The Possible Fallout
By now it's all over the place.
The original story in The L.A. Times.
ESPN.
The Baltimore Sun ... x2.
SI.com
All of them say basically the same thing. Jason Grimsley, who was
caught in June receiving a shipment of Human Growth Hormone, said in
an affidavit that three Orioles were using anabolic steroids when he
was on the team in 2004 and 2005.
Miguel Tejada, Jay Gibbons and Brian Roberts.
Tejada has been through this suspicion before. Jose Canseco speculated
in his book that Tejada was on the juice because he bulked up and got
a big payday when he put up power numbers. Then Rafael Palmeiro said
he thought he might have tested positive because of some vitamin shots
that Tejada gave him. However, the league went out of their way to say
that Tejada had never tested positive.
Gibbons and Roberts have never been subject to any real documented
suspicion, but I'm sure people have wondered.
The problem is, they test for anabolic steroids. This isn't human
growth hormone, which the league does not test for. Wouldn't these
things have shown up?
I guess that's the Orioles optimist in me coming out. I even wanted to
believe Rafael Palmeiro until it became impossible.
But all this has me wondering what Peter Angelos' reaction will be.
The team will wrap up its ninth straight losing season this afternoon
and Angelos was the subject of a fan protest a couple weeks ago. He's
got to be feeling some heat to make things happen. Will the second
team steroid scandal in as many years be what leads him to blow the
team up?
Many thought Tejada should have been traded in the middle of the
season and some still think he will be traded this offseason. Gibbons'
injuries have had many questioning the contract extension he received
last year, and he's a man without a position now that he's said he
doesn't want to be a fulltime designated hitter and Nick Markakis has
stolen his spot in right field.
But the big question mark is Brian Roberts. He's arbitration eligible
and it seemed his extension was going to be a high priority for the
team this offseason. If Angelos decides to blow up the team, can you
really just deny arbitration to one of the game's most valuable second
basemen with no replacement and only an implication and no proof of
guilt?
Potentially, Angelos could feel the need to cleanse himself of this
whole mess by creating a team almost entirely of players acquired or
promoted after testing started. There's still no way to know that
they're definitely clean, but at least there would be no Grimsley
accusations and it would be hard to prove anything if they haven't
been caught.
Markakis, Ramon Hernandez, Corey Patterson, Kevin Millar... It's a
start, but not a very good one.
Of course this is purely specualation, and given Angelos history of an
"ohhhh things will get better in time" attitude, it's hard to believe
he'd actually feel the need to start over from scratch, but who knows
what his reaction to this news will be?
One thing is for sure, this can't help in the efforts to lure big name
free agents like Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Lee or Jason Schmidt. All of
which means ... yes ... more years of sucking!
Labels: Brian Roberts, Jason Grimsley, Jay Gibbons, Miguel Tejada,
Rafael Palmeiro, steroids
posted by C. Stone @ 10/01/2006 0 comments links to this post
Your Worst Case Scenario
It's 3 a.m. on Sunday, October 1, and for some reason I'm awake and
seeing this article from ESPN.com.
Basically, the names that Jason Grimsley implicated when he was taken
in by police after a raid of his home have now been leaked, and they
include three major players on the Baltimore Orioles.
Miguel Tejada, Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons were all said by Grimsley
to have taken anabolic steroids.
I guess the question is, do you trust a guy who was trying to save his
own ass when he names three of the biggest names from his former team?
I'd argue you do not, but it makes you wonder.
At the moment I'm skeptical. When I wake up on Sunday and have a
clearer mind, that mood may turn to devastated.
I hate this.
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