Dealer's choice for Smith

Dealer's choice for Smith
Twins GM holds ace in high-stakes game
By Nick Cafardo
Globe Staff / January 20, 2008

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/articles/2008/01/20/dealers_choice_for_smith/?page=1

Bill Smith is not afraid to trade Johan Santana. Nor is he afraid to hold on to him for as long as possible. The Minnesota Twins rookie general manager with Portsmouth, N.H., roots has been through a few rebuilding programs in his 22 years in the organization, and though he is new to the job of general manager, there's a good chance that neither Mr. Epstein, Mr. Minaya, nor Mr. Cashman is going to snooker this Winnacunnet High grad.



Smith has played it close to the vest with the Santana trade talks. He realizes he has the most valuable commodity in baseball in a two-time Cy Young Award winner, still only 29 years old. While he fully acknowledges that he's more of a baseball administrator than a scout or judge of talent, what he's heard from the Mets, Yankees, and Red Sox so far doesn't compel him to trade. If you want Santana, you'll have to show Smith how much you want him.

He has a captive and affluent audience in those teams. They all have a ton of money and they all have prospects to give. But for many weeks now Smith has held out for that final piece. The other component in the deal is Santana's signability, but given the resources of all three teams, they wouldn't be in this if they couldn't pay the bill.

Smith's first season on the job will be a trying one, as he follows Terry Ryan, who stepped down after 12 years on the job leaving a legacy as one of the top executives in the game. Ryan is now one of Smith's prime talent evaluators and advisers, and Smith will rely heavily on him and others when weighing offers for Santana.

Already this offseason, Smith saw center fielder Torii Hunter leave in free agency (five years, $90 million from the Angels). Smith made offers to both Hunter and Santana, but neither was willing to take the hometown discount. Some would say Smith has been put in a tenuous position right off the bat, but he doesn't see it that way.

"It's a dream job," Smith said. "I think anyone who has worked in baseball operations aspires to this job, and I'm no different. I was proud to be an assistant to Terry Ryan for so many years. We had a superb front office that also included Wayne Krivsky [now GM of the Reds], and I think we have had an excellent organization with great scouts and a great minor league system, and those are the things we hope we continue."

Smith was around for past defections - from Jeff Reardon to Frank Viola to Gary Gaetti to Tom Brunansky. He was around for the dismantling of the champion 1991 team. Yet he's also seen players such as Kirby Puckett and Brad Radke spend their entire careers in Minnesota because they loved it there

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"We've had to turn our roster over every four or five years," Smith said. "We've been down this path. We're not afraid to do it. We have faith in our scouting and our farm system to produce talent that if we reach that point, we do it.

"It's a continuing process. It's just a fact of life in our market, and we have to do the best we can to find new talent."

Smith's New Hampshire roots go back to the fifth grade when his father was stationed there with the Coast Guard. They had come from Virginia and California, but Portsmouth is where Smith grew up. He was there through high school before leaving to attend Hamilton College in Utica, N.Y.

"We loved New Hampshire," Smith said. "My dad was actually transferred a couple of times but he made the ultimate sacrifice of keeping his family in one place, and Portsmouth was the place. My dad would commute from New York City just so we could have some stability and stay home.

"We had a great time growing up there. For our family, it was perfect. We had so much enjoyment as kids. Home is Portsmouth, and my greatest memories are from growing up there."

But he will give the Red Sox no special dispensation when it comes to Santana. The feeling across baseball is that when there's a feeling of desperation by the teams involved to get something done, the deal will happen right before or during spring training.

The Red Sox fan base seems to want to keep the kids the organization has been touting for some time. Trading them for Santana would fly in the face of what we've been hearing all winter about the prime prospects.

The Yankees want to go with their young pitchers - at least Brian Cashman does - but some experts don't see how having Joba Chamberlain, Philip Hughes, and Ian Kennedy in the rotation could work, considering that most young pitchers can't go more than 160-170 innings. The Yankees are willing to give up the exciting Melky Cabrera, Hughes, and another prospect, but not Kennedy. In the end, though, they may succumb to the pressure of needing to do something.

The Mets, absent a No. 1 starter, need Santana the most. Omar Minaya is really trying here, and he will give up one of his two promising outfielders (Carlos Gomez or Fernando Martinez) as well as some combination of pitchers Philip Humber, Deolis Guerra, and Kevin Mulvey.

It's a lot for this Winnacunnet High grad to mull over.

Hey Giovanni, The Redsox are Evil and Lucchino not the Yankees. He's refer himself as a Lucifer.;-D

Institutional failure


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

posted: Sunday, January 20, 2008 | Feedback | Print Entry
filed under: MLB

Jim Kaat was in baseball as a player, coach and broadcaster for 50 years, and recently, he read a column by former commissioner Fay Vincent in the aftermath of the Mitchell report that closed with the kicker, "Now we see that we have to value those who win while playing fairly."

What follows is Jim's response to that:

The players have been tagged as the most culpable, and I would suggest that they are not culpable at all.

Baseball on the major league level has been never a 'great game of honor,' like golf is reputed to be. My job as a pitcher was to do all I could to help my team win, and from a selfish standpoint, to perform well enough to earn as much money as I could during a limited number of years to earn it. In 25 seasons in the major leagues, I averaged about $80,000 a year and thought for many of those years I was overpaid.

I cringe when I hear or see a former player speak out about erasing records set during this era. Here is my own example of a 'performance-enhancing method.' Pitching outdoors in Minnesota, a pitcher needed something to help him grip the ball without having it slip out of his hand. Games were played in temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s, and the ball was slick like a frozen snowball. I used pine tar and later a solution my pitching coach, Johnny Sain, concocted by boiling resin and adding a little turpentine and a few other ingredients. It was against the rules. No foreign substance is to be applied to the ball. No punishment was ever noted. Veteran umpire Jim Honochick, known later for his role in the Miller Lite commercials with Boog Powell, approached me on the mound from his position at second base one day and said, 'Lefty, you're putting a foreign substance on the ball. That's illegal.' I quickly replied, 'Jim, that's not a foreign substance. It's made in North Carolina.' He chuckled and went back to his position.

My point is that there were plenty of 'tricks' to help you enhance your performance. Baseball never had a set punishment in place. Hall of Fame pitchers have written in books about scuffling the ball with a filed ring worn like a wedding ring that had a sharp edge; applying Vaseline to the ball; sandpaper rings that were used and could be quickly flipped off if an umpire came out to question the unusual movement of the pitch. One well-known pitcher who has been very outspoken about the records achieved with the use of performance-enhancing drugs used to file a sharp edge on his belt buckle to scuff the ball -- which helps a pitcher to get it to sink and dive different ways. Infielders had sharp objects hidden in their gloves and as the ball was tossed around the infield after an out, they could scuff it up. Hitters corked their bats.

Owners, general managers, umpires and the commissioner and his staff knew these things went on and did very little about it. Occasionally, a pitcher might be warned about 'doctoring' the ball or a hitter might be caught corking a bat. The Graig Nettles incident has been well-documented: 'Puff,' Graig's nickname, hit a ball off the end of his bat, and the hollowed-out end came loose and a golf ball, two superballs and a dowel of cork went rolling down the third-base line. It was looked upon as a funny incident. 'Corking' is meant to increase the coefficient of restitution -- the speed with which the ball bounces back off the bat. (Pretty heady terminology for a former left-handed pitcher!) As a pitcher who gave up a lot of home runs, I could recognize when a ball carried an unusual distance, particularly to the opposite field. I was always the curious type and one night, when I saw a ball fly into the upper deck to the opposite field off the bat of a hitter known for his batting titles and not home runs, I investigated. Over the years, I became friendly with most of the clubhouse attendants; you see more of them during the season than you do your teammates or family. I would stop in to visit them well before games on occasion, and have, as we used to say, a cup of 'big league coffee.' (Just an expression, not a special brew.) I would notice the bags that held the bats and see where the ends had been hollowed out on some and a noticeable circle where cork or some other objects had been inserted. It confirmed what I thought about the bat of the hitter who hit the opposite-field home run. Because I was visiting a friend in the visiting clubhouse, I would never report anything like that and jeopardize my friendship with the clubhouse guys.

My reason for pointing out these examples of 'performance-enhancing' or cheating is that it has been going on as long as the game itself. Steroids that help you perform better are no different except they can affect your health. I didn't suffer any illness or debilitating condition from using pine tar. Athletes have died from using anabolic steroids.

The non-uniformed personnel are all hiding behind the doors and going nameless while players' reputations are tarnished forever.

The blame should be shared by the administration and the union. Since baseball took a public-interest hit after the 1994 strike and home runs began flying out of parks in record numbers, they turned their back on what they knew to be the reason for it. Being in clubhouses and around players with their torsos exposed, you don't have to be exceptionally intelligent to see body changes that would be impossible to achieve with normal weight and strength training. I did the normal training to make my career last as long as possible. It lasted until I was 45 years old. Regular, normal training wouldn't help achieve the 'spike' in players' performances that we have witnessed in recent years from hitters and pitchers.

Anyone have an answer to this question: Why hasn't any player hit 60 or more home runs since drug testing began?

I have a simple solution (and I have made this known to the current commissioner during a telecast of a game I was doing on YES). When the administration and the union realized what was going on -- and they knew ever since the Canseco era, which was about 1990 to a few years ago when testing began -- two things should have been presented to the players, privately, in meetings with each individual team ...

A spokesman from the commissioner's office and the Players Association could have made it clear that they knew what was going on and that the players could:

1. Take anything and everything available to them to help their performance, and as a result, the team's performance, while understanding that there are potential health issues, and legal issues, if obtained without prescription.

2. Enter into an agreement between the union and Major League Baseball whereby any player caught in the authorized testing program using illegal performance-enhancing drugs (listed in clubhouses and training rooms) will be banned for life.

In other words, a level field for everyone.

If a lifetime ban was the punishment for using pine tar, do you think I would have taken a chance and used it? I would hope not.

I grew up studying baseball history. Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis was appointed commissioner in the early part of the last century to rid the game of players involved in fixing games by cooperating with gamblers. We will never have a dictatorial commissioner like him again. However, we need some leadership that will protect the integrity of the game, and it should come from the administration and union leaders. They should have been more interested in serious issues like this instead of record-setting revenues and benefits for players. Unfortunately, that's all they have ever been interested in, and they probably always will be. It's too late to repair what damage has been done in the past, but an agreement with some teeth in it could be crafted immediately.

You may have lost whatever respect you had for players who were your heroes, but don't blame them for the current problem.

• Judging by the owners' decision to give Bud Selig an extension, writes George Vecsey, it is evident they are not embarrassed by the steroid era.

• Miguel Tejada tells Jesus Ortiz that he's leaving the Mitchell report fallout to his lawyers. Cecil Cooper tells Steve Campbell that he assumes that he will have Tejada during the 2008 season. I don't know what the Astros can do in this situation to make it any better, except maybe to privately identify a solid Plan B at shortstop.

Marcos Breton wrote a biography about Tejada and didn't mention steroids, and now he wants Tejada to come clean.

• Jim Murray's name came up twice in the 17-minute phone call between Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee, writes Duff Wilson and Michael Schmidt. McNamee says the meeting in 2003 or 2004 took place because he was concerned Clemens might test positive.

• Roger Clemens' rear end is now on the line, writes Mike Lupica.

• Friends say that Andy Pettitte is not happy with Clemens, writes Ken Davidoff.

• Mike Lowell wants a true HGH test.

• The year 2013 could turn out to be very interesting at the Hall of Fame, writes Chris Jenkins.

• Ray Ratto came up with a possible penalty for the Giants: Grant the rights to San Jose to the Athletics.

PED-FREE ZONE

• The Rays are changing their outlook, as Marc Topkin writes. If you were to drop the Rays into the NL, they would be viewed as a borderline contender -- with a rotation of Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Matt Garza having a chance to develop into something very good. Within this piece, there is word that the Rays are talking with left-hander Trever Miller.

• Roch Kubatko wades through the Orioles' trade talk.

• Norm Charlton is going to lay down the law about how the Mariners' relievers conduct themselves, writes Larry Larue.

• Juan Pierre's playing time is not a given, writes Tony Jackson.

• Ryan Dempster is pumped up about being a starting pitcher, writes Gordon Wittenmyer. The Cubs must make Alfonso Soriano understand that sacrificing part of his game would be good for the team, writes Greg Couch. The Cubs will have a deep rotation, writes Chris De Luca.

Why would anyone think this year is going to be any different than the previous 99 have been for the Cubs, wonders Rick Morrissey.

• The Tribune Co. is likely to own the Cubs throughout the 2008 season, writes Paul Sullivan.

• Ted Lilly is still bummed about how the Cubs performed in the playoffs.

• The Royals held their version of "American Idol," with all the hopefuls performing one song: the national anthem.

• The Cardinals turned over their roster, and now nostalgia is available at a discount, writes Derrick Goold.

• Chris Carpenter says he doesn't have soreness, as he begins to throw in earnest.

• The Brewers like Tony Gwynn Jr., but not necessarily as an everyday player.

• The Indians once had interest in Bartolo Colon, but after their scouts watched him, their interest waned, writes Paul Hoynes.

• The Reds agreed to terms with Jeremy Affeldt. He could be a strong addition, writes John Fay.

• The White Sox are playing catch-up in the AL Central, writes Murray Chass.

• The Mariners are bringing back Horacio Ramirez, as John Hickey writes.

• The infusion of alumni has been part of how the Pirates have worked on changing the culture of their organization this winter, writes Dejan Kovacevic.

• The Red Sox added a young catcher to their 40-man roster this winter, as Joe McDonald writes.

• Joe Beimel has some leverage in his contract talks this time around, writes Tony Jackson.

• The Indians have mostly stood pat this winter.

• The Rockies' young stars form their core values, writes Troy Renck. Troy Tulowitzki is close to completing a new six-year contract.

• Sammy Sosa's time with the Rangers is over.

• We smoked LSU, and got back to winning.

• I've got another assignment the next two days, and will be back in business here on Wednesday, by which time there will be only three weeks or so left before the start of spring training. ... Thank goodness.

Catching prospect sets target for Sox
http://www.projo.com/redsox/content/sp_bb_pawsox19_01-19-08_6B8M6TV_v8.250fb01.html

PAWTUCKET — He is no longer Mr. Anonymity.

For the first time in his eight-year minor-league career, Dusty Brown’s name appears on a major-league roster.

The World Champion Boston Red Sox have added the catching prospect to the 40-man roster along with fellow receivers Jason Varitek, Doug Mirabelli and George Kottaras. Just because Brown, 25, was selected in the 35th round (1,052nd overall) in the 2000 draft, most would think he’s fourth on the depth chart of Red Sox catchers but that’s not the case.

He has proven to be a solid catcher with strong defensive skills, a strong arm and has the ability to call and control a game. His offensive numbers need work, but the Red Sox feel he has a future behind the plate.

“He does a good job defensively,” said Red Sox director of player development Mike Hazen. “He’s a good catch-and-throw guy and he runs a good pitching staff. The basics of a catcher at the major-league level are that and he can do all those things very well. . . We feel he’s going to be a major-league catcher.”

Kottaras, who was acquired from San Diego to complete the deal for David Wells in September 2006, struggled for the Pawtucket Red Sox last season and missed an opportunity to play in Boston when a sore knee kept him sidelined when the Red Sox needed a backup.

Instead Cash went and was brought along as a nonroster player for the postseason.

Cash recently re-signed with Boston, leaving a traffic jam of potential catchers in Pawtucket.

But, according to Hazen, there’s a possibility to keep the three at Triple-A level via another position, mainly as a designated hitter.

If Brown can prove his worth in spring training, he could find himself behind Varitek in the near future.

“The Red Sox are coming into a situation where there’s going to be a turnover somewhere in the next few years,” said Brown. “I’m sure Varitek will play as long as he wants to and as long as he’s healthy. The backup spot could be up for grabs in the next few years, and ultimately I would love to play behind Varitek and take over his job when he decides to step down.”

Brown, however, isn’t just focusing on the Red Sox job because he knows the state of catching league-wide is something to be desired and if another team comes looking for big-league help he said he’ll be ready. “Regardless of what happens with this organization, if I don’t get that opportunity with this organization then somewhere along the line I’ll get that opportunity,” said Brown.

Brown uses many things to motivate himself, and one such motivator is the fact he has played under a virtual shadow when it comes to fans, the media and the rest of the baseball world.

“It fuels my fire a little bit,” he said. “I read the articles, but I don’t take it to heart. I like to make jokes that nobody, [even] the baseball writers even know I exist. I’ll read stuff about guys underneath me, ahead of me but I know whose opinion really matters. If I don’t get the press or the credit for being a decent player, it doesn’t bother me at all. It’s just kind of funny.”

If he wants to succeed The Captain, then Brown will have to make strides with his bat. The 6-foot, 180-pounder split time between Portland and Pawtucket in 2007 and combined for a .260 average with 9 homers and 46 RBI in 77 games.

When he arrived at McCoy Stadium late last season due to Cash’s call-up, Brown appeared in eight games for the PawSox and hit .185 with three RBI before he was sent back to Portland. Because of his potential the Red Sox sent him to play in the Arizona Fall League where he hit .273 in 15 games and earned a spot on the AFL’s Top Prospects Team, which means he is projected to be a major-league catcher.

By the way, the masked man can catch a knuckleball.

Brown has worked with both minor-league knucklers Charlie Zink and Josh Barnes and says he’s comfortable and confident with the dancing pitch. That ability is also a motivational factor for Brown heading into spring training.

“It wasn’t a secret last year that I can catch a knuckleball,” he said. “If they want to give me a chance in spring training then I will run with it. I may not get that chance with them re-signing Mirabelli, but I think I’ve made enough of an impression with my ability to catch the knuckleball that if something were to happen, they would have the confidence in me.”

jmcdonal@projo.com

LOL @ this bullshit!

Close to a deal with the Redsox @ the winter meatings

Close to a deal with the Mets 2 weeks ago even though the gm is in Israel image

AND STILL NO DEAL?

image

Smith has no hand...

The Redsox involvement is complete BS. Day 1 = Yankees are out, Day 2 = rumors about Crisp for Street, Day 3 = Yankees have not closed the door, Day 4 to current = not a peep about Crisp for Street image .

The Mets don't have the MLB ready talent and are not going to trade everything they have or Reyes.

The Yankees havent had an offer on the table in months, there are no centerfielders left on the open market and after Cano & Wang get a combined 7-8M adding another 13M looks less and less attractive.

Any other teams................................... Crickets .........................................

The Twins Are Fucked!

Reports: Murray meeting with McNamee in 2004 may raise questions

ESPN.com news services

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3205468
A meeting in 2004 between Roger Clemens' former trainer and a representative of the pitcher's agents could have implications in the back and forth claims about steroid use that came out of the Mitchell report, according to published reports.

Jim Murray, who is employed by Clemens' agents, met with the pitcher's former trainer Brian McNamee in 2004, near Clemens' New York apartment, according to McNamee's attorney Earl Ward.

Ward said that at the time, McNamee was concerned that some steroids may be lingering in Clemens' system that could result in a positive test in Major League Baseball's first round of steroid testing.

"He did speak to Murray about his suspicions, his concerns that Major League Baseball had implemented testing and that Roger could have a problem," Ward told the New York Times after speaking with his client Friday night.

McNamee said Murray took detailed notes about the meeting.

"Brian wanted to let them know Roger had some problems," Ward told the New York Daily News. "They discussed steroid use."

Clemens has repeatedly and vigorously denied McNamee's claim that he injected Clemens with steroids 16 times in 1998, 2000 and 2001. Clemens has acknowledged he received injections from McNamee, but he said they were for vitamin B-12 and the painkiller lidocaine.

During his press conference defending himself on Jan. 7, Clemens played a telephone conversation between himself and McNamee taped the previous Friday. On that tape includes a reference to Murray.

"I told Jim Murray. I told Jim Murray. I told him. I told him. I sat down with him in Starbucks on the corner where you [Clemens] used to live, and I told him the guy's name," McNamee says on the tape, referring to the ex-trainer's source for procuring steroids.

The person McNamee was referring to was former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski.

On the tape, Clemens asked McNamee if he knew Radomski.

"I asked you point blank," Clemens said. "I said, Do you know who this cat is when we were working? I said there's some rumblings about some guys with the Mets. Do you know who this guy is? You told me no."

McNamee's response appears to validate his claim about the meeting with Murray.

"I met with Jimmy in '04, and I told him. I said Jimmy, I just wanted to give you guys a heads-up because you better have some information. I'd rather you be prepared than unprepared," McNamee said.

Ward also says McNamee contacted Murray shortly before the Mitchell report was released to warn him that both Clemens and Andy Pettitte would be mentioned by name in the report. Clemens and Pettitte have the same agents, Randy and Alan Hendricks.

Ward also said that when Murray called McNamee back, he believes Murray taped the call, which could be used as evidence in both Clemens' lawsuit against McNamee as well as for the congressional hearing slated for Feb. 13.

Rusty Hardin, Clemens' attorney, told the New York Times on Friday that no one from Clemens' agents' agency mentioned the alleged conversation between McNamee and Murray in 2004. Hardin added that the Hendricks agency denied that either Hendricks brother ever received a message from McNamee on the topic.

"McNamee never told Jimmy that Roger or Andy were in any way connected to steroids or human growth hormone," Hardin told The Times.

The Feb. 13 hearing before Congress is expected to include Clemens, Pettitte, McNamee, Radomski and Chuck Knoblauch.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

It would be nice if people would at least be informed before expressing opinions.

Steroids have been illegal since the early 90's, their use without a valid prescriptions is against the law.

Use of ANY substance requiring a valid prescription (like steroids, amphetamines, or HGH) have been banned from baseball since the early 70s.

No one has gone after any of these guys for steroid or HGH use, they are all prosecuted for lying to government officials. To maintain legal integrity, you CAN NOT allow people to lie under oath, which is why all of these high profile instances have been prosecuted.

On the heels of all of these prosecutions, does anyone really think McNamee would lie when all he had to do to avoid jail time was tell the truth? I would wager anything that he has done his best to keep most of the shady things Clemens has done secret.

In addition, the fact that he was concerned about Roger testing positive in 2004 seems to indicate that he KNEW Roger was taking steroids then despite the fact that McNamee wasn't the one giving him the injections anymore.

DID MAC FORGET TO SAY ALLEDGE USAE IN 2004???



<p> http://www.villagev oice.com/news/0751,g ardiner,78667,2.html /1 Cops on Steroids Baseball has no monopoly on foul balls. The NYPD's own drug scandal keeps simmering. by Sean Gardiner December 18th, 2007 7:46 PM <br />Lowen's Pharmacy<br />photo: Elena Dahl </p><p> </p><p> Over the past 18 months, the NYPD has apparently experienced a rare epidemic in which a cluster of young, muscular cops have suffered a malady that usually strikes men over the age of 60: hypogonadism, or low testosterone. </p><p>T he Voice has learned that the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office knows of 29 cops and at least 10 NYPD civilian employees?all well under the age of 60?who have received prescriptions for hypogonadism. </p><p>T he treatment for it just happens to be steroids. </p><p>B aseball's steroids scandal has broken wide open with last week's release of former senator George Mitchell's report on players who may have broken the rules of the sport by bulking up. That probe, which currently revolves around New York City, in part because of the alleged involvement of a Mets clubhouse employee, has spilled over from Queens into Brooklyn into the NYPD, where an investigation of steroid use by New York City cops is bubbling under the surface. </p><p>H ow closely th...




Odds and Ends: Doumit, Colon, Greene, Santana

It's up to an impressive 5.7 degrees where I am, but I still don't think I'll be going outside much today. Hence, some odds and ends.

* John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus says the Red Sox are interested in the Pirates' Ryan Doumit. However Perrotto says the Bucs are reluctant to trade the versatile Doumit, who turns 27 in April. Only past Doumit rumor I can find was from Will Carroll in May of '06, saying he and Oliver Perez were being dangled to the Phillies.
* Perrotto believes the Royals could sign Bartolo Colon if he'll take a one-year deal; that may be true for several clubs. Paul Hoynes reports that the Indians watched Colon pitch, but weren't impressed with his sub-90 velocity. Hoynes says Kris Benson will have another throwing session and the Tribe will be in attendance.
* According to Marc Topkin, the Rays are talking with lefty reliever Trever Miller. The two sides haven't agreed on the term yet.
* Padres GM Kevin Towers was very frank in his comments about the team's rejected long-term overtures toward shortstop Khalil Greene. Towers brought a three or four year proposal to Greene but does not expect anything to get done. He stated Greene's health and possible desire to be on the East Coast as factors.
* Vince Gennaro does an economic analysis of the Johan Santana rumors, indicating that the acquisition makes the most sense for the Mets.

Hmmmm....How will Clemens spin this?
bluburt Post #1: 11:12 am Quote | Report Violation
Total Posts: 1548


http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3205468

I'm sure they will just say that McNamee was trying to get money from Roger or something weak like that....

The web of lies just might be catching up to Roger....
mattlindbloom Post #2: 11:51 am Quote | Report Violation
Total Posts: 1862
i agree.

he should have manned up like andy.
swiftyread Post #3: 12:52 pm Quote | Report Violation
Total Posts: 504


YOU TWO GUYS SHOULD BE HOLDING HANDS WHILE YOPU BASHTHE BEST IN THE SPORT.

.....HERE IS A THOUGHT.."HATERS", YOU HAVE A ONE-SIDED STORY

ROGER INVENTED "MAN UP" AND IS SHOWING IT EVERYDAY

HE CONTINUES TO WINMORE AND MORE SUPPORT...WHY ARE YOU??? ITS NOT EVEN IN THE BIG 3 MEDIA ANYMORE....HASNT BEEN FOR 2 OR 3 WEEKS
swiftyread Post #4: 12:55 pm Quote | Report Violation
Total Posts: 504
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0751,gardiner,78667,2.html/1 Cops on Steroids Baseball has no monopoly on foul balls. The NYPD's own drug scandal keeps simmering. by Sean Gardiner December 18th, 2007 7:46 PM
Lowen's Pharmacy
photo: Elena Dahl



Over the past 18 months, the NYPD has apparently experienced a rare epidemic in which a cluster of young, muscular cops have suffered a malady that usually strikes men over the age of 60: hypogonadism, or low testosterone.

The Voice has learned that the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office knows of 29 cops and at least 10 NYPD civilian employees?all well under the age of 60?who have received prescriptions for hypogonadism.

The treatment for it just happens to be steroids.

Baseball's steroids scandal has broken wide open with last week's release of former senator George Mitchell's report on players who may have broken the rules of the sport by bulking up. That probe, which currently revolves around New York City, in part because of the alleged involvement of a Mets clubhouse employee, has spilled over from Queens into Brooklyn into the NYPD, where an investigation of steroid use by New York City cops is bubbling under the surface.

How closely the two drug scandals may be linked isn't known, but personal trainer Brian McNamee, who told the Mitchell commission that he injected Yankee pitcher Roger Clemens and other players with steroids, is a former NYPD cop who left the department in 1993 and later embarked on a career as a personal trainer who allegedly injected star athletes with drugs, according to ESPN.com.

As for the cop-steroid scandal, when the story first broke in October, NYPD officials repeatedly said that only six officers were believed to be involved. Spokesman Paul Browne has maintained that none of the cops were selling steroids and none will be arrested, though they may face departmental discipline. (McNamee was placed on suspension when with the NYPD, and ESPN filed a FOIA,but information was not granted.)

Unlike baseball, the NYPD does not test its officers for steroids, but it's a little early for department officials to make sanguine predictions. Brooklyn D.A. Charles "Joe" Hynes's office is still in the middle of its investigation and, according to law-enforcement sources, will present a case to a grand jury sometime within the next several weeks.

Unlike baseball players, the NYPD's cops are forbidden to talk to the press without permission. But people close to the probe, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say that in the probe of cops' steroid use, investigators from the State Department of Health have given the D.A. almost a dozen boxes of records gathered during three raids at Lowen's Pharmacy in Brooklyn. Officials have also seized millions of dollars of human growth hormone (HGH) and steroids from that Bay Ridge pharmacy. The most recent raid was on December 3. Hynes won't comment other than to confirm that there is an investigation.

But sources tell the Voice that one officer bought more than $25,000 worth of steroids in a year, an amount that is impossible to claim as personal use. Cops found to have filed false insurance claims or sold steroids could face the possibility of criminal charges, as could cops who've received prescriptions for steroids unless it's determined that they're for legitimate medical reasons.

But that's just the steroids angle of the investigation. Investigators are still sifting through 4,000 to 5,000 HGH prescriptions filled at Lowen's in the past 18 months. Dr. Harry Fisch, a professor of clinical urology at Columbia University, says there are only two legitimate medical reasons for an adult to be prescribed HGH: to offset the loss of body m.as.s and muscle for people in the advanced stages of AIDS and to treat a rare pituitary condition.

Those HGH records at Lowen's could open up a Pandora's box in the largest police department in the nation. NYPD officials have kept a lid on the steroids angle of the probe?amid grumbling in the ranks. The fact that the two highest-ranking officers caught up in the probe so far?two deputy chiefs, Mike Marino, executive officer of the Brooklyn North patrol, and Jack Trabitz, head of the property-clerk division?were not suspended and appear to have been cleared despite admitting they received prescriptions for testosterone has Patrick Lynch, president of the rank-and-file patrol officers' union, crying "favoritism." Trabitz didn't return calls seeking comment. One cop has told the Voice that Trabitz, who is in his 50s, "looks like he could be a running back in the NFL, he's that big." Marino came forward after his name was leaked to the press. Reportedly, however, he was cleared after being questioned by the Internal Affairs Bureau, which found his prescription to be legitimate.

Marino tells the Voice that he can't comment "because there's some litigation going on around this right now." John Driscoll, outgoing president of the Captains Endowment Association, the union for those with the rank of captain and above, says that that Marino and Trabitz not only voluntarily talked with IAB investigators but also took drug tests and passed them. At this point, Driscoll says, they are "accused of nothing."

Previously published reports didn't detail what Marino's supposed ailment was, but law-enforcement sources tell the Voice that Marino told IAB investigators that in addition to being treated for a low sex drive, he had been prescribed the drug to lose weight.

"That's not a legitimate reason for using anabolic steroids," says Dr. Gary Wadler, author of Drugs and the Athlete and a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency's Prohibited List and Methods Committee. "It's not a weight- reducing drug." Continue full text People weaning themselves from steroids, says Wadler, often "have high incidence of depression and even suicide"?and still have those department-issued weapons strapped to their hips.

"They're playing Russian roulette with their health," he says. "Of course, in a cop you worry about 'roid rage more than with the average person. Steroids can make people more aggressive?severely aggressive?and you don't want a severely aggressive person being put in a position where they have their finger on the trigger of a gun."

Or with their hands on a broom handle. Cops are fully aware that during their colleague Justin Volpe's trial for the 1999 torture of Abner Louima, during which a broom handle was shoved up the a.s.s of the immigrant in the 70th Precinct bathroom, a Volpe family confidant said the cop should have claimed temporary insanity caused by 'roid rage.

The Manhattan cop tells the Voice that "you automatically think of Volpe and how he lost it." But he says cops generally don't discuss the dangers of 'roid rage. "Most cops I've talked with don't give a sh.it about that," he says. "They're more concerned that the chief [Marino] got away with it, and the cops are getting jammed up."

If Joe Hynes follows the path of other prosecutors, the suspected NYPD steroid cops may never face criminal charges; their suppliers will be targeted. (PAGE 340 MITCHELL SAYS ...PRESECUTE THE DISTRBUTORS NOT THE PLAYERS) The fate of the cops will likely be determined by the NYPD's erratic disciplinary system.

According to law-enforcement sources, the NYPD has had to order the cops suspected of using to undergo special tests because the standard NYPD urinalysis exam doesn't detect steroids. There is no known test for HGH.

According to sources, six cops have tested positive for steroids: Sergeant Ray Cotton of Patrol Borough South and his officer-driver Vaughn Etienne; Sergeant Manny DaSilva of the 61st Precinct; and officers James Prinzo of the 60th Precinct, Frank Perna of the 68th Precinct, and Tab Haynes of the Staten Island task force. All but Haynes are Brooklyn cops. All six were suspended and then placed on modified duty. Their lawyers have declined comment.

Investigators are still trying to determine how the cops allegedly implicated in the Lowen's probe got turned on to the pharmacy in the first place. And cops aren't the only ones facing a probe. So far, 19 New York City firefighters have been found to have received prescriptions for steroids and/or HGH that were filled at Lowen's, sources say.

FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon says the department has not been notified that any firefighters had obtained prescriptions for steroids related to the investigation that revolves around Lowen's. Like the NYPD, the FDNY doesn't include steroids in its random drug tests.

In the past year, Lowen's has become what law-enforcement officials believe was one of the busiest steroid and HGH outlets in the country. Those involved in this alleged 'roid mill include a Beverly Hills chiropractor with a degree in hypnotism, a mob associate/ movie producer named Julius "Jules" Na.s.so who did time for extorting actor Steven Seagal, a former pump-and-dump stock operator who owns a gym, and a Staten Island doctor who had an office in what was known as the "Fountain of Youth Building," across the street from a cemetery.

In the past two years, the probe zig zagged from upstate New York to South Florida before focusing on the community drug store in Bay Ridge. The Brooklyn investigation started in a roundabout way. In 2005, officials from the state Department of Health contacted Albany D.A. David Soares after their records showed that a doctor in Rome, New York, was issuing an unusually large amount of methadone, according to Soares's spokeswoman Heather Orth. The probe took an unexpected turn when the doctor, who eventually was sentenced to six years in prison, began explaining how the Internet and so-called anti-aging clinics were being used to illegally prescribe drugs without doctor's exams and then ship steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.

"Operation Which Doctor," as they called it, eventually led investigators to Orlando, Florida, where this past February a task force raided the Signature pharmacy and several anti-aging clinics. Orth maintains that the focus of the investigation was always the suppliers. To date, she says, 22 people have been indicted, with 10 of those convicted, including several doctors and pharmacists. But what made the headlines (and caused some criticism of the district attorney as being a publicity hound) was that several professional athletes were found to have obtained steroids from Signature. Among them, reportedly, were former heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield, baseball player Gary Matthews Jr., and New England Patriots safety Rodney Harrison.

Information gleaned from the records and interviews of the suspects from Signature and the clinics drove the investigation back north to Brooklyn. In particular, investigators found that a doctor from a West Palm Beach clinic had written steroid prescriptions for patients from all over the country, most of whom he never examined. About 4,000 of those scripts were filled at Lowen's Pharmacy in Bay Ridge, sources tell the Voice.

This past May, based on the information from the Florida busts, the state Department of Health searched Lowen's and found about $200,000 worth of steroids. Some of the stuff was legal, sources say, but most of it is alleged to have been imported illegally from China by Lowen's supplier, DNP International, which couldn't provide the prerequisite DEA and FDA licenses, sources say. Lowen's sued DNP for breach of contract. DNP's lawyer, Richard Pu, tells the Voice that he and DNP have "no comment whatsoever."

A lawsuit filed in July by Beverly Hills chiropractor Shirley Elzinga against Lowen's and its owners, John Rossi and N.a.sso, details Lowen's meteoric rise from family pharmacy to Internet drug supermarket.

Elzinga, who runs a Rodeo Drive anti- aging center called Preventive Medicine Clinic, contends that sometime in 2004 she was approached by N.asso, who is described in the suit as "an owner of Lowen's." (A law-enforcement source tells the Voice that Rossi has described Na.sso as a "silent partner" in the pharmacy.)

Later that year, Na.s.so was sentenced to a year and a day for the attempted extortion of actor Steven Seagal. A licensed pharmacist from Staten Island turned film producer, Nasso had sued Seagal, his former longtime partner in Na.sso-Seagal Films, Inc., claiming that the actor reneged on a four-movie deal. Three of the flicks, including a biopic of Genghis Khan, never got made.

Na.sso's silent partners, the Gambino crime family, tried to shake down Seagal in a Brooklyn restaurant. The mob was caught talking about the shakedown on FBI wiretaps, and the Seagal episode was subsequently the most interesting part of a bigger case that sent away, among others, John Gotti's brother Peter, then the acting crime boss, and Na.sso's brother Vincent, who was convicted for kicking back money to the Gambinos in exchange for illegally awarding the longshoremen union's pharmaceutical-management contract to his prescription-drug business.
swiftyread Post #5: 12:59 pm Quote | Report Violation
Total Posts: 504


DID MAC FORGET TO ALLEDGE USE IN 2004???

OR IS IT CONVENIENCE??? HOW ABOUT GAMBINO???

BAM


tinman67tn Post #6: 1:14 pm Quote | Report Violation
Total Posts: 1429


DID MAC FORGET TO ALLEDGE USE IN 2004???

OR IS IT CONVENIENCE??? HOW ABOUT GAMBINO???

BAM



Your pitiful....just pitiful.


http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3205468
MassIceTransition2 Post #7: 1:20 pm Quote | Report Violation
Total Posts: 2014
Clemens should have just said he was feeling old and needed something to get him back and ready to play and he was sorry. This is going to blow up in his face and be a sad state of affairs if you ask me.
SFSportsFan4Lyfe Post #8: 1:22 pm Quote | Report Violation
Total Posts: 266


YOU TWO GUYS SHOULD BE HOLDING HANDS WHILE YOPU BASHTHE BEST IN THE SPORT.

.....HERE IS A THOUGHT.."HATERS", YOU HAVE A ONE-SIDED STORY

ROGER INVENTED "MAN UP" AND IS SHOWING IT EVERYDAY

HE CONTINUES TO WINMORE AND MORE SUPPORT...WHY ARE YOU??? ITS NOT EVEN IN THE BIG 3 MEDIA ANYMORE....HASNT BEEN FOR 2 OR 3 WEEKS






you are ignorant..how about him calling McNamee, saying he wanted to talk about his kid who is dying, then bringing up McNamee telling Mitchell about him, AND TAPING IT. who does that? what an @$$hole.
regularguy37 Post #9: 1:32 pm Quote | Report Violation
Total Posts: 3376

Would Giants Fans would be ok if they had bad season, losing record next year and get a better draft pick?

Cowher just picked Giants to win 24-20, Marino picked 24-21 GB, Boomer 27-17 GB, and Shannon said 24-20 GB

Arizona? Let’s play it at the Yale Bowl

ttp://yankees.lhblogs.com/
Admit it, none of you Giants fans thought Lawrence Tynes was going to hit that one after missing the previous two.

Good for the G-Men and Eli Manning, who finally escapes the shadow of his big brother. Amazing that Brett Favre could play so poorly. Their offense was brutal.

Prepare yourself for two weeks of non-stop hype. The unbeaten Mighty Patriots against the plucky Giants. The undefeated team on the verge of history against what would be one of the NFL’s most unlikely champions. New York vs. Boston. Two Bill Parcells guys as the coaches.

No prediction yet. But suffice it to say I won’t be picking the Giants for the third week in a row.

13 Responses to “Arizona? Let’s play it at the Yale Bowl”

1. Fidelio January 20th, 2008 at 10:23 pm

The giants in the super bowl i dont bleieve it yet man… and no i didnt think tynes had a shot in hell of making that field goal.
2. Ryan January 20th, 2008 at 10:24 pm

you’re absolutely right Pete, i didnt even think Tynes was gonna reach the endzone with that last kick

amazing

see you in Arizona
3. YANKEE BIAS January 20th, 2008 at 10:24 pm

Who would’ve thought the G-Men would be in the Super Bowl at the beginning of the season.

Unreal.

Eli Manning was fantastic today. I hope they kick the Patriots you know what.
4. tterba January 20th, 2008 at 10:25 pm

go giants….f any team from the boston area
5. Go NYR January 20th, 2008 at 10:25 pm

The Patsies are gonna lose. I have a feeling. Could just be the Jets fan in me talking, but the Giants nearly beat the Patsies in week 17. They played like garbage today and Brady threw 3 picks. If he throws 3 picks in the Superbowl, the Patsies will not win.
6. Jeff NJ January 20th, 2008 at 10:25 pm

Pete, can I get a shout out for my prediction on your football post a few days ago? I predicted 24-20, I missed by one point! I’m glad I put that down in writing. Amazing that we’ll get a rematch with the Patriots!
7. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Save the Three Musketeers! January 20th, 2008 at 10:26 pm

Pete, are you gonna live blog the Super Bowl?
8. Go NYR January 20th, 2008 at 10:26 pm

Tynes’ approach for that kick- kick it as hard as I can and pray
9. tterba January 20th, 2008 at 10:26 pm

go giants ! please beat the pats for us yankee fans
10. Jeff NJ January 20th, 2008 at 10:28 pm

By the way, I think it worked out great that the Giants got New England in week 17. The Giants had no choice but to play that game hard. They did and they built momentum from it. Amazing story. I’m going to enjoy the next two weeeks immensely.
11. Lori January 20th, 2008 at 10:28 pm

Pete - you have to admit, Brady hasn’t looked good this entire playoffs. That they made it to the big game is amazing to me. Ok, so it is AMAZING to me that the G-Men are there as well. But Manning looked good. Let’s see, 3 INT vs. 0 INT. Who has the momentum?? Go ahead, pick NE as the favorites. I’m going with Manning. ELI Manning.
12. Norm Snead January 20th, 2008 at 10:29 pm

I swear to you Pete I saw the Cowboys beat the Giants at the Yale Bowl 23-10 November 23rd 1973. I was 9 years old.
13. B'H January 20th, 2008 at 10:29 pm

I believed he could do that kick. You know third times the charm. Now in two weeks. That’s gonna be great.

Peter Abraham January 20th, 2008 at 10:35 pm

Enjoy it, Giants fans. But two things: The Pats played a totally vanilla base defense against the Giants in that final game of the regular season and sat out two starting linemen on offense: Kaczur and Neal. And Brady is not going to play two bad games in a row. Belichick havingt two weeks to prepare for the Giants is a big advantage.

But that’s for two weeks from now. Enjoy your win, it was a great one.

As for me, these next two weeks will be like vacation. No baseball stories needed


# Bronx Liaison January 20th, 2008 at 10:39 pm

The Giants deserved to win that ball game. I was rooting on the Packers due to family from Wisconsin, but there is no downplaying how well Eli Manning performed tonight. Completely outplayed Favre and a strong, young defense.

Hopefully the next game will be a good one.


This is the road to redemption:
Lose to Dallas bad twice, come back and beat them when it counts; Check
Lose to Green Bay in the regular season bad, come back and beat them when it counts: Check
Lose to the Pats in what was the best played game for the G-Men of the year and come back to take their undefeated season: TBD

January 21, 2008
Congrats to the Giants fans who believed

I just finished watching a huge group of Giants fans close down Brett Favre’s steakhouse in the heart of Green Bay, just a few blocks from Lambeau Field.

I’d imagine that must have felt pretty good.

That’s where I was in the wee hours of this frigid Wisconsin morning, with two-thirds of Team Daily News. The famous restaurant owned by Favre was absolutely overrun by fans wearing blue – including several with cheese head hats - painted Giants colors of course (I guess that would be blue-cheese?).

Of course, you all deserve a few drinks after what you’ve just witnessed. The 23-20 overtime win in the NFC championship game was both incredible and stunning. But before I give you my review, let me congratulate all of you who believed this team was destined for the Super Bowl at halftime of Week 3.

Here’s the complete list:

“ .”

Actually, from what I’m told, Giants GM Jerry Reese still believed this team was Super Bowl bound, down 17-3 in Washington and 30 minutes away from an 0-3 start. I’ve got to give him credit, if that story is true. He was right.

I’ll have much more on this game later today, after I complete my drive to Milwaukee and my flight home. Right now all I can think of is this one thing:

In Phoenix, it’s probably very warm.

Congratulations to you all. Enjoy the ride.

* * *

I’m told the early line is New England by 14 ½ points. Sounds about right. And it sounds like something Antonio Pierce is going to tape inside his helmet.

* * *

Today’s forecast for Green Bay: Light snow, 13 degrees.

Today’s forecast for Glendale, Ariz.: Mostly sunny, 64 degrees.