hall of Fame. “I don’t think it’s fair for the guys that have been in the Hall of Fame that played the game clean.”

“Yeah,” Posada said. “I don’t think it’s fair. I really don’t. I think the guys that need to be in the Hall of Fame need to be a player that played with no controversy.”

In a twist, the interview was taped at Alex Rodriguez Park, the University of Miami’s baseball stadium that was renovated in 2012 through a $3.9 million donation from Rodriguez, who grew up near the college.

That it took place on a field that bears his name amused Rodriguez, who, when asked about Posada’s comments before Wednesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, laughed but declined to comment, other than to say, “For some of you who haven’t visited us at Coral Gables, it is a beautiful field.

“You should come down,” he told reporters. “I’m on the hosting committee.”

More notably, Rodriguez, as he has done since his return in February, did not lash back at the latest barbs sent his way. Instead, he repeatedly praised Posada as a player, a teammate and a friend. Rodriguez joined the Yankees in 2004 and played with Posada until Posada, a catcher, retired after the 2011 season. They won the World Series together in 2009.

“I have nothing bad to say about Jorgie,” Rodriguez said. “I have nothing but good things to say about Jorgie. He was a great player and a good teammate.” Five times during a nearly five-minute interview, Rodriguez answered questions with a similar response.

In his book, Posada was complimentary toward Rodriguez. On Page 285, he described Rodriguez as “a friendly guy, and even though we weren’t real tight, I liked him and really liked how he played the game and approached his job.”

Manager Joe Girardi, who had a somewhat bumpy relationship with Posada, being displaced by him as the regular catcher in 1998 and then ultimately taking catching duties away from him as manager, took a careful approach when asked about Posada’s comments.

Asked if they were representative of how current Yankees might feel about Rodriguez’s Hall of Fame credentials, Girardi said: “I’m not going to get into that. That’s Jorge. Ask Jorge.”

Though Posada was never linked to performance enhancers across his highly regarded 17-year career, he was not unfamiliar with the curiosity that can be aroused by an exceptional season in an era plagued by performance enhancers.

For Posada, that came in 2007, when, at 36, an age when most catchers are past their prime, Posada had an outstanding season at the plate. He had a .338 batting average — the highest of his career — hit 20 home runs, drove in 90 runs and had a .426 on-base percentage.

In an interview with The New York Times the following spring, he acknowledged being jolted the previous year when a reporter asked if he had been getting “any help” in putting up such strong offensive numbers.

“Why would I do that?” Posada said. “You could lose everything. It’s not worth it. It affects your family. It affects everything.”

Posada, in an interview broadcast on Wednesday, said he resented players who set records on performance enhancers. And then there was the matter of 2003, when he hit a career-high 30 homers and drove in a career-high 101 runs, but was not the M.V.P.

“You know, I was close,” he said. “Didn’t happen.”

Asked about Posada’s resentment, Rodriguez said: “I mean, 2003 is a long time ago. All my energy is focused on 2015.”

Rodriguez said he had no interest in discussing the matter with Posada, preferring to keep their conversations light. It could make for an awkward moment when Posada returns to Yankee Stadium on Aug. 22 for the retirement of his uniform number, 20.

Asked in his interview if Rodriguez would be surprised to hear how he felt, Posada replied: “Oh, yeah. Yeah.”

A version of this article appears in print on May 14, 2015, on page B17 of the New York edition with the headline: Posada Takes Aim at Rodriguez. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

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assistant: Jorge Posada Says Alex Rodriguez Doesn’t Belong in Hall of Fame