2007-08 Baseball Offseason

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Looks like the Tigers really do believe in Dontrelle. I don't know if you got a good or great pitcher Tiger fans, but you defintely got a great guy. Don't corrupt him!

Might be a great guy, but he sure looks like he's on a rapid decline, plus he's headed to the harder league.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Might be a great guy, but he sure looks like he's on a rapid decline, plus he's headed to the harder league.

Don't forget the extra $29 mil

[RedKingGold]

Whew. A thread RomaGoth has not yet posted in.

Time to get COZY!

[Bearcat729]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3165275

Reds send outfielder to Rangers for Volquez, minor leaguer

Associated Press

Updated: December 22, 2007, 1:22 PM ET


Josh Hamilton
Center Field
Cincinnati Reds

2007 Season Stats
GM HR RBI R OBP AVG
90 19 47 52 .368 .292

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Josh Hamilton proved he had overcome his demons in Cincinnati, and now he wants to conquer his future in Texas.

One of baseball's best comeback stories during his breakout rookie year, the 26-year-old center fielder whose career was nearly derailed by alcohol and drug abuse was traded Friday from the Reds to the Rangers for pitchers Edinson Volquez and Danny Herrera.

Hamilton batted .292 with 19 homers and 47 RBIs in 298 at-bats this year. He fills one of the biggest needs for the Rangers, who parted with one of their top pitching prospects in Volquez.

"The second season after being out for 3 1/2 years is an important season," said Hamilton, who has gone through eight rehab programs for addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine. "This is maybe where I start becoming an established big leaguer."

The Rangers also appear close to landing free agent reliever Eddie Guardado, who pitched for the Reds this year. General manager Jon Daniels said he expected the club to sign the left-hander but would not commit to a timetable.

Daniels was eager to commit to Hamilton, calling him a sorely needed "impact bat."

Hamilton's rookie season was interrupted by an inflamed digestive track and a sprained wrist, but he still received 151,000 write-in votes for the All-Star Game, the top total in the NL.

Edinson Volquez

Starting Pitcher
Texas Rangers

P

2007 Season Stats
GM W L BB K ERA
6 2 1 15 29 4.50


Daniels said a physical and battery of tests gave him confidence in Hamilton's health.

"We've done about everything we could have done with him without moving in with him in Raleigh," said Daniels, referring to Hamilton's hometown in North Carolina.

Volquez, a 24-year-old right-hander, was 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in six starts for the Rangers last season and is considered one of their top pitching prospects. He was honored as their top minor league pitcher this year.

In 26 minor league starts, Volquez went 14-6 with a 3.67 ERA, holding batters to a .190 average. The Reds need another pitcher to fill out a rotation headed by Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo.

"The numbers he put up in Double-A and Triple-A were impressive," Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky said. "The trade would not have been done unless we felt he was ready to compete and win a job in the rotation in '08."

Hamilton was out of baseball from 2003-06. He has been clean more than two years, allowing him to get his life in order and resume his career.

The Reds got him in the Rule 5 draft before last season. Hamilton was warmly received in Cincinnati, where he readily shared his life story and became a fan favorite. He was expendable because the Reds already have outfielders Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, Norris Hopper and Ryan Freel.

The Rangers had been looking for a center fielder. Even last week after the club signed Milton Bradley, manager Ron Washington talked about looking for a "natural center fielder."

Bradley, coming off knee surgery, will be a right fielder and designated hitter.

Krivsky said Hamilton's injuries last season didn't play a role in the Reds' willingness to trade him.

"When you haven't played for four years and haven't gone through a 162-game schedule, you're bound to have a few more injuries than the next guy," Krivsky said. "It was a learning experience for him. He went through the grind for the first time in his career."

Daniels said because of the holiday, he wasn't sure when the Rangers might complete a deal for Guardado. The 37-year-old former closer is coming back from reconstructive elbow surgery in September 2006. The Reds declined his 2008 contract option, which would have paid him $3.5 million, allowing him to become a free agent.

The 23-year-old Herrera spent most of last season at Double-A, going 5-2 with a 3.78 ERA in 34 relief appearances.

[Young Drachma]

Dontrelle is awesome. Playing on that Marlins team the past few years has just been bad for his confidence and it's a crappy situation for a high energy guy like that. I think he'll be okay in Detroit.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Dontrelle is awesome. Playing on that Marlins team the past few years has just been bad for his confidence and it's a crappy situation for a high energy guy like that. I think he'll be okay in Detroit.

Maybe. His rising walk rate is cause for concern though, and his K rate appears to be slipping. Whether or not his inflated HR rate last year was a fluke (his flyball percentage didn't really change) or whether it was indicative of surrendering more hard hit balls is uncertain, but that inflated HR rate combined with the increased walk rate spelled trouble.

Now you move him to the AL, a tougher league - could be real trouble if his recent trends continue. On the other hand, his deceptive delivery might buy him a year or two of reprieve in the AL as hitters get used to him.

[dawgfan]

Dola -

Hadn't commented yet on the Carlos Silva signing. I have mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand, he will be an improvement over Ho Ramirez and Jeff Weaver. Landing him also hopefully puts less pressure on the M's to mortgage the future (aka Adam Jones, Brandon Morrow, Jeff Clement) for a 2-year rental of Erik Bedard, a move that wouldn't be enough to get them in the playoff picture along with Boston, New York, Detroit, Anaheim and Cleveland. And maybe it allows the M's to leave Morrow in the minors to properly develop as a starting pitcher.

On the other hand, $12M/year for 4 years is silly money for a guy with his skillset. He survives as an effective pitcher primarily because of his pinpoint control. As soon as his control starts to slip, he's going to get lit up like a pinball machine. The chances of his contract not looking idiotic by the end of that 4 years are pretty damn low.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Dola -

Hadn't commented yet on the Carlos Silva signing. I have mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand, he will be an improvement over Ho Ramirez and Jeff Weaver. Landing him also hopefully puts less pressure on the M's to mortgage the future (aka Adam Jones, Brandon Morrow, Jeff Clement) for a 2-year rental of Erik Bedard, a move that wouldn't be enough to get them in the playoff picture along with Boston, New York, Detroit, Anaheim and Cleveland. And maybe it allows the M's to leave Morrow in the minors to properly develop as a starting pitcher.

On the other hand, $12M/year for 4 years is silly money for a guy with his skillset. He survives as an effective pitcher primarily because of his pinpoint control. As soon as his control starts to slip, he's going to get lit up like a pinball machine. The chances of his contract not looking idiotic by the end of that 4 years are pretty damn low.

I was thrilled that the Royals lost out on him for that kind of money. At his absolute best, he's, what, a low end 3/high end 4? Is there any way he can even become more than that with his skillset?

At least with the perceived insanity of the Gil Meche signing, people could see the raw stuff there and his issues were (are?) between the ears but if things came together, he could have a season like he did last year.

What's the absolute ceiling on Silva even if everything comes together? And is that anywhere worth $12M per for 4 years?

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by CBS

No title, but Yankees cut luxury tax bill again

I'm glad that the luxury tax is working

SI

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I'm glad that the luxury tax is working

SI

Hmm, what's your beef? Not meant to be instigating, just actually curious.

I would say this article points out the tax is working--it has stopped the Yankees and Red Sox from runaway spending. They are actually trying to cut down their luxury tax hit it seems, or at least not make the hit an exorbitant one.

If your point is that not enough is being re-appropriated to lower revenue teams, I'm not sure your message is getting through too clearly in the above post.

[sterlingice]

I just don't think teams care that much about it because it doesn't penalize nearly enough. No, the Yankees really are not cutting back, tho if they were, it could be argued that it's not becasue of the luxury tax bill but because what they are doing isn't working? The Red Sox still don't care about the luxury tax- what's a couple million on top of $148M. Neither team really cut back last year, the threshold just rose so they owed less on larger payrolls. Not only that, but the figure rises to $155M next year.

SI

[Young Drachma]

Could a batting champion play wiffleball? an article from baseball prospectus. Shouldn't require a subscription.

[Radii]

Mark Prior signed with San Diego. So sad.

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by Radii

Mark Prior signed with San Diego. So sad.

I wonder if there is any truth to the rumor that the contract is for about $1M with a giant $3.5M in incentives plus Tampax.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

MLBtraderumors.com is reporting that the Royals are going to offer Bartolo Colon a 1 year deal to pitch in KC. He's certainly not the Colon of old, but he'd be a good addition to the back end of the Royals' pitching rotation.

[DanGarion]

Wow I didn't see this until just now. The magic bat!

hxxp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3sND6OPCbg

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

MLBtraderumors.com is reporting that the Royals are going to offer Bartolo Colon a 1 year deal to pitch in KC. He's certainly not the Colon of old, but he'd be a good addition to the back end of the Royals' pitching rotation.

I was hoping the M's would offer him a 1-year "make good" deal as a low-risk, potential high-reward situation, but reportedly the medical evaluations on his arm this off-season have not been pretty...

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

I was hoping the M's would offer him a 1-year "make good" deal as a low-risk, potential high-reward situation, but reportedly the medical evaluations on his arm this off-season have not been pretty...

The Royals are in a good position to make that kind of deal. Still got around $20 million in extra salary. Probably will be similar to the Pryor deal in San Diego. Lots of incentives.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

The Royals are in a good position to make that kind of deal. Still got around $20 million in extra salary. Probably will be similar to the Pryor deal in San Diego. Lots of incentives.

It still has the potential to be a low-risk/high-reward situation, but a lot of teams think his arm is a ticking time bomb. Still, kind of like with the M's and Jeff Weaver last year, a 1-year deal for a pitcher isn't a bad situation to be in. Weaver sucked donkey balls for his first month, but he then spent 3 months as the M's best pitcher (after taking a few weeks off to rest his arm); considering the money they spent on Weaver wasn't going anywhere else anyway, it really wasn't a bad deal.

[DanGarion]

Swisher traded to the White Sox.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Could a batting champion play wiffleball? an article from baseball prospectus. Shouldn't require a subscription.

That's a pretty sweet article.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by dangarion

Swisher traded to the White Sox.

This is a strange deal. If the White Sox were actually going to contend in the AL Central I'd like this deal for them, but they're still far behind Detroit and noticably behind Cleveland. They get him for 4 years at a reasonable salary, which is nice, but I'm not sure what they gave up matches his value to them as a 3rd place team in their division.

Sweeney probably won't be as good as Swisher, but will probably be close. Gio Gonzalez is probably a 4-5 starter or long reliever. However, De Los Santos from I've read has star potential either as a starter or possibly a reliever depending how he develops.

Like I said, I have a hard time liking this deal for the White Sox considering the fact that they are probably going to finish no better than 3rd in their division. Oakland is in rebuilding mode and adds 2 very good prospects and a rotation filler. Since Gonazlez and Sweeney are both going to be playing in Oakland as early as next season, I like this deal a bit more for Oakland.

[dawgfan]

Kenny Williams is delusional about the ability of the White Sox to contend, to Oakland's benefit. I'm not sure what the scouting reports are on Gonzalez, but his minor league numbers are pretty nice. The season he had in AA last year at age 21 is pretty good.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Kenny Williams is delusional about the ability of the White Sox to contend, to Oakland's benefit. I'm not sure what the scouting reports are on Gonzalez, but his minor league numbers are pretty nice. The season he had in AA last year at age 21 is pretty good.

The scouting reports aren't as good as the numbers. Most see him as a back-end starter because he relies on plus offspeed stuff to get young hitters out. Last season his fastball was topping out at 89 on a good day and usually sat in the 85-87mph range. To add to his problems, he can't locate his fastball at all and tends to give up on it early in games.

His strikeout numbers are intriguing, but he could end up being another Yusmeiro Petit.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Atocep

His strikeout numbers are intriguing, but he could end up being another Yusmeiro Petit.

Duly noted. I'm not yet giving up on Petit becoming a decent starter - his K rate and BB rates were reasonable for a young pitcher. Obviously his big issue is his very high flyball rate. But yeah, he's probably end of the rotation material unless he improves his K rate, BB rate or groundball rate (or all three).

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Royals took another flyer to try to shore up the back end of their pitching rotation. 39 year old Hideo Nomo was signed to a minor league deal and invited to spring training. I wonder if this signing means that the Colon deal may be off now.

[watravaler]

The Sox won the title in 2005, I don't think they are "that" far away. I love the deal as a Sox fan, I'll take a 26 year-old, high OBP, high OPS hitter over prospects who may or may not be out of the game within 5 years. Anything can happen in baseball, nobody predicted Detroit, or the Sox in 2005, coming out of nowhere to get the World Series. As long as Burls/Javy pitch like they did last season, and Danks or Floyd realize their potential, this team will be in the hunt. They needed a high OBP more than anything, and I love their choice.

[Young Drachma]

Roger Clemens. Ha.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by watravaler

The Sox won the title in 2005, I don't think they are "that" far away. I love the deal as a Sox fan, I'll take a 26 year-old, high OBP, high OPS hitter over prospects who may or may not be out of the game within 5 years. Anything can happen in baseball, nobody predicted Detroit, or the Sox in 2005, coming out of nowhere to get the World Series. As long as Burls/Javy pitch like they did last season, and Danks or Floyd realize their potential, this team will be in the hunt. They needed a high OBP more than anything, and I love their choice.

That's irrelevant today - the team won 72 games last year as an older team, has no farm system to speak of - where is it going to find the marginal 20 wins to compete from?

[Chief Rum]

Speaking of the Sox, there have been rumors of Konerko to the Angels, and I am hoping we don't do that. I still would feel more comfortable with another big bat in the lineup, but if the cost is removing Kotchman from the lineup and shipping Kendrick out of town to get Konerko, I say heck no. Konerko is pricey, likely on the slide/downslide, and is hitting in a hitter's park. I';m not certain Kotchman doesn't match his numbers next year.

We could still use a power hitting 3B, though.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Speaking of the Sox, there have been rumors of Konerko to the Angels, and I am hoping we don't do that. I still would feel more comfortable with another big bat in the lineup, but if the cost is removing Kotchman from the lineup and shipping Kendrick out of town to get Konerko, I say heck no. Konerko is pricey, likely on the slide/downslide, and is hitting in a hitter's park. I';m not certain Kotchman doesn't match his numbers next year.

We could still use a power hitting 3B, though.

Yeah seriously - Kotchman is a better player now, and yet there seems to be some idea that this would the Angels the big bat they need.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Roger Clemens. Ha.

Pretty ballsy move by Clemens filing a defamation suit.

He continues to dig himself into a deeper hole should more accusations/proof come out.

I still don't understand why all these players are so obssessed with denying all this stuff. I forget what comedian it was that said - "I'd smoke freebase cocaine if it meant I'd be really good at sports". Why can't everybody be honest, then we can do what we can now to clean things up, and move the fuck on?

I understand why players use steroids. It doesn't make them child molesters. Most of them don't have their rich parents or elite college degrees to fall back on. Say you're sorry and everyone will shut up a lot quicker.

[miked]

So what if he's not guilty? Maybe that's why he's "obsessed" with denying it. If he files a defamation lawsuit, doesn't that put the burden of proof where it should be, on the accuser?

[molson]

Originally Posted by miked

If he files a defamation lawsuit, doesn't that put the burden of proof where it should be, on the accuser?

Who do you mean by accuser - in American deframation law, the burden will be on Clemens here (who's "accusing" Brian McNamee of lying).

I'm sure it went down the usual way - Clemens didn't want to know EXACTLY what McNamee was shooting him with, but didn't ask too many questions, and knew what McNamee was given everyone else. McNamee isn't the guy you enlist if you want vitamins.

That's what MLB has to overcome - athletes should have strict liability about what goes into their system. You're responsible for knowing what you're trainer's doing - it's not enough to give them free reign and then just not ask questions.

[miked]

Originally Posted by molson

Who do you mean by accuser - in American deframation law, the burden will be on Clemens here (who's "accusing" Brian McNamee of lying).

I'm sure it went down the usual way - Clemens didn't want to know EXACTLY what McNamee was shooting him with, but didn't ask too many questions, and knew what McNamee was given everyone else. McNamee isn't the guy you enlist if you want vitamins.

That's what MLB has to overcome - athletes should have strict liability about what goes into their system. You're responsible for knowing what you're trainer's doing - it's not enough to give them free reign and then just not ask questions.

Well, you seem to be quite certain of these things. Maybe you should reach out to Mitchell and Selig and help with their investigation. As far as I've heard, the only evidence pointing to this is McNamee's word, and to say he struck a deal would probably be an understatement. Did Clemens purchase any of these things? Did he test positive? Is that all we need to convict somebody of something; the word of a potential felon? Interesting times.

But I guess the more he denies it, the more that means he did it. Like a fart.

[billethius]

Originally Posted by miked

Well, you seem to be quite certain of these things. Maybe you should reach out to Mitchell and Selig and help with their investigation. As far as I've heard, the only evidence pointing to this is McNamee's word, and to say he struck a deal would probably be an understatement. Did Clemens purchase any of these things? Did he test positive? Is that all we need to convict somebody of something; the word of a potential felon? Interesting times.

But I guess the more he denies it, the more that means he did it. Like a fart.

The problem with Clemens' story is that it's also Andy Pettite's story - and Pettite has confirmed that his part was true. So have many of the other players named in the report.

So we're left with a situation where Clemens is saying 'Sure, I guess Andy took HGH - that he got from MY personal trainer who I insisted be hired by the teams I played for - and McNamee is telling the truth about that. But it's different with me. He's lying. Well, kind of. I may have been injected with something, but it wasn't HGH/steroids.'

Yeah, that's possible. But I don't know how probable it is.

[molson]

Originally Posted by miked

Is that all we need to convict somebody of something; the word of a potential felon? Interesting times.

Nobody's been criminally charged with anything. If this was a criminal case, the government would have actual subpoena power to compel people to testify, and it would be a whole different issue.

So let's not give Clemens the benefit of Constitutional rights that don't apply here.

People sometimes point to lack of evidence in a situation where no such evidence was ever made possible. The MLBPA (of which Clemens is a member), has every opportunity to clear this up - they could have easily supported REAL testing that tells us who's using and who's not. They've STRONGLY opposed this for years - that's left us no choice but to speculate. So when Clemens and his supporters point to lack of evidence when they've suppressed the evidence - ya, not convincing.

"Word of a Felon" is the best possible evidence we have, thanks to the MLBPA. And don't under-estimate that type of evidence. Criminals and low-lives travel in circles. Are you saying you won't believe anyone with 1st-hand account of what happened until a more respectable person comes forward and says they shot Clemens in the ass (like a school liberarian?)

If players don't want to be presumed druggies, MAYBE they shouldn't make rabid objection of any kind of real drug program their #1 priority in labor negotiations. Just a thought.

[Atocep]

McNamee may be a felon, but there's a lot more riding on him telling the truth than there is for Clemens. If its found out he lied in any part of his statement to Mitchell then he violated his plea deal and he goes to prison.

Clemens and the MLBPA had a chance to refute what was reported before it was released and chose not to.

Lets also not pretend this a criminal case and Clemens is fighting for his freedom. He's fighting a PR battle because he doesn't want to end up locked out of the Hall of Fame and he doesn't want a disclaimer attached to his numbers.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Atocep

McNamee may be a felon, but there's a lot more riding on him telling the truth than there is for Clemens. If its found out he lied in any part of his statement to Mitchell then he violated his plea deal and he goes to prison.

Clemens and the MLBPA had a chance to refute what was reported before it was released and chose not to.

Lets also not pretend this a criminal case and Clemens is fighting for his freedom. He's fighting a PR battle because he doesn't want to end up locked out of the Hall of Fame and he doesn't want a disclaimer attached to his numbers.

That is a big point for me. Mitchell said that each player was given the opportunity to respond the evidence and chose not to. Even Donald Fehr stated that the opportunity was offered and the players chose not to respond on the advice of their legal counsel.

[molson]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

That is a big point for me. Mitchell said that each player was given the opportunity to respond the evidence and chose not to. Even Donald Fehr stated that the opportunity was offered and the players chose not to respond on the advice of their legal counsel.

Of all of the MLBPA, exactly one choose to talk to Mitchell - Frank Thomas (who's also been an outspoken advocate for drug testing for a long time).

That's because they have a lot to hide (except Thomas, who deserves the respect of every fan for standing against the union).

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Mitchell said that each player was given the opportunity to respond the evidence and chose not to.

I am not sure that is accurate. According to Buster Olney's blog at ESPN (free insider link on the front page right now), Mitchell investigators would ask to speak to players about incidents, without giving any details of what those incidents were, or what evidence there was.

Personally, I would not read too much into which players cooperated with Mitchell or not. If a player does not know he is implicated, why would he feel obligated to get involved, regardless of whether he used drugs or not?

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by billethius

The problem with Clemens' story is that it's also Andy Pettite's story - and Pettite has confirmed that his part was true. So have many of the other players named in the report.

So we're left with a situation where Clemens is saying 'Sure, I guess Andy took HGH - that he got from MY personal trainer who I insisted be hired by the teams I played for - and McNamee is telling the truth about that. But it's different with me. He's lying. Well, kind of. I may have been injected with something, but it wasn't HGH/steroids.'

Yeah, that's possible. But I don't know how probable it is.

Yep, Pettite coming out and saying he used HGH, injected by the trainer that Clemens used, really makes Clemens denials seem suspect. Saying he was just injected with licopene and B12 is a bit silly knowing what Pettite said. And McNamee following Clemens around, and then Pettite following Clemens around in the last few years really makes it seem fishy (Pettite was really following McNamee perhaps?)

[terpkristin]

I'm not a doctor, and I don't play one on the internet, but I do have more than my fair share of experience with orthopedic and sports injuries (8 orthopedic surgeries so far...). Keeping aside the fact that Clemens hasn't exactly "acted" like an innocent person (given how long it took him to make a REAL statement, how he has been dancing around things, etc....), and that if McNamee's testimony/information to the Mitchell investigation was really under duress, it's certainly suspect, these are my thoughts...

I didn't watch Clemens on "60 Minutes" last night, for fear that I'd get so annoyed I'd throw things at the TV and get my blood pressure needlessly elevated. What I have seen of it, through clips on ESPN and such, don't really add up to me.

First, about the injections of vitamin B-12. We've heard it before, athletes claiming that they've been injected with vitamin B-12, in part (at least) to combat fatigue (it helps maintain healthy nerve and red blood cells). Last time we heard it, with Raphael Palmeiro, at least some of that "B-12" was probably steroids. Vitamin B-12 is commonly found in meats, particularly seafood and beef, so people with a normal diet should naturally get enough to cover the recommended daily allowance without supplements. For those who don't, my bottle of Centrum says that one pill has 100% the RDA of B12.

Though it can be hard to get from foods, because it requires a few steps to be procecced correctly, in supplement form, what you see is what you get. Why would somebody bother to inject it, even if they were trying to get more than the "normal" amount? On another point, in the NY Times, it says that having the vitamin injected by a trainer is illegal in some states. I'm not sure if that means that it's illegal to have a trainer do it, or if it's illegal to have in the injectible form, or even what states it IS illegal (or legal) in. It's also stated that as an injectible, B-12 is given intravenously, but if it's been injected into the buttocks, that's hitting mostly muscle, not veins... It just strikes me as odd to get a vitamin which can easily be taken in pill form as an injection. But maybe he has a needle fetish?

As for the lidocaine, I'm much more skeptical, and this comes from a lot of personal experience with docs trying to keep me playing and keep me from going under the knife. Unless Clemens had a sore butt, there really would be no reason to inject lidocaine there. It's not a drug that acts systemically--it works only where you inject it. I've had it injected for "joint pain" only in the small joint in my hand. Though I've read that it helps if you have point pain in a joint, most of the other joints are too large to be treated by lidocaine injected into the joint (without multiple injections over the area), again, we heard from McNamee that he injected Clemens in the butt. Not in a joint.

The other way that lidocaine can be used for pain, in a more systemic matter, is to have it injected into a nerve. They do this before some surgeries (both of my shoulder surgeries were done with this method), and during/after some surgeries (in all of my ankle surgeries, I had it done to help with post-op pain management), and I believe it's sort of what pain management specialists do (based on my one visit to one). However, for a lot of the nerves in question, to find the nerve and ensure they're in the right place, the DOCTOR doing the injecting will first stick you with an electric needle. I know of at least one nerve where this isn't the case, but I also know of a few (from personal experience) where it definitely is the case. So it strikes me as highly unlikely that McNamee did THAT.

That all said, for longer-term joint pain management, most docs would I'm guessing recommend cortisone injections, and those are relatively easy to get from the team doc, it seems, so I think it's fairly unlikely that McNamee was injecting Clemens with those, especially given that injecting those incorrectly can cause other problems (I once had one go into a nerve...that was excruciating).

I'm highly suspicious of Clemens, and what he said on 60 Minutes only makes me more convinced that he's lying, or at least not telling the whole truth. In the end, it's going to turn into a he-said/he-said situation, and we may never have proof, but so far, color me skeptical...

/tk

[Young Drachma]

So really what you're telling us, Kristin, is that you've never used steroids.

Good personal account o' stuff. He seems pretty much full of it and I think that his PR "offensive" is going to get smacked out of the ballpark sooner or later.

[Clark]

Nice post terpkristin & ISiddiqui.

I think it's safe to say that Clemens is a liar.

[bhlloy]

I don't get how the tape helps Clemens either. So now we know that McNamee is emotionally unstable and will do whatever Clemens wants, whether he goes to jail or not? How is that a good thing if McNamee goes before congress and changes his story?

For all Clemens posturing and outrage, I just can't get past the fact that McNamee was telling the truth on Pettite. He was also telling the truth that he injected Clemens. But he just decided to make the bit about steroids up to impress Mitchell? When a little white lie is going to get him thrown in jail for 5 plus years and he clearly treats Clemens like a mentor? In my opinion Clemens is guilty as hell.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by molson

Of all of the MLBPA, exactly one choose to talk to Mitchell - Frank Thomas (who's also been an outspoken advocate for drug testing for a long time).

That's because they have a lot to hide (except Thomas, who deserves the respect of every fan for standing against the union).

I did not know anything about Thomas but after reading up on the subject, it's cool to hear about him and his hugely anti-steroid stance because, well, frankly, he's a giant workout freak so there's no debate about where his muscles come from. Very cool.

SI

[sterlingice]

Great post, tk

SI

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

I am not sure that is accurate. According to Buster Olney's blog at ESPN (free insider link on the front page right now), Mitchell investigators would ask to speak to players about incidents, without giving any details of what those incidents were, or what evidence there was.

Personally, I would not read too much into which players cooperated with Mitchell or not. If a player does not know he is implicated, why would he feel obligated to get involved, regardless of whether he used drugs or not?

Here is a piece of Buster's article

Two days before the Mitchell report was released, a veteran agent described the concern: "Imagine if you got a summons to appear in court next Tuesday, but nobody would tell you why. Nobody would tell you what the charges are, nobody will tell you anything about the evidence being presented, and nobody will tell you who the witnesses are. When you have a case in court, there is a time of discovery so you can prepare a case. There was nothing like that, in any way, with the Mitchell people."

I am not a lawyer and I am sure there are plenty of legal reasons for not going. But for me, this seems like a non issue for the player. First the player knows it is about performance enhancing drugs. So if you have had nothing to do with PEDs, what difference does it make what the charges are, what the evidence, or anything like that. It is not a legal issue. He is not forced to answer anything.

[Terps]

The owner of OriolesHangout.com, who has sources within the O's organization, is reporting Brian Roberts has been traded to the Cubs for Ronny Cedeno, Sean Marshall, and Sean Gallagher.

http://www.orioleshangout.com/article.asp?ID=1297