Major League Baseball

[TheLancinator]

Looks like the Tigers will be giving the Tribe some fiercer competition next year

Tigers work deal to land Cabrera, Willis
By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer 26 minutes ago


NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Detroit Tigers reached a preliminary agreement Tuesday to acquire Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins for a package of six players, an unexpected blockbuster trade that developed quickly at the winter meetings.

In a huge deal that took the spotlight away from Boston's pursuit of Johan Santana, Florida gets lefty Andrew Miller, outfielder Cameron Maybin and four other prospects from the Tigers, a baseball official with knowledge of the talks said on condition of anonymity because the trade had not yet been finalized.

Willis was on vacation when he heard the news.

"I'm in Mexico right now with my family. I'm kind of busy," he told The Associated Press.

The Marlins also receive catcher Mike Rabelo and right-handers Burke Badenhop, Eulogio De La Cruz and Dallas Trahern. The players involved must pass physicals for the deal to be completed.

"It's very serious, but nothing is finalized yet because some issues need to get worked out," Tigers manager Jim Leyland told the AP.

Florida didn't even approach the Tigers until Tuesday morning. The Marlins told the Tigers they could have both stars for those six players, then Detroit called back about two hours later and agreed, the baseball official said.

"If it does happen, obviously they're getting two very good players," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who managed the Marlins in 2006. "Miguel Cabrera is one of the finest hitters in the game. He can do so many things with a bat, whether you want him to hit a home run for you, you want to hit and run, work the count, get on base. And Dontrelle Willis has been one of the premier lefties in the National League."

Detroit had not been considered a contender for Cabrera or Willis.

Cabrera would join an imposing lineup that already includes Magglio Ordonez, Gary Sheffield, Ivan Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco. The Tigers also acquired shortstop Edgar Renteria, a five-time All-Star, in a trade with Atlanta this offseason.

"I'm glad we're in the other division," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "That lineup just got scary."

Willis, coming off a down year in which he went 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA, will be part of a solid rotation with Justin Verlander, Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman as Detroit tries to reach the World Series for the second time in three seasons.

Cabrera and Willis were the last players left from Florida's 2003 championship team. Unable to secure a new ballpark, the Marlins keep shedding players when they are due to earn huge salaries. Cabrera made $7.4 million this year and Willis $6.45 million. Both were eligible for arbitration and likely to receive raises.

"It was kind of like, wow, when I heard. I halfway expected one of them to get traded, but not both in the same deal. So it's a little bit of a shock," Marlins left fielder Josh Willingham said.

"It's deflating because they're great teammates and good friends. It's going to be hard not seeing them around. I know we got some good players in the deal, but Miguel and Dontrelle are proven big league players, and it's going to be tough to fill those roles. Miguel brings you more than 100 RBIs, 30 home runs and a .300 batting average, and while Dontrelle had a disappointing year last year, he's a workhorse. He's going to eat up 200 innings and he's always healthy. It will be tough to replace those guys."

In return, the Marlins get a pair of highly rated prospects: Maybin was the 10th pick in the 2005 amateur draft and Miller was selected sixth overall the following year.

[AnthemZ]

Mitchell Report on Baseball Drug Use Will Name MVPs, All-Stars

Wednesday, December 12, 2007




NEW YORK — George Mitchell's report on drugs in baseball will finger MVPs and All-Stars and call for beefed-up testing by an outside agency to clean up the game, The Associated Press learned Wednesday.

The report will not address amphetamines, which long have been recognized as part of the baseball drug culture, two sources with knowledge of the findings told the AP. But it will include names of 60 to 80 players linked to performance-enhancing substances and plenty more information that exposes "deep problems" in a drug culture that plagues the sport, one of the sources said.

The two sources were familiar with discussions that led to the final draft but did not want to be identified because it was confidential until its scheduled release on Thursday. They said the full report, which they had not read, totaled 304 pages plus exhibits.

The report comes at the end of a year when San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds broke the career home run record, only to be indicted on charges of lying to a federal grand jury about steroid use.

The first part of the report, the sources said, will identify players and offer information about clubhouse personnel who allowed steroids and other banned substances in clubhouses or knew about it and didn't say anything.

None of the player names had leaked out Wednesday night.

The rest of the report, the sources said, will focus on recommendations that include enhanced year-round testing and hiring a drug-testing company that uses the highest standards of independence and transparency. Baseball's program currently is overseen by a joint management-union Health Policy Advisory Committee, with an independent administrator approved by both sides.

The report also is expected to recommend that baseball develop a credible program to handle cases with evidence of athletes receiving or taking drugs but not testing positive for them.

Just last week, Kansas City's Jose Guillen and Baltimore's Jay Gibbons were suspended for the first 15 days of next season, and media reports said they had obtained human growth hormone in 2005, after baseball banned it.

Mitchell, a Boston Red Sox director who is a former Senate majority leader, planned to release his report at 2 p.m. Thursday at a news conference in New York City.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig will hold his own news conference 2 1/2 hours later.

Much of the first part of the report will be based on evidence obtained from former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski, and from information gleaned from the Albany district attorney's investigation into illegal drug distribution that focused on Signature Pharmacy of Orlando, Fla., the sources said.

Radomski was required to cooperate with the investigation as a condition of his federal plea agreement last April. Radomski pleaded guilty to illegally distributing steroids, HGH, amphetamines and other drugs to players and is awaiting sentencing. Some professional athletes have been linked to the Signature probe, though none has been charged.

Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president of labor relations, reviewed at least part of the report this week to ensure no confidential information from the drug-testing program was disclosed, a person with knowledge of the union's discussion with Mitchell said, also on condition of anonymity.

Despite repeated requests by the players' association to Mitchell's law firm, the union had not been allowed to review the report, that person said.

"I certainly hope after 21 months and getting zip by way of cooperation from the players' association that they'll come up with some recommendations for improvement," said World Anti-Doping Agency chairman Dick Pound. "If not, it's a complete waste of time."

But he said he's not sure baseball would follow any recommendations.

"My guess is that the management side probably would, but the players' association will dig in and continue its steel-town union approach to life," he said.

Agents have said they expect the report to be highly critical of players and the union for largely refusing to cooperate with Mitchell.

Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, sent an e-mail to owners and team presidents in advance of the report with instructions how to respond to media inquiries.

"We look forward to carefully reading the results of Sen. Mitchell's investigation," the recommended response said. "Protecting the integrity of our game is vital, and we intend to study his findings and recommendations, and will not comment until we have done so."

Baseball did not have an agreement to ban steroids until September 2002, did not have testing with penalties until 2004 and did not ban HGH until 2005, when it also instituted a suspension for a first positive test.

[TheLancinator]

New York Mets, Minnesota Twins reach tentative deal for Johan Santana
By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer
January 29, 2008


NEW YORK (AP) -- Johan Santana is a contract extension and physical from going to the New York Mets.

After months of deliberation, the Twins reached a tentative agreement Tuesday to part with the two-time Cy Young Award winner for outfielder Carlos Gomez, and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey, two people familiar with the deal said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.

"If it's true, obviously, you're getting arguably the best pitcher in the game," Mets third baseman David Wright said.

The next step is for the Mets to negotiate a contract extension with Santana, who is eligible for free agency after this season. The three-time All-Star is owed $13.25 million this year and likely will seek an extension of five-to-seven years worth at least $20 million annually.

New York and Santana have until 5 p.m. EST Friday to reach an agreement, a baseball official told The Associated Press, also on condition of anonymity. If the Mets and Santana strike a deal, the players would have to pass physicals and the pitcher would have to formally waive his no-trade clause.

The Mets emerged as the top candidate for a trade after the winter meetings, when the New York Yankees withdrew their offer, which included pitchers Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, and the Red Sox refused to improve their proposals, which would have sent pitcher Jon Lester or outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury to the Twins along with prospects.

Minnesota general manager Bill Smith called teams last weekend and asked them to make their best offers. Smith informed the Mets on Tuesday that he was accepting their proposal, which included their Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 7 prospects, according to Baseball America's ranking. New York did not include its top farmhand, outfielder Fernando Martinez.

A left-hander who turns 29 in March, Santana gives the Mets a replacement for Tom Glavine, who left New York to return to the Atlanta Braves. New York, trying to bounce back from a record-setting September collapse last season, has a projected rotation that also includes Pedro Martinez, John Maine, Orlando Hernandez and Oliver Perez.

Santana is 93-44 with a 3.22 ERA in eight major league seasons, winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2004 and 2006. He has been less successful in the playoffs, going 1-3 with a 3.97 ERA.

"For our younger pitchers to develop under a guy like Pedro, a guy like Johan, you can't ask for any better situation," Wright said. "He's going to go out there and he's going to give you seven or eight innings every five days and he's going to get you a win. That's just what it comes down to. I've gotten a chance to get to know him a little bit the past couple years. He seems like a great clubhouse guy. He's going to fit in perfectly with the chemistry that we have."

With Santana gone, there is a big opening in the Twins' rotation. Francisco Liriano is on track to return after missing last season following elbow surgery, but Carlos Silva signed with Seattle as a free agent, leaving youngsters Scott Baker, Boof Bonser and Kevin Slowey as the starters with the most experience.

Humber, a 25-year-old right-hander, has made one start and four relief appearances for the Mets during the past two years, and went 11-9 with a 4.27 ERA last season for Triple-A New Orleans. The 22-year-old Gomez batted .232 in 125 at-bats with New York last year and .275 with 19 steals in the minors.

Guerra, who turns 19 in April, was 2-6 with a 4.01 ERA at Class A St. Lucie, and Mulvey, who will be 23 in May, was 12-10 with a 3.20 ERA in 26 starts at Double-A Binghamton and one at New Orleans.

The tentative agreement was first reported by USA Today on its Web site.

AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick in New York and AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

[MidlifeCrisis]

Santana + Martinez. Nice one-two punch

[MidlifeCrisis]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3246542

Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds tested positive for steroids in November 2001, just a month after hitting his record 73rd home run of the season, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday.

The allegation came in a legal filing in his steroid perjury case that referred to Bonds' long-time trainer, Greg Anderson.

"At trial, the government's evidence will show that Bonds received steroids from Anderson in the period before the November 2001 positive drug test, and that evidence raises the inference that Anderson gave Bonds the steroids that caused him to test positive in November 2001," U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello wrote.

The U.S. government made the assertion in a document that asked a federal court to reject Bonds' motion last month to dismiss the charges that he lied about past steroid use.

In December, the record seven-time National League Most Valuable Player pleaded not guilty to lying to a federal grand jury in 2003 when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs.

He testified in the BALCO sports steroid case, which ended up jailing his personal trainer, Anderson, and the head of the BALCO lab near San Francisco.

The latest government motion also referred to a question by a prosecutor during the BALCO case to "determine why Bonds apparently tested positive for anabolic steroids in November 2000."



To date, prosecutors have revealed little about the details they have in the case against Bonds, the greatest hitter of his era long dogged by suspicions about doping.

oops ESPN fucked up
U.S. filing typo spurs erroneous Bonds drug report

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3246675&type=story

ESPN.com news services

SAN FRANCISCO -- Federal prosecutors mistakenly filed court papers Thursday that incorrectly stated that Barry Bonds failed a steroids test in November of 2001 -- one month after breaking the single-season home run mark.

U.S. attorney spokesman Josh Eaton now says that the reference in Thursday's government court filing regarding Bonds testing positive was actually referring to a November 2000 test that was previously disclosed in the indictment of Bonds and had already been reported.

In December, Bonds pleaded not guilty to lying to a federal grand jury in 2003 when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs.

The mistake prompted a flurry of reports on television and Web sites -- including ESPN.com -- around the country.

The filing amounted to federal prosecutors defending their questioning of Bonds before a grand jury, and urging a judge to keep the slugger's perjury prosecution on track.

Bonds had argued that the questions posed to him by prosecutors were ambiguous and confusing. He demanded that the five-count indictment charging him with lying to a grand jury be tossed out. Bonds has pleaded not guilty.

In the filing, prosecutors said Bonds was specifically told before he began testifying in 2003 that he could consult with his lawyers or ask for a question rephrased if he ever got confused.

"Bonds never said he was confused or asked the prosecutor to rephrase a question," the government's filing stated.

Instead, they said their questions left no doubt that they were asking Bonds about his drug use and his relationship with personal trainer Greg Anderson.

Prosecutors said "as the evidence at trial will show, each count charges that Bonds repeatedly lied in answering the same question or questions on the same subject matter."

The matter will be the subject of a court hearing Feb. 29.

[Oofty Goofty]

Is there nothing more glorious than spring training? The excitement of the return of the great game. The anticipation of your team not sucking - again. This is the year they go all the way - finally. Being able to look at baseball with the same wide eyed enthusiasm you had as a child - even if it just lasts for a brief moment.

The slate has been wiped clean, all teams are even with the same record. It's the most wonderful time of the year. See me again in about two months, I'll return to being an angry Rangers fan. But for now, all is right with the universe.

[DemonGeminiX]

What makes this drug thing so important that Congress has to hold hearings about it? Don't they have better things to work on?

[vlc]

Is it just me, or does it seem like baseball's back awfully early this year? I'm sure it's not really any earlier than usual, but for some reason when they started talking about Spring Training I was thinking, "It CAN'T be that time of year already, can it?"

[vlc]

Originally Posted by DemonGeminiX

What makes this drug thing so important that Congress has to hold hearings about it? Don't they have better things to work on?

I can't believe you used "Congress" and "better things to work on" in the same post, and did it with a straight face.

[DemonGeminiX]

Originally Posted by vlc

I can't believe you used "Congress" and "better things to work on" in the same post, and did it with a straight face.

And how do you know I had a straight face when I posted that?

[TheLancinator]

The first spring training games start tomorrow!

Spring is in the air....

[JoyriderZ]

Thank God finally we can get away from this steroid crap

[TheLancinator]

Originally Posted by JoyriderZ

Thank God finally we can get away from this steroid crap

And we can talk about the Red Sox defending their World Series title

[Cactus]

Originally Posted by JoyriderZ

Thank God finally we can get away from this steroid crap

I don't think that will be happening for another could dozen years

[JoyriderZ]

Originally Posted by thelancinatorZ

And we can talk about the Red Sox defending their World Series title

Until the Yankees overtake them this year!