metirish

very, very cool.

I'm liking this trade now.

Crazy money for Silva, I have llittle doubt that Minaya would have no problem giving Loshe a four year contract.

Getting home from work during the season around 6:30 and watching that 7:10 game, miss that the most.

That's a good read and in fact there are some juicy things in there. On hanging out with Gary Sheffield in the early nineties to celebrate Bonds 3rd MVP. ] By the way that was just about the only time I�ve ever interacted with Sheff and he was the kindest, most polite guy I had ever met. Incredibly well spoken and incredibly respectful and kind Schilling really doesn't hink much of Bonds at all. 38 PITCHES

] Pitcher Dontrelle Willis has reached an agreement in principle on a three-year, $29 million contract extension with the Detroit Tigers, a source told ESPN.com. Willis The deal includes incentives that could push the total value to more than $30 million, the source said. An announcement was expected after Willis took a physical exam Thursday in Detroit. The Tigers acquired Willis and star third baseman Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins in an eight-player trade at the winter meetings two weeks ago in Nashville. Willis will join a Detroit rotation that also includes Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson and Kenny Rogers. Willis, 25, has a 68-54 record an a 3.78 ERA in parts of five seasons with the Marlins. He went 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA last season. Willis earned a base salary of $6.45 million for the Marlins last year. He would have been eligible for free agency after the 2009 season, but is now locked up through 2010. Jerry Crasnick covers baseball for ESPN.com. In other news , Jonathan Papelbon's dog ate the WS ball that he threw to Varitek to record the final out of the WS. It's true, look it up.

Ken Davidoff. Who I Voted For And Why

How's his defense?

I believe Doctor McNamee on this, sorry Rajah.

Neil Best

I don't mind the black but agree that it should be worn a lot less, the black is popular in a lot of sports these day,Manchester United's third strip in black and is a huge seller for them.

] Orioles' Roberts says he used steroids once BALTIMORE (AP) - Breaking his silence on the inclusion of his name in the Mitchell Report, Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts admitted that he used steroids once in 2003. In an interview in Tuesday's editions of The Sun in Baltimore, Roberts acknowledged that he used steroids "once" in 2003. However, he said he hadn't used steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs since. In a statement he issued to the newspaper, Roberts said that after the single injection he immediately realized that it was not what he "stood for" or anything he wanted to continue doing. He said he's sorry he did it and said he regrets making what he says was a "terrible decision." Roberts was named in the Mitchell Report because former Orioles teammate Larry Bigbie told investigators Roberts had told him he used steroids "once or twice" in 2003.

Stark. ] PED era: It's all or none for HOFposted: Monday, December 17, 2007 | No, the Mitchell Report has not and will not "change baseball" (as so many have suggested). It's certainly given Hall of Fame voters something to think about, though. ESPN Radio's Mike Greenberg isn't a voter, but last week on his show he said what a lot of voters are thinking � I think when all of the dust settles and you look back on the era in it's totality, you will have to come to the conclusion that an overwhelming number of players were using performance-enhancing drugs. � You either will have to put in absolutely no one; you will have to vote for no one who played between nineteen eighty-pick-a-year, 1985, 1988, whatever, it is, and � you could say, from 1988 through the time when they instituted the testing. But look, we all know, all of these guys, none of them tested positive, or very few of them. Roger Clemens name is in here: he didn't test positive. These guys know how to beat the testing, the smart ones. Barry Bonds never failed a drug test. So the point is, you will either have to put in absolutely no one in, or after several years have gone by, you will look back at the thing rationally and say, "Okay, there was a colossal problem -- not just in baseball but in all sports -- and the reality is, we still have to separate the very best players from the rest and put them in the Hall of Fame." Let's put it this way: at the very least, if it was me, I would do it that way, and I would put in Bonds and Clemens. A number of Hall of Fame voters have weighed in lately, and this is not an uncommon sentiment: "We must vote for none of them, or all of them." In baseball, if a batter's struck by a pitch but made no effort to get out of the way, the umpire's not supposed to give him first base. But you'll rarely see that call. Why? Because umpires don't like to use their judgment unless they absolutely have to. Performance-enhancing drugs offer a chance for Hall of Fame voters to use their judgment, and some of them would rather not. Some of them would prefer to keep things simple, and vote only for hitters with 3,000 hits and pitchers with 300 wins. Or for their friends. But good grief, shouldn't we expect more from those entrusted with the highest honor in professional sports? My measure (at least for the moment) is this: If PEDs had never been invented, would this player have finished his career with Hall of Fame numbers? In the cases of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, I believe the answer is yes. In the case of Mark McGwire, I believe the answer is no. Granted, most cases aren't nearly as easy as those. But if choosing Hall of Famers was supposed to be easy, they'd let all of us do it. (tip of the cap to BTF)

Keith Law not sold on Houston. ] Astros still not a realistic contenderposted: Saturday, December 15, 2007 | Feedback | Print Entry filed under: Arizona Diamondbacks, Houston Astros It appears that no matter who's on the roster, when Astros general manager Ed Wade looks at a baseball team, the first thing he thinks is, "I need to fix that bullpen." At least this time around, he landed a great catch by trading for closer Jose Valverde. Valverde was one of the best relievers in baseball in 2007, pitching extremely well and doing so in a lot of highly-leveraged situations (that is, tight games where every out he recorded had a big impact on Arizona's chances of winning the game). His stuff is electric -- a mid-90s fastball, a mid-80s splitter without much bottom but that looks like a weak fastball out of his hand, and a tight-breaking slider with velocity right around that of the splitter. His control is fair and his command isn't great, but his stuff is so consistently good that he gets swings and misses and hasn't been homer-prone despite being a flyball pitcher. So why was Valverde available? He's about to earn a raise of $3 million or so in arbitration -- arbitrators are easily impressed by things like saves, RBIs, and shiny objects -- and Arizona has plenty of in-house closer alternatives, including Tony Pe�a and Juan Cruz. Valverde also was as bad in 2006 as he was good in 2007, posting an ERA near 6.00 despite similar peripherals. But the biggest reason might be the probability that Valverde is going to blow out at some point in the near future. He hasn't thrown 70 innings in a pro season since 2003, and his delivery puts a good amount of stress on his arm, with a stabbing action at the start and a very quick whipping motion as he brings his arm through. Shoulder surgery ended his 2004 season, but he's been healthy since. The package coming back to Arizona is a little light given how good Valverde was last year; a pitcher like that should have had a greater market value, even though this deal is still good for the Snakes. Chad Qualls is a groundball-machine reliever who runs his sinker up to 94 mph, with more sink in the 90-91 mph range. He also throws a cutter/slider in the high 80s to set off the sinker and get some swings and misses; think of him as Manny Corpas Lite. Because he's been so durable, averaging over 83 innings a year in the big leagues, Qualls has actually been more valuable than Valverde in raw production. Since the Diamondbacks know how to deploy their relievers, they're not likely to miss a beat with the switch from Valverde to Qualls. Juan Gutierrez, a right-handed pitcher and one of the two players the D-backs acquired from the Astros for Valverde, has a live arm with one good secondary pitch, but needs to work on his breaking ball and his fastball command before he can pitch in a big-league rotation. His fastball is above-average at 91-94 mph; it's mostly straight but it occasionally shows some late life. His changeup is plus but inconsistent, 79-81 mph with good arm speed and a very late fading action. His curveball needs a lot of work, as right now it's a slow roller that's just a show-me pitch, and he may be better off thowing a slider given his arm slot and the lack of bite on his deuce. Chris Burke, the other player obtained in the trade, has to be one of the bigger draft disappointments of the decade. He was the 10th overall pick in the 2001 draft, and in 2004 hit .315/.385/.507 in Triple-A while playing his home games in a pitchers' park. Yet other than a well-timed playoff homer in 2005, since he reached the majors he hasn't performed anywhere near the level expected of him. His swing can get long and his approach has been way too aggressive since he reached the majors. It's possible that Houston's constant position-switching with Burke -- all to accommodate Craig Biggio well past the point when Biggio was helping the club -- set his offensive development back, but there's no everyday role open in Arizona for him to establish himself. The problem with this deal for Houston, as with a lot of what they've done this winter, is that they still aren't contenders. Swapping Qualls for Valverde might net them another win in 2008, but that's not even a guarantee. They're still a sub-.500 club operating as if 2007 never happened, and unless there's an upcoming move to acquire a big bat and at least one more starting pitcher, the ongoing gutting of their farm system is just going to set their inevitable rebuilding process further back.

Edgy DC wrote: Jaw-dropping: http://blog.silive.com/yankeeswatch/2007/12/pettitte_once_again_shows_noth.html WOW, needs to be read to appreciate how bad this is.

Great read, Hardball Times analysis fascinates me.

Well I was talking about Andy, but yes Clemens is full of shit too.

Not intended towards you at all , I just think Petitte is full of shit.

] LOS ANGELES -- Fulfilling one of their major offseason goals, the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to terms with Japanese free-agent right-hander Hiroki Kuroda on a three-year, $35.2 million contract. Kuroda, who turns 33 in February, passed a physical examination on Saturday and will be introduced Sunday at a Dodger Stadium news conference. "Kuroda was arguably the best starting pitcher on the free-agent market and will be a great addition to our staff," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said. "There was a lot of competition for a pitcher of his ilk, and we're thrilled that he's chosen to become a Dodger and to make Los Angeles his home." latimes.com

Jeez Andy is a great guy because he took HGH to get back from injury quickly to help his team, so did a Doctor prescribe it for him?, no I don't think so. Bullshit Andy.

seawolf17 wrote: Dude's name is "Rusty," and he's probably from Texas. I'm going to assume he didn't do so well in grammar class. I saw Rusty on TV last night and he looked like he was dressed up for St. Patrick's day with a light green suit , orange tie and green shirt, and it all looked very cheap. Meanwhile from the Times. ] By DUFF WILSON Published: December 15, 2007 One active Major League Baseball player was able to keep his name out of former Senator George J. Mitchell�s report of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball even though he bought them, Mr. Mitchell said Friday. When he was notified by Mitchell�s investigators that they had evidence linking him to buying drugs from a former New York Mets clubhouse employee, this player brought his lawyer and met with Mitchell. The player offered evidence that he had disposed of the drugs without using them.

Edgy DC wrote: Yeah, I know it sucked. It's a starter. That was pure class, more please. Do you take requests?

Haven't heard the show in a long time, that's a fun interview and Dell'Abate is good for a laugh. ] I was hoping for � obviously, I hoped to turn on the radio one morning and find out that they got (Johan) Santana and didn�t give away half the team.

Here's a sometimes funny look at the report from the Slate people. http://www.slate.com/id/2179971/fr/flyout

I watched more coverage of this than I thought I would, Tim Kurkjian made me go "Huh" when he said that there is no way Clemens so vehemently denies these allegations if there was any truth to what McNamee told Mitchell. Here is John Harper playing good cop bad cop with Petitte. ] Pettitte's blemish is surprising and sad You can't be surprised by anything anymore when it comes to ballplayers finding a way to cheat, not after the tidal wave of drug revelations in baseball over the last several years. But if you care about the game, you want to believe there are at least some you can trust for their integrity as well as their talent. Andy Pettitte was one of those guys for me. And now it seems he's just another drug cheat, as fingered Thursday by the Mitchell Report. Roger Clemens is the big fish on the list, the name that gives the Mitchell Report a bombshell quality. Yet it's hard to imagine that Yankee fans are either surprised or terribly saddened by the inclusion of Clemens, who was always seen as something of a carpetbagger after forcing the trade that brought him in on the back end of the Yankees' championship run. Pettitte is a different story. For one thing, he was a homegrown Yankee who delivered time and again in October. For another, he has that unassuming, down-home quality that always made him so easy for fans to embrace. And for anyone covering baseball, Pettitte has always been one of the good guys, admirable for his toughness on the mound and his accountability in the clubhouse. It was only recently that he seemed to reinforce his reputation for integrity, re-signing with the Yankees after taking time to decide if he wanted to play another season, essentially proving that he hadn't been looking for a better deal by first declining his 2008 option. Still, none of this means Pettitte gets a pass for cheating. There are circumstances, sure. It seems clear that Pettitte wasn't on the same drug-cheat level as Clemens. Unless they can prove that their trainer, Brian McNamee, was lying for some reason, Clemens comes off as a hardcore steroid user, going all the way back to 1998, while Pettitte used human growth hormone primarily to help recover from an elbow injury during the 2002 season. You can even make the case that Pettitte never would have taken such a route if not for his association with Clemens, who introduced him to McNamee and made Pettitte a partner in his famous workout routine after coming over to the Yankees in 1999. But again, it doesn't forgive him for cheating. McNamee says he injected Pettitte before the '02 season, and, if nothing else, you want to believe the Yankee lefthander hasn't continued to use it since then. But that's probably a na�ve outlook, especially considering the fact that he has been plagued with more elbow problems, needing surgery in 2004 during the first of his three seasons with the Astros. Neyer isn't saying much right now on "Insider"