So Gary Matthews Jr. "wishes to cooperate," is "eager to tell his side of the story," and "looks forward to providing a statement" as to why his name allegedly appeared on a client list at a Mobile, Alabama pharmacy. Investigators say that pharmacy mailed the human growth hormone, Genotropin to him in August 2004. The co-owners of that pharmacy are under indictment.
Investigators also link the Alabama pharmacy with a pair of health facilities in the Orlando, Florida area. That's where a handful of people were just arrested as part of the same on-line, steroid distribution network investigation.
Oh, by the way, investigators say "Juiced" author, Jose Canseco's name was also on the Alabama list, and that former D-Backs pitcher Jason Grimsley is associated with the Florida pharmacy. 
I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't want my name mentioned along with the self-proclaimed "Godfather of Steroids In Baseball," and an admitted HGH-user at a time like this.
It's no secret Matthews is fresh off a stellar 2006 where he set career highs in games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, walks, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, and OPS. It's also no secret he parlayed his career year into a 5-year, $50 million dollar deal this off-season.
At least Matthews says he wants to cooperate. That may be more than you can say for Barry Bonds.
But here's my question, Gary. Let's say your 2006 was about hard work. Let's say it was about a skilled athlete in his early 30's finally getting the opportunity to prove what he can do as a full-time starter. Let's assume it wasn't about cheating, just to cash in. If that's truly the case, why not hold a press conference tomorrow and tell the world that you've never, ever, knowingly or unknowingly, taken any illegal performance-enhancing drugs? Why do you need to wait until the end of the investigation to comment if you didn't do anything wrong?
I just don't get it.
I was surfing around the MLB.com shop today, as I do from time to time, when I stumbled upon this. I stared at the screen with a puzzled look on my face for a few minutes, trying to figure out why the Cubs would still sell this on their website. Why Sammy Sosa? Why now? He hasn't been good useful since 2003, he hasn't been a Cub since 2004, he hasn't had a big league at-bat since 2005, and even though he's attempting a comeback, it's not with the Cubs!
It's not like the Cubs are desperate for a franchise player whose name and number they can sew on a uniform and hock on the web and in ballpark shops. They have Derek Lee, Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Zambrano, Aramis Ramirez, Mark Prior, and Kerry Wood. I know Sosa is one of the best players the Cubs have ever had, but it just seems weird that they'd be selling a jersey of his in March of 2007, when he's trying to make another team as a DH. You don't see the Red Sox selling old Roger Clemens jerseys do you? The answer is no.
But they are selling Keith Foulke. The same Keith Foulke who signed with the Indians, only to retire a few weeks later. I guess recording the last out of the 2004 World Series and ending "The Curse" earns you a few entitlements. I didn't see a Bill Buckner jersey on their page.
As I continued my jersey search, I noticed a few other odd things. You can get a Nolan Ryan jersey from his days in Texas, California, Houston, or New York, and the Mets also sell Mike Piazza, Lastings Millege, and Dwight Gooden.
You can show your friends how much you wish the Braves had kept Marcus Giles.
He's been with two teams since then, but Carlos Lee's Brewers jersey is half price (Derek Turnbow's, however is not).
If you have $256, you can re-live the St. Louis Cardinals' glory days, when Jeff Suppan was toeing the slab (before he sold out to join Turnbow and the Lee-less Brew Crew).
The Diamondbacks have plenty of authentic Randy Johnson jerseys, but not one of 2006 Cy Young winner Brandon Webb.
Jason Schmidt has a Turn Back The Clock Giants jersey for sale (ironic, no?), but not a Dodgers jersey.
The poor, poor Nationals aren't selling any Ryan Zimmerman jerseys, or Soriano jerseys, but they are selling Livan Hernandez and Jose Guillen.
This one's my favorite. The Baltimore Orioles are selling a SAMMY SOSA JERSEY! Sorry fans, no Rafael Palmeiro, though. I also noticed a subsection on some teams' pages called "Fashion Jerseys." This is the biggest misnomer of all time, judging by this.
Continuing my hunt, I made a Craig Wilson sighting on the Pittsburgh page. I couldn't remember so I had to look it up...turns out he's on the Braves now. I couldn't find a Jason Bay jersey though.
The Cincinnati Reds aren't selling jerseys for either of their "aces" Bronson Arroyo or Aaron Harang.
You know your franchise is in a bad way, when the only promotable player you've had since 1989, is Bo Jackson. Apparently, the Royals and Raiders have more in common than just the letter "R." Bo knows this...he's also on the White Sox site too.
And it looks like the Yankees aren't ready to part with Bernie Williams just yet.
The truly frightening part of all this is that they wouldn't be selling them if nobody was buying them.
...but even if I had $2.3 million dollars, I'm not sure I'd use it to buy a baseball card, even if it's the rarest baseball card in history. You can't display it, because any number of bad things can happen.
-Someone spills a drink on it
-Someone steals it
-It gets too much sunlight
-Your dog eats it
So that pretty much means you need to keep it under a velvet cover, in a locked room, guarded by pit bulls/ninjas/one of each, for the rest of your life. And what's the fun in that?
I used to be an avid collector, and I remember seeing one of the Honus Wagner 1909s at a card show once. But I'm just not sure if I see the appeal. Maybe the new buyer sees it as an investment, because it has more than quintupled in value since in the last 15 years. And it is a good conversation starter, if you're a jerk.
"Would you like to see my $2.3 million dollar baseball card collection? It's just one card. (rich guy laugh) Ah, ah, aaaaaah!"
As someone who's participated in a fair share of fantasy drafts, I have a pretty good idea of how this year's draft will go.
But I also know that this year, like every year, there are going to be a few things that we just won't know until we're well into the draft, and in some cases, well into the season. So here is my list of top five fantasy draft question marks.
#5. Who's closing and who's best?
ESPN says it's K-Rod. Last year's numbers say it's Joe Nathan and history says it's Mariano Rivera. By the way, B.J. Ryan had the best ERA (1.37) out of all of them! Personally, I think you have to factor in the teams these guys are closing for, and how many opportunities they'll likely get. That, in my mind, gives K-Rod the clear edge as the guy who should go first. That's a much easier question to answer than "who will get the most save chances for the Red Sox?" A handful of guys are competing for that job (Joel Pineiro, Mike Timlin, Manny Delcarmen, Craig Hansen, Julian Tavarez) which means there's no clear-cut favorite. There's also some debate in Cincinnati, Florida, and Kansas City. Cheap saves are always a great thing to find on the waiver wire, and there's absolutely no way to know who they're going to come from, without checking every day (remember Joe Borowski and Salomon Torres last year?).
#4. How far does A-Rod slide?
As I've said before, you can probably get A-Rod with the 4th, 5th, or even 6th pick this year, but likely not much later. His .290, 113 R, 35 HR, 121 RBI, 15 SB season a year ago left a lot of people disappointed (mostly people who took him before Albert Pujols, and finished 9th in their 12-team league). Pujols is the consensus number one this year, but how many other people will go before Alex? Johan Santana is the closest thing to Pujols among starting pitchers; dominant and consistent. Jose Reyes seems like this year's trendy choice for his combination of speed, power and run-scoring ability. It's hard to ignore Ryan Howard's 58 HR and 149 RBI. Alfonso Soriano went 40-40 and joined a much better offensive team over the winter. And Chase Utley is a stud at a very thin position. Heck, A-Rod might not even be the first third baseman taken in your league. David Wright is awfully good (.311, 96, 26, 116, 20) and Miguel Cabrera is awfully good (.339, 112, 26, 114, 9) and the difference between those guys and A-Rod is they're 24, while he's 31.
#3. Mark Prior?The mere mention of his name has become a question in and of itself. I know a lot of people have given up on this guy, and for good reason. Yes, he's been on the DL 8 times in 5 seasons. Yes, he went 1-6 with an ERA over 7.00 in 9 starts last season before the Cubs put him on dry-dock. But the ghost of 2003 still lingers in some owners' minds. He turns 27 in September, he says he's healthy, so far it looks like he's healthy, and if he is, and stays that way, look out. ESPN has him 233rd overall (after Anibel Sanchez, and before Daniel Cabrera) and MLB.com has him as the 48th best pitcher (after Scott Olsen and before Tim Hudson). Nobody knows how he'll fare in 2007, but I know this much, he'll either get taken way too early, or way too late in your league.
#2. When do all the rookies go, and how will they do?
Delmon Young, Alex Gordon, Troy Tulowitzki, Homer Bailey, Phillip Hughes, Chris Young (not the tall guy on the Padres), and Kevin Kouzmanoff...you'll probably hear all these names called on draft day. Some will be good, some will be really disappointing. The key is picking this year's Hanley Ramirez, rather than this year's Jeremy Hermida. Delmon Young is easily the most highly-touted of the group, and he probably won't disappoint, but for some reason I get the feeling that, like Prince Fielder last year, he's not going to deliver, relative to where you'll have to pick him. Fielder had a solid first season (.271, 28, 81) but you know how many other guys put up comparable numbers and went a lot later in the draft, simply because they aren't named Prince Fielder? I fear the same will be true of Young. Gordon is battling for KC's third base job, TT has shortstop locked up in Colorado which could afford him the opportunity to put up some good numbers, Bailey and Hughes are expected to be big-time contributors to the Reds and Yankees' pitching staffs in the future, Young has to beat out Eric Byrnes in Arizona but has 30-30 potential, and Kouzmanoff plays in San Diego (check minus). And before you point out the fact that I forgot the biggest rookie of 2007, please read on...
#1. How good is Daisuke Matsuzaka, really?
ESPN.com ran a really interesting story on the gyroball he allegedly throws, and how nobody can hit it. It's thrown kind of like a football, it's said to spin sideways like a bullet coming out of a gun, and the end result is an uber-slider that breaks down a foot, and up to three feet opposite arm side. I stumbled upon this blog and spent probably half an hour reading it and following his links. It's called "Matsuzaka Watch," and it's about Dice-K, and Dice-K alone. There's also an interesting CBS News piece on the gyroball , which I found through the ESPN E-Ticket piece. Anyway, the Sox spent boatloads to get him, Japanese pitchers don't exactly have a fantastic track record in the US (see Irabu, Hideki) and baseball writers' early reviews have been mixed. He's ranked 99th overall on ESPN (after Chad Cordero, before Alex Rios), and he's ranked 70th overall on MLB.com (after Michael Young, before Dan Haren). There's even a where to draft Matsuzaka article out there. I don't know what to think, honestly. I'm sure he'll probably go high in a lot of drafts just because of the elusive factor and because of what people are saying about him. But rookies, in general, go a lot higher than they should and there are probably much safer 5th and 6th round picks out there. It's just a question of whether you want to play it safe on draft day.
He rarely walks, but he's still probably the best lead-off hitter in the game. He plays a wicked right field. And at the end of the season, he's a free agent. Ichiro doesn't want to talk about it, so I will. Where should he end up, and where will he end up?
Option 1 - He stays in Seattle.
In this scenario, he'd remain as close, geographically, to his native Japan as possible. But he sure wouldn't be any closer to winning a championship. The M's are one of 8 teams in the league with exactly zero World Series titles (the Rockies, Astros, Brewers, Padres, Devil Rays, Rangers and Expos/Nationals are the other 7), and one of only 5 to never even make it to the Fall Classic. Ichiro turns 34 at the end of the season. He was an MVP and batting champ overseas. He's an MVP and batting champ in the US. My guess is, he wants to win. And I'm not sure if Seattle will help him achieve that any time soon.
Option 2 - He joins the Yankees.
The Yanks apparently have an option on Bobby Abreu in 2008. They could pick it up and have an Abreu-Damon-Ichiro outfield (you could put any of them anywhere, except for Damon in right), or they could decline the option and then #51 replaces #53 in right. Ichiro does have a hose for an arm, but he's still not a starting pitcher (something the Yanks will likely need much more of this coming off-season, as compared to another bat). So I'm not convinced he'll be teammates with Hideki Matsui any time soon.
Option 3 - He joins the Red Sox.
J.D. Drew's not hurt yet, but c'mon. Right field in Boston is about as readily open as Britney Spears' room at the rehab clinic. And Coco Crisp hasn't really gotten the chance to prove himself. But in the meantime, is Kevin Youkilis really the answer at lead-off? And is this the off-season where the Sox finally do trade Manny Ramirez? Hard to say. But then again, Terry Francona's not exactly Whitey Herzog when it comes to stolen bases. The Sox swiped just 51 bags last year and 45 the year before. So it doesn't seem like Ichiro's slap-and-dash style would be used to its fullest capabilities in Beantown.
Option 4 - He joins the Cubs.
Hmmm. They keep saying the have tons of cash to spend. And right fielder Jacque Jones is one of just a few non-All Stars in their starting lineup. But like the Yanks, I think the Cubs will be in the market for pitching more than offense, come October. Still, can you think of a better way to start a lineup than Ichiro, Soriano, Lee, and Aramis Ramirez? Mark Prior could pitch with his left arm and still win.
Option 5 - He joins the Indians.
Double hmmm. He would be the veteran presence on a mostly up-and-coming young team. The Indians only have Casey Blake holding down the fort in right. And they like to run. They're not necessarily a big market team that's always in the running for the top free agent prize. Still, seems like a decent, "sleeper fit."
Option 6 - He joins the other New York team.
Sean Green's career is headed into its twilight years, but the Mets already have a pretty good lead-off hitter in Jose Reyes. Plus, like the Cubs and Yankees, the Mets need starting pitching, arguably the most out of all of them. So if they break the bank on anyone, it will most likely be on a replacement for Pedro or Tom Glavine, not Ichiro.
Option 7 - He joins the Phillies.
Not that I don't like Shane Victorino, but Ichiro would be an absolutely perfect fit in Philly. He and Jimmy Rollins would be fantastic table-setters for Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard. Remember that first-four-hitters-for-the-Cubs scenario? The Phils' first four with Mr. Suzuki would be even better. Plus, they already have decent starting pitching, so he would make them an instant favorite in the NL East (depending, of course, on what the Mets do). He would also give Philly one of the best defensive outfields in the game. He and Burrell get tons of assists, and Aaron Rowand is a regular on Web Gems.
Option 8 - He joins any other team.
I think you can instantly eliminate teams about 18 of the remaining 23 clubs because either (a) his presence alone won't make them an instant contender (Colorado, Texas, Washington to name a few), (b) they simply don't need a right-fielder (Atlanta, LA Angels, White Sox, teams like that), or (c) they don't stand a chance at out-bidding bigger market teams (Kansas City, Minnesota, Oakland, Tampa Bay, this list is long).
That really only leaves teams like Houston, St. Louis, San Diego, San Francisco, or maybe Toronto. Maybe he's the missing piece for one of these organizations. Houston is interesting, although for some reason, I just can't see him in an Astros uniform, although they did just trade their only real stolen base threat to the Rockies. St. Louis isn't getting any younger, and the Cards starting pitching took a huge hit this off-season. Ichiro would be a great table setter for the Giants, but there's nobody behind him to sit down and eat. And I think he'd stay in Seattle before he played in Canada.
If he is going to leave, I think he'd work out best in Philadelphia. But a lot can change between now and the World Series. Judging by what he said today, we'll probably have to wait at least 8 months to get any kind of idea what he's thinking and where, if anywhere, he's going.
Either Barry Bonds is flat-out nuts, or he really is innocent. He is now openly inviting Major League Baseball to investigate him, in connection with its steroids investigation. In my mind, this is kind of like al-Qaeda openly inviting the United States to determine what role, if any, it had in terrorism, and or 9/11. Yes, openly asking people to bring it on, when you know they can cause you serious damage is not a good idea, almost all the time.
You'd think the Bobby Bacala-esque body of evidence against Bonds would be enough to make him not want to taunt the people who could (a) confirm what a majority of baseball fans already think (b) tarnish what would have been a Hall of Fame career (c) cut-short this season's pursuit of baseball's most hallowed record (d) make the Giants look awfully stupid for signing him for $15.8M, although (e) make them awfully glad they included the "all bets are off if you get indicted" clause in the deal.
But then again, Bonds has always been somewhat bold ("is bold the right word?") in defending himself against allegations. Ever since the Chronicle reporters broke the story, he's done nothing but deny, deny, deny. When they wrote a book, he still denied. When his trainer went to jail for obstruction of justice, he still denied. If he's not indicted, and hits number 756 this season, he will, no doubt, be asked the same question he's been asked for the last 3 years. And I think we all know what his response will be.
And the Cubs like Carlos Zambrano. A week to the day after Treinta Ocho demanded the Cubs sign him before the season, they did. He didn't get the $15M he wanted, and the Cubs aren't locked into a long-term deal, just in case all those pitches (thanks for the post Matt) take a toll on his wing.
I'd say the scoreboard looks something like this...Cubs - 1, Treinta Ocho - 1, NL Central - 0. Now they just need the rest of the staff (Marquis, Lilly, Prior, etc.) to fall into line.
By the way, I think it's pretty sweet that he has an incentive clause in his contract if he wins the sliver slugger award. This was a guy who swung out of his ass last year and there wasn't extra money at stake. I can't wait to see the kind of hacks T.O. takes in '07.
Now, it appears there's a new celebrity couple that everyone's talking about. That's right, it's D-Rod. Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez's relationship is apparently the only thing that's actually newsworthy in Yankee-land. Sure there's Mariano's contract, and the Bernie Williams situation. Plus, most people are picking the Sox, who finished 3rd last year, to win the East. Of yeah, they haven't won a World Series since 2000, and haven't even been since 2003, despite having one of, if not the highest payroll each year. There's the pitching staff face-lift. There's Joe Torre's job. There's the 1b/DH/LF cluster-you-know-what involving Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui and Melky Cabrera. And there's the Yanks, all-of-the-sudden-good-again farm system.
But forget about that. Did you see the way Alex looked at Derek when they were taking fungos? I mean, what was that all about?!?!?!?
This is absurd. Who cares how often they stayed over at each other's houses? Who cares how much they talk/party/share their feelings/text-message each other? Even Jeter says he doesn't know why this is a huge story all of the sudden.
Quoting him (and he's absolutely right), "It has no bearing on us playing baseball."
You can't possibly tell me that if Jeter gave A-Rod a big hug before the start of last year's playoffs, he wouldn't have gone 1-14.
Yes, this is early front-runner for "Biggest Non-Story Of 2007," and the scary part is, it's not even March.
2007 Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball is officially open for business. And, as always, I think their top 12 O-Rank, which is defined as "the player's overall Yahoo! Sports ranking, based on current and prior seasons," is worth examining.
1. Albert Pujols - no argument here
2. Johan Santana - funny, that's where I had him too
3. Jose Reyes - clearly a big upside, but this high?
4. Alfonso Soriano - seems about right
5. Ryan Howard - also seems about right
6. Alex Rodriguez - did I predict this would happen, or what?
7. Carlos Beltran - I'm still a little gun-shy after 2005
8. David Ortiz - Ryan Howard, just a few picks later
9. Chase Utley - positional scarcity with 5-category production
10. Miguel Cabrera - exactly where I had him
11. David Wright - I'd be happy to get him with pick 11
12. Vladimir Guerrero - I'd be happy to get him with pick 12
Now, just for fun, here's the top 12 statistically (in 5x5 leagues) from 2006
1. Albert Pujols
2. Johan Santana
3. Ryan Howard
4. Alfonso Soriano
5. Jose Reyes
6. Joe Nathan (seriously)
7. David Ortiz
8. Derek Jeter
9. Matt Holliday
10. Carlos Beltran (maybe he is a first-rounder)
11. Lance Berkman
12. Jermaine Dye
So what does this tell us? Well, a few things. If you have one of the first five picks this year, chances are, no matter who you take (so long as it's Albert, Johan, Howard, Reyes or Soriano), they are going to perform like a first-round pick. It's later in the first round that things get interesting. For example, if you got the unlucky 12th pick last year, I'd be willing to bet Matt Holliday and Derek Jeter were still around. If you took them back-to-back, you would have drawn immense criticism from the other 11 teams in the league, but you also would have drawn the names of two top-10 performers without one top-10 pick. Not bad.
I guess the real challenge is determining who are going to be this year's Joe Nathans (almost impossible to predict a reliever's win total, which is why he's so high), Derek Jeters, Matt Hollidays (could be Matt Holliday again), and Jermaine Dyes. It might be even more important to try to predict this year's Alex Rodriguez (could be Alex Rodriguez again), so you don't end up paying for a name, rather than paying for stats.
I was looking for a topic for my latest post. Then I stumbled upon this.
Jackpot.
Now here's the thing, I don't claim to have much experience as a pro ballplayer, and I have absolutely zero experience as a big league GM. But how the hell does something like this happen? Seems to me, a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PITCHING MOTION is something an organization, now $126 million dollars over 7 years lighter, doesn't want to learn about for the first time at spring training.
So who's to blame, Zito or the Giants? That's an easy one in my opinion. If you read that story past the first few paragraphs, you see Zito has been throwing this way for months. He's been a Giant since late December; about a month and a half. So obviously, Z was tinkering with his delivery while Scott Boras was in the midst of negotiating the most lucrative contract for a big league pitcher in the history of the game. The blame totally falls on San Francisco here. How could they not ask? How could they not attend a workout? How did this not come up in any conversation? It wouldn't have been that hard...
GM Brian Sabean: Hey Z, whatcha' been up to this offseason?
Barry Zito: Oh, not much.
BS: You been throwing at all?
BZ: Sure, 4 times a week. By the way, I completely changed my motion. You know, the motion I've used since I entered the league 7 years ago. The motion I've used to go 39 games over .500, with a 3.55 ERA. The motion that's enabled me to make each of my last 222 starts. The motion I used when I won the Cy Young in 2002. It's no big deal though.
BS (suddenly beat red, reaching for his cell phone): Well, good talking to you. We'll be in touch.
Even when I was with the Expos organization, and making $1 for every $4,235 Barry makes now ($850 a month, April through August only vs. $18 million a season), a scout still held a mini workout a few weeks before spring training just to see how we were doing and check our off-season progress. Although he did take us to Pizza Hut after the workout, so it's more like Zito's making $4,220 for every dollar I make. Sucker.
I'll tell you who I don't blame in this, and that's Zito. He worked hard to get his legs in shape, and now he's trying to use them more to push off of the rubber. In his mind, (which one of the many subjects discussed in Mychael Urban's fantastic book, by the way) he's just trying to get better, and you can't fault an athlete for that. No, this is totally a "caveat emptor lesson" for Frisco. Pitching coach Dave Righetti's worried Zito's trademark curveball might not be as good with different mounds in the National League. Seems to me if my number one told me he was trying to re-invent the wheel, I would want to get a good look at Wheel 2.0 before my ace took it for a test drive in Scottsdale.
We'll see how a new motion affects the most durable pitcher in the game this season, and that's if he even uses his new motion. My guess is, Zito's numbers this year will be about the same as they were last year (3.83 ERA, 16 W, 151 K). The difference between adjusting to new hitters, new hitters adjusting to him, pitching in a smaller park, and pitching to pitchers, should be a wash. But if it's not, and his college-era-motion screws him up beyond repair, or if he gets hurt, the Giants will have learned a very expensive lesson.
So Gary Matthews Jr. "wishes to cooperate," is "eager to tell his side of the story," and "looks forward to providing a statement" as to why his name allegedly appeared on a client list at a Mobile, Alabama pharmacy. Investigators say that pharmacy mailed the human growth hormone, Genotropin to him in August 2004. The co-owners of that pharmacy are under indictment.
I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't want my name mentioned along with the self-proclaimed "Godfather of Steroids In Baseball," and an admitted HGH-user at a time like this.
