gvh

Cards, Blue Jays set to swap third basemen

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7665630

Scott Rolen is on the verge of escaping St. Louis manager Tony La Russa. Troy Glaus is on the verge of escaping the artificial turf in Toronto.

The Cardinals and Blue Jays are closing in on an exchange of their third basemen, major-league sources say, but both former All-Stars must pass physicals before a deal is completed.

Those physicals are no small issue since Rolen is coming off surgery on his right shoulder and Glaus surgery on his left foot.

While both players have agreed to waive their no-trade clauses, the differences in their contracts also might need to be resolved, most likely through a cash payment from the Cardinals to the Blue Jays.

Rolen, 32, is owed $33 million over the next three seasons. Glaus, 31, is guaranteed $24 million over the next two, including an $11.25 million player option for 2009.


The commissioner's office must approve the trade if it involves a cash exchange of more than $1 million.

If the trade is completed, it would provide fresh starts for two players who — for different reasons — grew uncomfortable with their current clubs.

Rolen has feuded with La Russa since at least the 2006 season, when questions about Rolen's shoulder caused La Russa to bench him during the National League Championship Series.

The rift became untenable after La Russa wrote Rolen a four-page letter at the end of the season and then escalated the feud with comments he made at the Winter Meetings. La Russa said Rolen was the only Cardinal who did not want him to return as manager and that the team would not easily accommodate Rolen's request to be traded.

Glaus, meanwhile, is happy in Toronto but the change would benefit him physically. His recurring foot problems leave him better suited to play on a natural-grass surface such as the one at St. Louis' Busch Stadium.

Glaus appeared in only 115 games last season, batting .262 with 20 homers and 62 RBIs. Rolen appeared in only 112 games, batting .265 with eight homers and 58 RBIs.

The Cardinals acquired Rolen from the Phillies at the 2002 non-waiver deadline. The Jays obtained Glaus from the Diamondbacks after the 2005 season.

THIS IS WHY BRIAN MCNAMEE LIED


Mac gave two separte truths, one on the first day; which included PETTITTE ; and then THE FEDS came back a second time and said...."we know more "shyte" about you then you know about yoursefl"

Take a minute and consider that with our "limited" information.

Mac was an Ex NYC COP. That said, he is conversant with Strong Arming Tactics to get one to roll. And would certainly be on to any attempt for him to do so. After the above quote....THEY said "NOW THEN we know about Andy, tell us about the pitcher. You trained him too. Take us back again to the first time you met CLemens."

That is not me making it up.

2 things. 1) why the two official statements. Doesnt one cancel the other out; and leave a less than credible witness? Wasn't the first official stmt made by the same witness as the second? How in the world is that credible?

2.) Why the IRS? Mac was a distributor, yes. But admittedly a "small potatoe". Radomski was found to be the supplier, was found guilty of distrubuting BIG amounts and of money laundering. Flashes of RICO cases shining in right now. Mac was small, and was fingered by Radom. So then, why the two Feds (1 being IRS)? IRS...money laundering. Leaves more to be "suspicious" about what MAC was really into.

3.) Let's go further. If we are saying we prosecute the "dealers" and not make the players the target in our effort to clean up ball (per MITCHELL pg 340) why the deal for MAC? I mean, why would they even offer one without getting another BIGGER fish (dealer) in return? They targeted players.

4.) That leads a logical person to conclude that there is more to mac's involvement in illegal activities then mere "small potatoes." COnsider this, if he is small why not go for the slam dunk prosecution, and obviously the truth. That is the point of the whole investigation per mitchell pg 340.

5.) There is no corraborrating evidence. Other than a "dealers" statement against a player. Which circumvents the reason to investigate this issue. HE got full immunity...aka a lisensce to say anything, and that can not be tested in a legal "criminal court room." Congress steps in...thank gawd.

6.) The two named investigators are the same in the Grimsley investigation (who incedentally says roger is clean ....they pitched together for the Yanks), SOMEHOW it magically was leaked that clemens was involved. Hence the retraction and apology by the LA TIMES. AS IT WAS FALSE INFO.

Earlier, i concluded mac must have had some other illegal activities outside of ball (as it is not in the report...about the deal or "the fact the knew sooo much about mac...the reason for the second stmt). What could it have been?

WHAT IS THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR ATTMEPTED MURDER aka ST PETERSBERG R@ PE CASE....she took a new fatal dose of ghb! Where did he get that? That could be the reason for the "sudden change in stories"

or

mac was a cop.....he could have done anything...but think statute of limitations.

"I know man. I am sorry. I didnt know what else to do. I just didnt want to go to jail. MY WIFE (r@pe case) just left me, my son is sick...I DIDNT KNOW WHAT TO DO. WHat do you want me to do? (aka what should i do) I am sorry ...what do you want ...its not like i have money."

listen to the tape again. mac had emailed ROCKET as well...evidence! Listen to how shaky the voice is...anxiety. ROCKET was advised, "do not lead him...he has to admit lying on his own" (mac is a cop...he knows). BUT why didnt mac say..."ROG. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MAN....YOU KNOW ITS TRUE"

that is the nutshell of it.

sorry for the boofk

Scott Rolen-3B-Cardinals Jan. 12 - 1:01 pm et

The Cardinals and Blue Jays will swap Scott Rolen and Troy Glaus if the third basemen will waive their no-trade clauses, FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports.
Glaus, who is believed to prefer the West Coast, may want some financial incentive for waiving his no-trade clause. Rolen figures to be less picky, as he just wants away from Tony La Russa. The two players would also have to pass physicals for the deal to be completed. Rolen has the more significant health concerns because of his chronic shoulder troubles, but Glaus is coming off foot surgery.
Source: FOXSports.com
Related: Troy Glaus

LARRY STARR: OWNERS KNEW AS EALRY AS 1988: HAS NOTEBOOK
swiftyread Post #1: 11:11 am Quote | Report Violation
Total Posts: 312


Just a small excerpt from chicago

Larry Starr is a stength and conditioning coach with pages of notes taken from meetings with OWNERS and their DIRECT KNOWLEDGE of "roid ball"

Anyone care to guess how long befor ethe next players strike?

Or will the dept of investigation investigste OWNERS too? There are better articles on thiis subject, just too lazy right now. Please enjoy...

small excerpy, link below

The Mitchell Report and the Media Blame Game
BY D.K. Wilson

Former Cincinnati Reds and Florida Marlins trainer Larry Starr tried to warn owners about the burgeoning steroid abuse epidemic in Major League Baseball at the Winter Meetings. Bud Selig was there, but he did nothing. You would think the MLB commissioner might heed the words of a man intertwined with players' health. The only problem with Selig was that he was not the commissioner - he owned the Milwaukee Brewers at the time.

The year Starr sounded the clarion bell for MLB steroid abuse was 1988.

"Here's the thing that really bothers me," Starr said. "They sit there, meaning the commissioner's office, Bud Selig and that group, and the players' association, Don Fehr and that group? they sit there and say, 'Well, now that we know that this happened we're going to do something about it.'

"I have notes from the Winter Meetings where the owners' group and the players' association sat in meetings with the team physicians and team trainers. I was there. And team physicians stood up and said, 'Look, we need to do something about this. We've got a problem here if we don't do something about it.' That was in 1988."

We are 19 years removed from those Winter Meetings, and all we have to show for the efforts of Starr and his peers is a report from a former senator with deep ties to the Boston Red Sox and Major League Baseball that is little more that a rehashing of already-published information.

With so many team trainers and physicians alerting owners to a problem with steroids, it seems unconscionable for both Commissioner Peter Ueberroth and the owners to turn a blind eye to something that could ruin the game. Ironically, baseball did have an excuse not to act 19 years ago. Just three years previous to Starr's and others' warnings about steroids abuse among MLB players, baseball had rid itself of difficulties with abuse of another kind. Though the controversy was reported as localized to Pittsburgh, its reach was league-wide.

Major League Baseball had just suffered through a cocaine epidemic that threatened to ravage the sport.

Pittsburgh Pirates players Dave Parker, Dale Berra, Rod Scurry, Lee Mazzilli, Lee Lacy, and John Milner - as well as Keith Hernandez, Tim Raines, and Lonnie Smith - were, in September 1985, summoned to appear before a Pittsburgh grand jury. Their testimony led to what became known as the Pittsburgh Drug Trials.

The grand jury heard astounding tales from the defendants. It was revealed that drug dealers frequented the Pirates' clubhouse; Scurry testified that he left a game in the late innings to look for cocaine; Milner told of purchasing two grams of cocaine for $200 in the bathroom stalls at Three Rivers Stadium during a 1980 game against the Houston Astros. Even the Pirates' mascot, Kevin Koch, was implicated for introducing players to a drug dealer and buying cocaine himself.

On February 28, 1986, then MLB Commissioner Ueberroth suspended 11 players for varying lengths of time for their involvement with cocaine. The players' reinstatement was dependent upon successfully completing hundreds of hours of community service. Ueberroth even attempted to have the players submit to random drug testing upon their return to the game, but the players' union blocked the implementation of what would have been the precursor to today's drug testing policy.

A cocaine scandal followed by a steroids scandal would have been bad enough, but there was something else happening behind baseball's public veil at the very time Starr and his peers were addressing baseball's elite. National League President Bart Giamatti was meeting with Ueberroth, about Cincinnati Reds manager Peter Edward Rose and his gambling habits. In fact, just three months after the 1988 Winter Meetings (on February 21, 1989) Rose was called to the MLB offices in New York to officially speak with Ueberroth and Giamatti about gambling on baseball games. One month later, Ueberroth announced that Rose was under investigation. At the time it was left unsaid to the public, but we now know that John Dowd was investigating the gambling allegations against Rose, which would lead to his banishment from any affiliation with Major League Baseball. http://www.chicagosportsreview.com/inthemeantime/contentview.asp?c=205427

January 12th, 2008 at 1:15 pm

MORE EVIDENCE THAT MCNAMEE LIED TO FEDS

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3193081

He told the Feds that Clemens had an abcess on his butt (evidence of steroid injection). Yet numerous BluJay officials say he did not have an abcess.

vrsc (what’s your name mean anyway?)

The ESPN article is just a re-hash of the NYTimes article, but they managed to write it better, and highlight the real issue, which is McNamee’s credibility.

Sorry Bernie, but I’d rather discuss new info on this issue than continue yet another debate on Cash. I realize I’m in the minority here on that.

Report: McNamee told feds Clemens had abscess in '98

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3193081



Brian McNamee told federal law enforcement officials that Roger Clemens developed an abscess on his buttocks around the time that McNamee said he was giving him steroid injections in 1998, a lawyer with knowledge of details of the case told The New York Times.

But three members of the Toronto Blue Jays organization that season, including two trainers, said they did not recall Clemens having an abscess in 1998, the newspaper reported. And Rusty Hardin, the attorney for Clemens, said McNamee made the same assertion to federal investigators -- and that the two trainers also told them they did not recall Clemens having an abscess.

Clemens, who was named in former Sen. George Mitchell’s report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball as having been injected with steroids by McNamee, has said he did not take any performance enhancing drugs. The seven-time Cy Young Award winner has said that he received injections from McNamee, who was his strength trainer with the Blue Jays and New York Yankees but that they were vitamin B-12 or the pain killer lidocaine.

While any injection can lead to an abscess, an anti-doping expert said steroid injections are more likely to trigger abscesses, according to the Times.

"It is far less likely that any injection of vitamin B12 or lidocaine, which is usually not injected deep into the body, would have created an abscess," said Dr. Gary I. Wadler, a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency, according to the Times. "Steroid users tend to repetitively inject the drug deep into the muscle and this has been associated with the development of sterile abscess."

McNamee’s lead counsel, Earl Ward, told the Times that McNamee believes the treatment of the abscess was noted in Clemens’s medical or training records. He said that McNamee would be willing to testify under oath about the abscess when he is scheduled to appear before a congressional committee on Feb. 13.

Clemens and fellow Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte have also been asked to testify on that day before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Pettitte, who also used McNamee as a strength trainer, was named in the Mitchell report and has admitted using human growth hormone to recover from an injury.

The Times reported that in interviews, former Blue Jays trainer Tom Craig, former team general manager Gord Ash and team physician Dr. Ron Taylor all said they did not remember Clemens being treated for an abscess. Taylor said he believed if Clemens had been treated, it would have been noted in Clemens' medical records.

Hardin said Craig and Scott Shannon, the other team trainer in 1998, told his investigators that they did not recall Clemens being treated for an abscess, according to the Times.

The abscess is not mentioned in the Mitchell report.

IS MAC QUALIFIED TO INJECT ANYTHING AT ALL??? HAS HE LIED ABOUT BEING A DOCTOR...DR MCNAMEEE
READ MY STORIES ON MLB GENERAL
REALITY THIS MY FAIR WEATHERED FRIEND...earl ward says rog lied...he knew..then it comes out that mac talked (maybe taped as well) to hardin on dec 12, the report comes out on dec 13. roger was with son out of town...and comes "home to get it from all angles" here...check my stories out especailly on the roid sox

THAT IMPLICATES THE WHOLE BOSTON RED SOX TEAM

-LOWELL AND BACKETT WERE MARLINS IN 2001

-WHERE ARE THE MITCHELL INVESTIGATORS ON THIS ONE...THESE ARE IN THE MITCHELL REPORT BUT NOT INVESTIGATED??????

SHOCKER

"WILL ESPN'S LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE RED SOX NATION STILL CONTINUE???"

_________________ ___ ___________________
boston fans replies

It's nowhere near as bad as yours with Roger.

haha! NOW MAC IS A PLAYER TOO HUH??

"we were all laughing about it" paxton

"i distributed steroids to everyone on the team" perez (BECKETT AND MVP LOWELL)

READ IT ALL
http://boards.espn< /a>. go.com/boards/mb/mb? sport=mlb&id=gen eral&tid=2196102 &lid=6

Show me some,( besides a bonafide liar trying to stay out of jail), hard proof and I will believe it. Failed drug test, admission, another witness etc.
Clemens and others are guilty in public opinion because of an accusation with NO PROOF.
What ever happend to sports reporters reporting the news instead of trying to make the news

In addition, Clemens’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said Friday that McNamee had made the same assertion about an abscess to Hardin’s investigators Dec. 12. He said they followed up by contacting both Blue Jays trainers from that season, neither of whom backed McNamee’s account.
If McNamee and his lawyers are unable to obtain confirmation that the abscess existed, McNamee’s credibility, rather than Clemens’s, could come into question in what has become a continuing public battle between Clemens, McNamee and their lawyers.
The lawyer who disclosed McNamee’s assertion to federal authorities said he did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of any conversation with law-enforcement officials.
performance-enhanc ing drugs that George J. Mitchell released Dec. 13.

DOES MAC HAVE EVIDENCE...ONCE AGAIN....BECAUSE THERE ARE 2 JAYS THAT SAY HE IS FULL OF IT!!


"Everyone knows that B12 shots can cause an abscess and they also make your nose grow. Duh."

HAHAHAHAHA!!


this is the best board yet.im rollin over here!funny stuff!thank you people for making me laugh today. BONDS RULES!!!!!!!!

I ask again, why would McNamee lie about Roger and tell the truth about Andy? So many want to believe Roidger at this point it's funny. McNamee was told to tell the feds the truth or he was going to prison. So, he told them that he injected Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens with HGH and or steroids. Andy confessed that this was the case. So, why do so many believe Roger and demonize McNamee?

"But three members of the Toronto Blue Jays organization that season, including two trainers (are they familiar with Clemens' buttocks??), said they did not recall Clemens having an abscess..

What I was going to say was Bud Selig should step down. This mess happened right under your nose and you sat there and watched it all go down. Then you step in and act like you are cleaning up by suspending no name players to give the illusion you have it covered. Classify this whole area as *.

*- Indicates an era of baseball where performance enhancing substances were rampant.
The investigators were monitored by a 3rd party? Do you mean Earl Ward and Richard Emery, McNamee Lawyers?
Ward specializes in criminal defense and death penalty cases. Emery specializes in Criminal Defense, Whistleblower Litigation, and Prisoners Rights! McNamee thought he was going to jail, so he hired these guys. His lawyers made a deal for immunity but only if he would blow the whistle on Clemens, Pettite, and Knoblauch. He only gave up and lied because it was rumored that they were on the blacked out Grimsley Affidavit.

Clemens' Lawyer is Rusty Hardin. He is the same guy that successfully defended Wade Boggs when the flight attendent tried to sue him for $10 Million.

i have a question. did any redsox come up in this mitchell report? iam sure the question has been ask befor, and i am sure that every team had a roid user or two, so why i did not hear any redsox names. o i forgot brian mitchell is a redsox.

WOW! This thing just stinks all over. THIS IS BASEBALL'S ENRON. All the lying, the attempted cover-ups, the power-mongering - "but gee, I'm a legend" - fat cats gone wild. It definitely reminds me of all the past decade's corporate scumbags and their swill. It reflects just how far baseball has gone - too much power - too much money - too much abuse of power and money. Gee, also reminds me of our beloved present US administration. It's no longer about the game, face it. It's all about the money and the attempt of the gov. and baseball's administration to make up s--t and sell a few people down the river. Be assured, none of the blame of the corruption will fall on THEIR shoulders.

I also dont think its fair to blame any ONE person. Seligs job is to act in the best interest of the game, and after the strike, the baseball market was on the decline. Only the big home run chase of McGuire and Sosa brought the fans back. So what was he supposed to do then? Test and punish them? Cripple the game for good? Me thinks not.

The blame should NOT be placed on Selig or any one person. The blame should be placed on EVERYONE in the game from the very top, all the way to the bottom. Owners, players, and even clubhouse attendants all share the blame. Even the FANS share some blame for watching, paying, and LOVING the long ball so much.

Naming Pettitte for HGH was really no big deal. He only did it 2x. Anyone can get HGH legally from a doctor for legitimate reasons, like for rehabbing injuries. Andy screwed up by not getting it from a doctor

id anyone read the Rosenthal article that's linked on the top, "Time is Wasting"?

scary shit in there, just when I thought we could forget about this guy

For all the talk of Johan Santana, the Mets still seem more likely to sign free-agent right-hander Kyle Lohse than trade for the Twins' left-handed ace...Lohse, 29, likely would cost more than $40 million over four years

40/4? career loser like Lohse? I thought that possibility had already been dismissed

http://www.metsrefugees.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32957

He doesn't have the make up that Fernando has. Tabata is 5'11 and 160, Fernando is 6'1 and 190. Tabata is projected to be a leadoff hitter while Fernando is projected to be a middle of the order power hitter.

They're completely different types of hitters.

Scout - Matt Williamson say taht Giants are in trouble if Cowboys pinch their DEs

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=nfl_nfc

When Dallas head coach Wade Phillips was the defensive coordinator in San Diego, his attacking 3-4 defense had exceptional results, like the Cowboys' defense this season. In Sunday's game against the Giants, expect Phillips to have his big, athletic defensive ends pinch inside on many occasions. This will serve several purposes and should be very effective.

First of all, the Giants should be without starting C Shaun O'Hara, which makes them vulnerable up the middle. If the Cowboys pinch DEs Chris Canty and Marcus Spears inside, it should eliminate New York's interior run threat and force the massive Brandon Jacobs to turn his shoulders perpendicular to the line of scrimmage and bounce his runs laterally, which is not his strength. Jacobs is a downhill runner, and forcing him laterally is the recipe for success because the Cowboys definitely don't want to allow Jacobs to get his shoulders squared with a head of steam.

This strategy should also allow OLBs DeMarcus Ware and Greg Ellis to stuff the outside runs, while allowing the Cowboys inside linebackers to stay clean on lead plays and other interior runs. Plus, run-plugging SS Roy Williams will often line up in the box on the exterior to clean up runs wide to the strong side.

Also, if Phillips decides to rush Canty, Spears and even NT Jeremiah Ratliff, it will put a tremendous amount of pressure on Giants QB Eli Manning. He is not a mobile quarterback, is easy to locate and generally is in the same spot on every throw. Manning's pocket awareness and ability to elude the rush is also suspect. If Dallas' front three rush through three of the four interior gaps, Manning will have little room to step up or move front-to-back in the pocket and will have to throw over three large defenders.

Most importantly, if the Cowboys pinch their DEs, it could flush Manning to the outside, where Ware, Ellis or Anthony Spencer will be waiting. Giants offensive tackles David Diehl and Kareem McKenzie are responsible for protecting Manning. However, they are better blocking for run plays than pass plays and do not have the lateral agility or quickness to deal with the Cowboys' fantastic outside linebackers. As a result, the Giants will have to employ a RB or TE to double Ware and Ellis in order to protect Manning.

Keep an eye out for what the Cowboys' defensive ends are doing at the snap, because they could determine the outcome of this game


I hope Giants Offensive line protect Eli from Cowboys Inside Pressure.

Scout Inc - Matt Williamson say that Giants are in trouble if Cowboys pinch their DEs

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=nfl_nfc

When Dallas head coach Wade Phillips was the defensive coordinator in San Diego, his attacking 3-4 defense had exceptional results, like the Cowboys' defense this season. In Sunday's game against the Giants, expect Phillips to have his big, athletic defensive ends pinch inside on many occasions. This will serve several purposes and should be very effective.

First of all, the Giants should be without starting C Shaun O'Hara, which makes them vulnerable up the middle. If the Cowboys pinch DEs Chris Canty and Marcus Spears inside, it should eliminate New York's interior run threat and force the massive Brandon Jacobs to turn his shoulders perpendicular to the line of scrimmage and bounce his runs laterally, which is not his strength. Jacobs is a downhill runner, and forcing him laterally is the recipe for success because the Cowboys definitely don't want to allow Jacobs to get his shoulders squared with a head of steam.

This strategy should also allow OLBs DeMarcus Ware and Greg Ellis to stuff the outside runs, while allowing the Cowboys inside linebackers to stay clean on lead plays and other interior runs. Plus, run-plugging SS Roy Williams will often line up in the box on the exterior to clean up runs wide to the strong side.

Also, if Phillips decides to rush Canty, Spears and even NT Jeremiah Ratliff, it will put a tremendous amount of pressure on Giants QB Eli Manning. He is not a mobile quarterback, is easy to locate and generally is in the same spot on every throw. Manning's pocket awareness and ability to elude the rush is also suspect. If Dallas' front three rush through three of the four interior gaps, Manning will have little room to step up or move front-to-back in the pocket and will have to throw over three large defenders.

Most importantly, if the Cowboys pinch their DEs, it could flush Manning to the outside, where Ware, Ellis or Anthony Spencer will be waiting. Giants offensive tackles David Diehl and Kareem McKenzie are responsible for protecting Manning. However, they are better blocking for run plays than pass plays and do not have the lateral agility or quickness to deal with the Cowboys' fantastic outside linebackers. As a result, the Giants will have to employ a RB or TE to double Ware and Ellis in order to protect Manning.

Keep an eye out for what the Cowboys' defensive ends are doing at the snap, because they could determine the outcome of this game


I hope Giants Offensive line protect Eli from Cowboys Inside Pressure.

Fernando Martinez is more highly regarded by scouts/baseball people than either José Tábata or Austin Jackson (I don't agree with that though). Many feel he can be a perennial All-Star OF once he reaches/adjust to the major leagues. Top ~15 prospect in all of baseball.

Deolis Guerra is one of my favorites, excellent frame 6'5" 200 lbs, 2 out pitches (fastball/change), good control (2.51 BB/9 last year), compact-easy delivery, 18 years old, healthy GB%. 1/2 SP potential. Top 40/50 prospect in all of baseball.

Kevin Mulvey is a solid pitching prospect. I wasn't blown away by his stuff in the futures game, but he has a good slider (best in the Mets system per BA) and a good sneaky fastball in the low 90's. Middle of the rotation guy. ~60/70 prospect in baseball.

Carlos Gomez is one of the better pure athletes in baseball right now, he was named by BA as the best Defensive OF/Athlete in the Mets system. He's not much of a hitter (.278/.340/.400 in the minors), but with his speed and defensive ability I'm sure he has a future in the bigs

Originally Posted by Rocketbooster
Phil Humber is projected as a 3 or 4 starter, isn't he? Even Met fans aren't that high on him. Kevin Mulvey? Is he projected like an Ian Kennedy? I don't think he's projected as a 1 or 2.......I think Guerro is several years away at the least and so is Martinez, if not Gomez.

No way that is a steal or even a great package. I thought the Twins were looking for close-to-ready major leaguers - none of the Mets prospects are that. Humber might be, but he's not great.

I don't see how Kennedy plus Tabata or Jackson plus Melky (granted, the Twins don't like him), plus maybe someone else, doesn't top that. Maybe the Twins just do not like Ian Kennedy or that they are higher on Phil Humber and/or Kevin Mulvey? That doesn't make much sense.
Fernando Martinez is more highly regarded by scouts/baseball people than either José Tábata or Austin Jackson (I don't agree with that though). Many feel he can be a perennial All-Star OF once he reaches/adjust to the major leagues. Top ~15 prospect in all of baseball.

Deolis Guerra is one of my favorites, excellent frame 6'5" 200 lbs, 2 out pitches (fastball/change), good control (2.51 BB/9 last year), compact-easy delivery, 18 years old, healthy GB%. 1/2 SP potential. Top 40/50 prospect in all of baseball.

Kevin Mulvey is a solid pitching prospect. I wasn't blown away by his stuff in the futures game, but he has a good slider (best in the Mets system per BA) and a good sneaky fastball in the low 90's. Middle of the rotation guy. ~60/70 prospect in baseball.

Carlos Gomez is one of the better pure athletes in baseball right now, he was named by BA as the best Defensive OF/Athlete in the Mets system. He's not much of a hitter (.278/.340/.400 in the minors), but with his speed and defensive ability I'm sure he has a future in the bigs.

Because the Twins have to say, yes, for a deal to get done...

They are convinced they can get the Hughes offer from the Yankees at any time and they are probably right...

So they are waiting til the last possible moment and doing everything they can to put a real scare into the Yankees to see if they can get them to put Kennedy in the deal.

IN the end, they won't, but it doesn't hurt anything to try.

As far as the Yankees being out of the Santana business goes... I know a lot has been said about Hank and his talking as much as he does... But does anybody REALLY believe that the New York Yankees are being run on such a wing and a prayer that they made an offer the second week of December that they are no longer willing to make the second week of January???

I HOPE that's not true.


have you thought that maybe the yankees know dealing hughes and cabrera for santana is a steep price?

maybe santana is hurt
maybe the yankees believe they wont be able to sign santana to an extension
maybe the people who make the baseball decisions feel the upside of phil hughes and melky cabrera surpass what santana will do for them

you can talk about how great santana is, the facts are no one has really stepped up to the plate and nailed a deal down with the twins you have to ask yourself why



because they don't HAVE to. they can wait and wait and wait and the hughes offer will still be there. they would probly RATHER deal in the NL but wont unless the mets give them some real major league ready talent. my hunch is that they're holding out PRAYING that minaya gets desperate enough to deal reyes, which wont happen, but hell, they're not losing anything by trying... they'll wait and try pull reyes as long as they can, and then they'll take the hughes offer.

have you thought that maybe the yankees know dealing hughes and cabrera for santana is a steep price?

maybe santana is hurt
maybe the yankees believe they wont be able to sign santana to an extension
maybe the people who make the baseball decisions feel the upside of phil hughes and melky cabrera surpass what santana will do for them

you can talk about how great santana is, the facts are no one has really stepped up to the plate and nailed a deal down with the twins you have to ask yourself why




I have not said a word about how great Santana is... That has nothing to do with this...

As far as Santana "being hurt" goes, you can bet your last dollar Santana will have to pass an EXTENSIVE physical before any deal becomes official...

More importantly, of all the things you mentioned, what has changed since the second week in December??? Name me ONE THING that has changed since the second week of December when the Yankees offered the Twins Hughes, Cabrera + for Santana.

Do you REALLY believe the Yankees are flying by the seat of their pants to such a degree that they go to work one day offering one deal and then change their minds the next???

Don't believe everything you read... The Yankees have not changed their minds... Major corporations don't operate that way.

"Glaus is a "former" steroid user, but Pujols is a "current" steroid user."

What in God's name would make you believe that? Just because he is the best player in the game(next to A-Rod)? You have no proof at all and no officials have ever given a reason to believe this. That is a pretty ignorant statement.

"Case in point, the Cubs continue to offer multiple prospects for an admitted steroid cheating 2b who's power numbers more than tripled after he took the juice."

Another ignorant statement. Roberts had the balls to come out and say that he was injected once, that in no way would make your power numbers "triple". One dose isn't really even cheating, it has a very small effect and won't help your game.

Baseball has one of the best steroid programs in sports, where you have guys like Shaun Merriman still being referred to as a saint. I don't even remember that many steroid users in football because the media looks the other way, but there are a lot more users in football.

CRAWFORD: SOX PITCHER IMPLICATES WHOLE RED SOX TEAM

small except

link below from BOSTON.com

NOT TOO MENTION PEREZ's STMT IMPLCATING LOWELL AND BECKETT

that will apear below

it matters not how long a player was there, but that he sais "hgh was offered to him by another sox player. and it was everyhwere. and we were all laughing about it"

it is in the mitchell report too, but wasnt investigated, or offered immuntiy

stand by for perex article

In a piece he wrote for this week?s ESPN The Magazine (subscription required to read), Crawford admitted to using steroids and HGH while with Boston from 2000-01. Check out this excerpt, which also seems to shed a controversial light on the Sox clubhouse at that time.

"During minor league spring training with the Red Sox in 1999, some of the other guys saw I was hurting. They told me that if I took this stuff, it would make the pain go away and cut my recovery time in half. Shoot, why not? I'm just a country boy; I didn't even think twice."

?I was probably using the most back in 2001, when I made the Red Sox rotation out of spring training. About that time I was getting pretty big, and another player introduced me to human growth hormone, which had started to make the rounds in the majors. I got a kit with two bottles: One was filled with some kind of water, and the other was filled with these tiny crystals. I put a few drops into the crystals and -- poof! -- it became liquid. I thought, Boy, what the h*ll are you putting into your body? But I did it anyway.

?Back in 2001, I thought I was the man. I had no shame, and I thought nobody could touch me. One time, I walked right into the Red Sox clubhouse with a bunch of needles wrapped in a towel and left them on my chair. A few minutes later, one of my teammates came running over, saying, ?Paxton, someone knocked your chair over and your freaking needles are all over the floor!? Man, we just died about that. He said it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen, told me I was nuts. But that's the way it was back then.?

The 28-year-old Crawford went 5-1 for the Red Sox in 2000 and 2001, but never pitched at the major league level after that.

end except

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2006/06/crawford_comes_1.html

SEX DRUGS AND LIES: MAC IS AT IT AGAIN.

note to the interested reader

the dates that mac talked to hardin, and the release date are : dec 12 and dec13

so-did rog lie about not knowing...as earl ward puports???

roger was with his kid at ball camp...per the TAPED CONVERSATION! earl - why?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/12/sports/baseball/12clemens.html?_r=1&ref=baseball&oref=slogin



Rusty Hardin, the lawyer for Roger Clemens, said two Blue Jays trainers failed to back Brain McNamee?s accusation.

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT Published: January 12, 2008

Brian McNamee told federal authorities last summer that Roger Clemens developed an abscess on his buttocks about the same time that McNamee said he was giving him steroid injections during the 1998 season, according to a lawyer with knowledge of details of the case.

From the perspective of McNamee and his lawyers, confirmation that the abscess existed would add credibility to his assertion that he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone on 16 occasions from 1998 to 2001 and that he specifically injected him with the steroid Winstrol in four instances in 1998. In that year, Clemens was pitching for Toronto and McNamee was the team?s strength and conditioning coach.

Clemens has said that he received injections from McNamee at various times but has maintained that they contained either vitamin B12 or the painkiller lidocaine. Although any needle injection can lead to an abscess, an antidoping expert said that steroid injections in particular are known for creating abscesses.

?It is far less likely that any injection of vitamin B12 or lidocaine, which is usually not injected deep into the body, would have created an abscess,? said Dr. Gary I. Wadler, an internist who is a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency. ?Steroid users tend to repetitively inject the drug deep into the muscle and this has been associated with the development of sterile abscess.?

But did Clemens have an abscess in 1998? Three members of the Blue Jays? organization that season, including one of the team?s two trainers, said in recent interviews that they did not recall any abscess associated with Clemens that year.

In addition, Clemens?s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said Friday that McNamee had made the same assertion about an abscess to Hardin?s investigators Dec. 12. He said they followed up by contacting both Blue Jays trainers from that season, neither of whom backed McNamee?s account.

If McNamee and his lawyers are unable to obtain confirmation that the abscess existed, McNamee?s credibility, rather than Clemens?s, could come into question in what has become a continuing public battle between Clemens, McNamee and their lawyers.

The lawyer who disclosed McNamee?s assertion to federal authorities said he did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of any conversation with law-enforcement officials.

Meanwhile, McNamee?s lead lawyer, Earl Ward, said McNamee believed the treatment of the abscess was noted in Clemens?s medical or training records. He also said that McNamee would be willing to testify under oath about the abscess when he appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Feb. 13.

Clemens is also to appear at the hearing, as is Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, who has already admitted taking injections of H.G.H., as McNamee asserted in the report on baseball and performance-enhancing drugs that George J. Mitchell released Dec. 13.

Hardin said that his investigators had sought Clemens?s medical records but that he had not yet seen them. Normally, such records travel with a player when he switches teams. Clemens played for the Yankees in 2007, the latest, and perhaps last, stop in a 24-year career. It was McNamee who served as Clemens?s personal trainer in the latter years of his career.

Ward would not acknowledge if McNamee also told Mitchell and his investigators about an abscess. Although the section on Clemens takes up 8 pages of the 311-page Mitchell report and includes fairly detailed accounts of the injections McNamee said he gave Clemens, there is no mention of an abscess.

Hardin said McNamee told his investigators that he did not inform Mitchell about the abscess. ?He mentioned the abscess as a way of trying to tell us that he could have made it worse for Roger and that is why he didn?t tell Mitchell,? Hardin said.

Whatever McNamee did or did not tell Mitchell about an abscess, it is now likely to become part of the back and forth between the sides.

?The Clemens camp is engaged in a smear campaign against Brian McNamee,? Ward said. ?As part of their investigation, they should focus on Roger?s medical history, which includes the removal of an abscess that he developed in 1998 on his left buttocks, which coincided with shots McNamee gave Clemens of Winstrol.?

In interviews with The New York Times, Tom Craig, a Blue Jays trainer in 1998; Gord Ash, then the team?s general manager; and Dr. Ron Taylor, the team doctor, all said they did not remember Clemens?s being treated for an abscess. Taylor, who remains the team doctor, said he believed it would have been noted in Clemens?s medical records if he had indeed been treated.

Hardin said Craig and Scott Shannon, the other team trainer in 1998, told his investigators that they did not recall Clemens?s being treated for an abscess.

Clemens went 20-6 in 1998, going 14-0 to finish the season after a 6-6 start. If he did have an abscess, it did not cause him to miss any noticeable period of time in a season in which he was awarded his fifth Cy Young award as the best pitcher in the American League



TO the doctor: does mac have the qualifications to administer ANY INJECTION?

did he lie and say DR McNAMEE? see espn on mac and grimsely...if no tthere (under search) try SI.com...or email me...i have it in a database at yesnetwork too

While I'm at it, The Top 24 Catchers


Posted: Yesterday 8:01 AM
While I'm at it, The Top 24 Catchers
Good Stuff:

Rnk Name $ VAL
1 Russell Martin $ 26.12
2 Victor Martinez $ 23.10
3 Joe Mauer $ 21.78
4 Jorge Posada $ 17.45
5 Brian McCann $ 17.35
6 Kenji Johjima $ 14.05
7 J.R. Towles $ 12.61
8 Geovany Soto $ 10.34
9 Bengie Molina $ 10.30
10 Ivan Rodriguez $ 8.17
11 Carlos Ruiz $ 7.81
12 A.J. Pierzynski $ 7.54
13 Ramon Hernandez $ 7.33
14 Ronny Paulino $ 6.55
15 Mike Napoli $ 6.16
16 Jason Varitek $ 5.50
17 Paul Lo Duca $ 5.19
18 Ryan Doumit $ 4.82
19 Salty $ 3.99
20 Johnny Estrada $ 2.68
21 John Buck $ 2.49
22 Josh Bard $ 1.13
23 Kurt Suzuki $ 1.09
24 Gerald Laird

From the Twinkies board.

In general they don't like the Mets deal. They prefer Ellisbury or Lester or Hughes to the Mets offer



You're forgetting the fact that the Yanks and Red Sox don't want to pay Santana the money he's looking for. The biggest obstacle in this deal isn't the prospects. It's the all the money it's going to take to sign Santana to a long-term deal. Bill Smith won't get equal value because the major players in the Santana sweepstakes don't want to empty their farm system, and on top of that, throw 150 million to Santana. Right now your front office doesn't have any leverage. Santana will walk if he's not traded and all you have to show for it is two compensation picks you'll get once he hits the free agent market.

If I were a Twins fan, I would be upset at the SF Giants for signing Barry Zito to that insane contract they signed him to last winter. That contract set the market for Santana and has priced him out of potential suitors who can offer more than the Yankees, Red Sox, or Mets.

Either that or tell Pollard to open up his wallet and pay Santana his money.

This is the real reason why it is taking so long



1 the money

2 the luxury taxes

3- the prospects being demanded ie. Hughes, Horne , Jackson , Tabata , Marque



I really feel that Hal wants to wait until October 2008, when Abreu, Pavano , Pettitte , Mussina and Giambi are off the books. That about 80 million together. A decrease of the payroll to 120 million in October may be Hal Steinbrenner's goal and he don't care what brother Hank says .

Or maybe with that 80 million , they figure that it could be used to get alot of good trades or free agents next winter, Or maybe he is just cheap .