SportFlite FYI Episode 40
Monday, 25 February 2008
wild irresponsible speculations on
Wild, Irresponsible Speculations on the Mitchell Report
Former Senator George Mitchell released his long-awaited report on the
use of performance enhancing drugs in major league baseball a week
ago, and it's been met by an odd combination of outrage, righteous
indignation, and yawns.
On the one hand, Senator Mitchell's assignment was colossal, to sum up
the problem of PEDs in MLB and recommend a course of action. On the
other hand, he was given almost no power at all with which to
accomplish this assignment, whech means that the only cooperation he
got was from people who had nothing to lose: Ex-major leaguers,
ex-minor leaguers, long-banished clubhouse attendants and trainers,
who had been labeled pariahs in MLB anyway, and of course, people from
the Commissioner's office. Which assigned this task, as you'll recall.
Not surprisingly, then, there were, well, not many surprises in the
report. Sure, Andy Pettitte's name was a bit of a shock, but only the
most naieve among us would have assumed that it was just the
difference in his workout after Clemens joined the Yankees in 1999
that got him back on track. Slap hitters like Fernando Vina and Nook
Logan seem like a bit of a surprise because they don't "fit the
profile" of a steroid user, but then we learned from the Jason
Grimsley situation that you don't have to actually be any good to be
using.
Much of the report consists of re-hashing and detailing events about
which we already know: The BALCO scandal, the US government hearings
in 2005, drugs being found that seemingly belonged to Manny Alexander,
Juan Gonzalez, Ricky Bones, Alex Cabrera, and others. These incidents
were uses as springboards to try to conduct other interviews, though
the people who would make the biggest splash, i.e. the star players
themselves, made little or no effort to cooperate with Mitchell in his
investigation. So they didn't. In fact, the players were practically
advised by their Union NOT to talk to Mitchell or his associates. In
addition, because the Players' Union has beaten the Commissioner's
office into submission, even some of the names that Mitchell and
company were given during the investigation could not be provided in
this report.
The really interesting thing about the reports is not the names in it
(there are 86 players named in it, despite their general lack of
cooperation) but the names that are not. Jose Canseco said he was
suprised to hear that Alex Rodriguez was not named, an accusation
which A-Rod vehemently denied. Almost everybody was surprised to see
that Sammy Sosa was not implicated. But there are other names, hidden
names, if you will, that nobody had really discussed yet:
For example, on page 99 of the report, the arrest of Luis Perez, a
former bullpen catcher for the Florida Marlins and Montreal Expos is
detailed, including how he turned stool pidgeon on a number of his
former customers. In his deposition,
According to [MLB security chief Kevin] Hallinan's memo, Perez told
baseball officials "...that virtually every player on the Marlins
was `doing something' ranging from steroids and greenies, to
marijuana, etc. He also claimed that every pitcher in Montreal's
bullpen was on some form of steroid."
This was in September of 2002. It doesn't take a genious to go to
baseball-reference.com and figure out who these people were.
Here is the 2002 Marlins' roster, along with a few comments.
2002 Marlins
Vladimir Nunez
Vic Darensbourg
Toby Borland
Tim Raines
Ryan Dempster
Ramon Castro
Preston Wilson
Pablo Ozuna
Ozwaldo Mairena
Nate Teut
Nate Robertson
Mike Redmond
Mike Mordecai
Mike Lowell
Michael Tejera
Marty Malloy
Luis Castillo
Kevin Olsen
Kevin Millar
Justin Wayne
Julian Tavarez
Juan Encarnacion
Josh Beckett
Homer Bush
Hansel Izquierdo
Graeme Lloyd
Gary Knotts
Eric Owens
Derrek Lee
Cliff Floyd
Charles Johnson
Carl Pavano
Brian Banks
Braden Looper
Brad Penny
Blaine Neal
Armando Almanza
Andy Fox
Alex Gonzalez
Abraham Nunez
A.J. Burnett
Very few of these guys had some kind of significant spike in their
production at an odd time in their careers, like Sosa did in 1998 or
Bonds in 2000. But there are some potential connections here:
Tim Raines was diagnosed with Lupus in July 1999, a disease that is
sometimes treated with steroids. Could he have been a link in the
chain? it would not have been the firt time he was linked to drugs.
Mike Redmond is an interesting case. He joined the Marlins in 1998, as
a 27-year old catcher, about the time that he should have been
reaching his peak as a hitter. Despite a career minor league line of
.260/.319/.332 and a reputation as a catch-and-throw guy, he hit well
over .300 in limited playing time in 1998...and then did that five
more times in the next eight seasons, plus a .294 mark last season
with the Twins. He's 37 now and has continued to hit (most of the
time). Not that a career slugging average of .368 is anything to write
home about, but this comes from a guy who never hit better than .287
in a minor league season. Most guys don't get better when they face
tougher competition, you know? I'm not saying he was/is using, just
that it's worth thinking about.
A lot of these guys had sufferred or were suffering from injuries at
that time. Cliff Floyd, Charles Johnson, Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett,
Brad Penny, Carl Pavano, Alex Gonzalez and others either missed time
due to injuries in 2002 or very recently before that season. It's
certainly possible that one or mor eo fthem, in order to combat their
penchant for getting hurt, might have tried HGH or some steroid. But,
you know, like Pettitte and Vina, they probably only did it once or
twice. Right.
Remember "Roid Rage"? Well, how about this:
In 2006, 2002 Marlins' pitcher Julian Tavarez was suspended for 10
days for punching Tampa Bay's Joey Gathright during an on-field brawl.
During Spring Training. That was the 5th of Tavarez' tumultuous
career, most of which were for brawling or throwing at players.
The other groub that Perez ratted out was the Montreal Expos' bullpen:
2002 Expos Pitchers
Javier Vazquez
Tomokazu Ohka
Tony Armas
Masato Yoshii
Bartolo Colon
Scott Stewart
Matt Herges
Joey Eischen
T.J. Tucker
Britt Reames
Graeme Lloyd
Dan Smith
Jim Brower
Zach Day
Carl Pavano
Bruce Chen
Tim Drew
Sun-Woo Kim
Ed Vosberg
Scott Strickland
Note that both Graeme Lloyd and Carl Pavano appear on both lists, due
to a mid-season trade (including Cliff Floyd and Wilton Guererro, who
had previously been suspended for a different kind of cheating), for
whatever that's worth.
Matt Herges is mentioned elsewhere in the report as having bought HGH
from Kirk Radomski in 2005, but he was 32 years old in 2002 and was
struggling a little after a very good 2001 season with the Dodgers.
There are some injury-prone guys here, too, but there are also a few
who look like good suspects for PEDs, based on sudden changes in their
performance levels.
Dan Smith was 25 at the time, but had been a pro since he was 17, had
an unremarkable minor league career and had flopped in two attempts at
the majors. But in 2002, he "got it together" and pitched well in AAA,
getting called up to the majors, where he continued to pitch well. In
2003 he was awful again, and by 2005 he was out of baseball.
Joey Eischen was a journeyman LOOGY, the very picture of mediocrity,
in 2002, with a 4.37 career ERA in the majors. In 2002, however, he
went 6-1 with a 1.34 ERA at age 32, and managed to sustain his success
for at least a few years, though he fell apart in 2006 and did not
play last year.
Other non-pitchers on that team definitely fit the "body type" you'd
think of with respect to steroids and/or HGH: Vladimir Guererro and
Andres Galaragga at the very least, though there may be others. Just
becaus ePerez didn't specifically mention people who weren't pitchers
doesn't mean that we should be foolish and think that all the hitters
must have been clean.
On a more general note, look at the numbers: The 2002 Ezpos finished
the season 83-79, in 2nd place, but 19 games behind the Atlanta
Braves. the Marlins were worse, winning only 79 games and finishing
4th, thanks to the hapless Mets. So if the members of two teams as
blatantly mediocre as the 2002 Marlins and Expos were rife with PED
users, why should we believe that the players on the good teams were
innocent? How can we believe that?
We can't, of course. The 102-win Braves had Gary Sheffield, Matt
Franco, Kevin Millwood, and Darren Holmes, all of whom get some blame
in the Mitchell Report, not to mention likely candidates who have not
yet been outed like Javy Lopez, Vinny Castilla, and Julio Franco.
free agent analysis part 4 of 4 and
Free Agent Analysis Part 4 of 4 and Ron Washington Hired
This is part four of a series where I will examine the free agents and
name the top players the Rangers should go after. This week, I will
examine the free agent relief pitchers and catchers.
Grade A:
Javy Lopez
Dan Kolb
Grade B:
Robert Fick
Mike Lieberthal
Mike Piazza
Gregg Zaun
Joey Eischen
Alan Embree
Aaron Fultz
Eddie Gaurdado
Darren Oliver
Mike Remlinger
J.C. Romero
Scott Schoenweis
Antonio Alfonseca
Joe Borowski
Chad Bradford
Doug Brocail
Mike DeJean
Octavio Dotel
Keith Foulke
Ryan Franklin
LaTroy Hawkins
Dustin Hermanson
Scott Sauerbeck
Roberto Hernandez
Kevin Jarvas
Matt Mantei
Troy Percival
Cliff Polite
David Riske
Felix Hernandez
Rudy Seanez
Justin Speier
Russ Springer
Tanyon Sturtze
David Weathers
Grade C:
Sandy Alomar, Jr.
Paul Bako
Rod Barajas
Gary Bennett
Henry Blanco
Todd Greene
Doug Mirabelli
Bengie Molina
Todd Pratt
Kelly Stinnett
John Halama
Ray King
Steve Kline
Kent Mercker
Terry Mulholland
Arthur Rhodes
Mike Stanton
Ron Villone
Jamie Walker
Jim Brower
Geremi Gonzalez
Steve Karsay
Jose Mesa
Jeff Nelson
Julio Santana
Rick White
Scott Williamson
Grade D:
Einer Diaz
Mike DiFelice
Vic Darensbourg
Chris Hammond
Mike Holtz
Tom Martin
Matt Herges
Brian Meadows
Guillermo Mota
Grade F:
Tim Laker
Chris Widger
Giovanni Carrara
Jason Grimsley
Esteban Yan
Top relief pitchers or catchers that the Rangers should go after:
1. Dan Kolb: He is a very good set-up man.
2. Robert Fick: He can fill the empty back-up catcher spot and back-up
the infield.
3. Darren Oliver: He is a good long relief pitcher and can fill in at
starter every once in a while.
4. Scott Schoenweis: He is a very good relief pitcher.
5. Gregg Zaun: He can fill our back-up catcher role.
6. Octavio Dotel: He has been a great relief pitcher.
7. Tanyon Sturtze: He is a good long relief pitcher and can fill in at
starter every once in a while.
8. Antonio Alfonseca: He was good before his injury last year.
9. Alan Embree: He is a good set-up man.
10. Russ Springer: He has done very well with the Astros.
Also, this week, the Rangers named Ron Washington their new manager. I
don't know enough about him to really give a good opinion but I am a
little worried that he wants Barry Bonds. He seems to be very popular
with his former players so will hopefully be someone that our players
will like and play hard for.
what im gonna do with this ere site
What I'm Gonna Do With This 'Ere Site
I want to plug you into the different Science Fiction worlds that I
have created. I would like to reprogram some of the old ideas and do
relief package
Relief Package
As news that Rafael Betancourt and the Indians have avoided the ugly
process of "exchanging numbers" and the ensuing negotiations by buying
out Senor Slo-Mo's arbitration years, to the tune of a 2 year deal
worth $5.4M, as well as the Indians holding a club option ($5M) for
what would have been Betancourt's first year of Free Agency (2010),
the Indians have further cemented their roster going forward by
ensuring that Betancourt remains in the fold for at least another 2
years.
In light of the recent deals meted out to relievers on the Free Agent
market (and realizing that a the situation of a player like
Betancourt, who was under the club's control for two more years even
before this deal due to his Major League service time, is completely
different than a player on the open market), the real coup in the deal
is the CLUB option for the 3rd year for only $5M. The protection that
the Indians retain in the chance that Betancourt's effectiveness wanes
in the first or second year (knocking firmly on wood) is something
that cannot be undervalued in the highly volatile world of relievers,
much less elite set-up men.
To wit, realizing that the "Hold" is a fairly new statistic (wherefore
art thou, GW RBI), it does measure the ability of a reliever to "hold"
a lead and transfer to a closer. While better, more complicated,
measures of relievers exist; for our purposes, consider the top hold
leaders from just the last few years:
2007
Brandon Lyon - ARI - 35
Heath Bell - SD - 34
Derrick Turnbow - MIL - 33
Jon Rauch - WAS - 33
Jonathon Broxton - LAD - 33
Rafael Betancourt - CLE - 31
2006
Scott Linebrink - SD - 36
Scot Shields - LAA - 31
Joel Zumaya - DET - 30
Aaron Heilman - NYM - 27
Juan Rincon - MIN - 26
Scott Proctor - NYY - 26
2005
Scot Shields - ANA - 33
Tom Gordon - NYY - 33
Scott Eyre - SF - 32
Ryan Madsen - PHI - 32
Julian Tavarez - StL - 32
Bob Howry - CLE - 29
2004
Tom Gordon - NYY - 36
Akinori Otsuka - SD - 34
Ray King - StL - 31
Chris Reitsma - ATL - 31
Salomon Torres - PIT - 30
Guillermo Mota - LAD/FLA - 30
2003
Octavio Dotel - HOU - 33
Brendan Donnelly - ANA - 29
Jason Grimsley - KC - 28
Paul Quantrill - LAD - 28
LaTroy Hawkins - MIN - 28
Tom Martin - LAD - 28
The lists, which contain few of the same names from year to year,
illustrate how relievers remain a volatile commodity and one that
really can't be counted on from one year to the next. The problem with
giving these players long-term deals (which is what they're demanding
now on the open market...even the marginal ones) is that if they do
regress, they are virtually unmovable and simply take up a spot in the
bullpen that could be filled by a more promising youngster cashing a
much smaller paycheck. It speaks to the importance of developing your
own players (whether they be relievers or otherwise) into MLB players,
as opposed to potentially overpaying for an extremely unstable
commodity.
Overpaying, you say?
How about the fact that the Brewers committed a combined $23M to Eric
Gagne and David Riske, while the South Siders gave Scott Linebrink a
4-year deal for $19M and Octavio Dotel a 2-year deal for $11M this
off-season in an attempt to fortify their bullpens. All are decent
pitchers, but none jump out as legitimate closers or even are would be
guaranteed to be viable set-up men for THIS season. However, with the
Brewers and White Sox bullpens being major question marks, with no
internal alternatives to exhaust, Milwaukee and Chicago simply
obtained the pitchers that they felt would best help their team,
regardless of cost.
Conversely, with the Indians boasting the likes of Rafael Perez,
Jensen Lewis, and Tom Mastny (with more young arms on the way), it
would seem that the Tribe will finally see some permanent help for
their bullpen coming up from the farm to stay, which puts them in the
enviable position of not having to explore the FA market as they have
in years past with...shall we say...mixed results. Having those
youngsters fill the pipeline at known salary numbers and with options
remaining in case of a regression is a luxury that cannot be
underestimated for a team that knows all too well what a Jose Jimenez
or Roberto Hernandez can (or more accurately, cannot) do.
But back to the impetus for the discussion, the deal for our presiding
judge of the bullpen (you know, because "Betancourt is in Session")
and the importance of the length of the deal. Some may argue that the
Indians should have included another option year or guaranteed the 3rd
year with a 4th year club option. However, it is important to remember
that Betancourt is no spring chicken due to his career starting as an
infielder (he was a 21-year-old SS for the Michigan Battle Cats),
spending some time in the Pacific Rim, and overcoming arm injuries
before finally settling in with the Tribe.
Betancourt will be 33 this year and 35 in the club option year,
meaning that the Indians would have been guaranteeing that 4th year to
a 36-year-old in 2011. To give that some proper perspective, consider
that everyone's favorite whipping boy, that "washed up, over-the-hill"
closer of ours, The Big Borowski, turned 36 this past May. Given the
volatility of relievers and the variables that seem to affect
relievers more than most, the 4th year is simply unnecessary.
But don't let that explanation of why including the 4th year in the
contract overwhelm the fact that the Indians re-signed (arguably) the
most effective reliever in the AL last year, locking in a set salary
for his two arbitration years and possibly buying out his first year
of Free Agency. The deal further solidifies the bullpen, as well as
the whole roster, for the short-term and the long-term as the Indians
lock in another piece to the puzzle for the foreseeable future...and
guest blogger holly tillman
Guest Blogger Holly Tillman
The following message is from Holly Tillman and then her mom. They
asked to post the following message. Good Luck Holly and Karen!
Dear Freinds, Family, and HPS Network community, I am involved in a
fundraising event to benefit the community of local nonprofit
organizations by getting sponsors through a single donation. The
organization I have chosen is the Hermansky Pudlak Syndrome (HPS)
Network because my mother has this serious illness, and quite frankly
I would like to find a cure or a way to help my mother deal with
symptoms. HPS causes albinism, a visual impairment, a platelet
dysfunction with prolonged bleeding, and progressive symptoms include
pulmonary fibrosis a terminal lung disease, Crohn's Disease, and
kidney disease. My mother is having to deal with all but the kidney
disease on a daily basis. At the moment there is no cure for the
disease, you can only treat the symptoms, and death occurs in patients
with pulmonary fibrosis usually in their 30's and 40's. My mother is
43 and is in the early stages of pulmonary fibrosis, so you can see
why this issue is so dear to my heart. If you'd like to make a
donation, please make checks payable to The Human Race, and write HPS
Network in the memo line, then send it to Holly Tillman at 4114
Landerwood Dr. Greensboro, NC 27405. Please have this sent to me by
March 10th 2008. If you would like to walk or run for the HPS Network,
give my mom a call (she is regional coordinator here in Greensboro) at
336 954 3604. The race is to be held at Grimsley High School on Sat.
March 15th. from 9am-noon. Refreshments and entertainment will be
provided. The event is sponsored by the Volunteer Center of
Greensboro. All contributions are tax deductible.
Many thanks in Advance
Holly Tillman
From Karen:
While this means a lot to Holly, it means so much more for me as i am
fighting for my life, and for the lives of those in the HPS community.
I was told 6 years ago that I would either be on oxygen, or dead by
now, and God has seen to it that I have beat the odds!! i am so
grateful to Him and modern technology. Without funding the HPS
Network, research cannot continue, nor can we continue to inform
people about this rare disease. On that note, I too thank you from the
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