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On the other side of the ball as Clemens, Andy Pettitte has admitted that what the Mitchell Report said about him was true; he used HGH in 2002. Pettitte said that it was not for performance enhancement, but instead for helping his elbow injury heal faster (this statement goes in line with what the report said as well.) He quit only two days after he started because he didn’t feel comfortable using the hormone. It should be noted that during that time HGH was not banned, so you really can’t make Pettitte into the bad guy here. He was just trying to get better so that he could help his team out as fast as possible. I am sure he still wishes those two days didn’t happen (and so do I as a Yankee fan) because sadly even those 48 hours will taint his name from now on, including when he is considered for the Hall of Fame. During his statement he also emphasized that he had never used steroids.

Finally some news that doesn’t have to do with Mitchell madness (although I have a feeling Mr. Mitchell will cause some more splashes soon). Dan Haren will not be a Yankee next season because Oakland just traded him to the Diamondbacks as part of a three team deal (the other team was the Astros). The departure of Haren does signify a few things though, including Joe Blanton will most likely be unloaded too; the A’s had said earlier that if Haren goes, so does Blanton. He is certainly a possibility still, but the big trade talks involving the Yankees is for non other than Johan Santana.

We all knew that the Yanks hadn’t actually stopped thinking about the Twins’ ace, but Hank Steinbrenner actually said it to the public this time. He also said that the only way that Santana would come is if the Yanks could trade Matsui somehow. With the Giants no longer in the market for an outfielder, I don’t know if that will happen. But either way, it seems like a dumb excuse. I bet if the Twins offered to accept the Yankees’ original offer of Hughes, Cabrera, and a mid-level prospect for Santana, we’d accept. Bottom line in the Santana trade talks is that nothing has really changed since it all began.

In other news, former Cubs pitcher Mark Prior is currently a free agent and the Yanks are among a few teams interested. Prior is coming off major surgery and seeks only a one year deal, whereas the Yankees want a one year deal with a team option for a second year. Prior certainly has the potential to be great, as he was once expected to become one of the league’s top pitchers. But, that never really happened due to an injury plagued time with the Cubs. The Cubs finally gave up on him this season, but if he gets through rehab successfully he will certainly have a chance at being a good pitcher. Other teams interested include the Mets and Nationals.

It has been over a day since the Mitchell Report was released and sparks are flying left and right. The biggest controversy is over Roger Clemens. Considered to be one of the greatest pitchers in this era of baseball, the Rocket is facing a lot of scrutiny. He is fighting back though; he has denied all claims and has hired a lawyer already with the possibility of suing still open. Former Yankees trainer, Brian McNamee, was the one who told Mitchell that Clemens had taken steroids. It is possible though, that McNamee was just throwing out a big lie in hopes of getting a better plea bargaining deal (he is currently being tried for distributing steroids). It will be interesting to see what Clemens does and how it will all effect his legacy, especially whether or not he remains a potential Hall of Famer.

In other news, well its just more Mitchell madness. The MLB is asking Congress to postpone the hearing they are supposed to give about the investigation next week. Apparently giving the first ever Allan H. (Bud) Selig Mentoring Award is more important than this investigation. As the days pass I am starting to dislike Selig more and more…

You may have noticed some downtime around 4 o’ clock pm EST. We have moved to a new host because our old one was having problems and the overall speed was never that great there. This server has much better uptime and it is much faster, so pages will load faster than before.

It’s been an hour since it was released and I am frustrated, but to tell you the truth not surprised at all. The report contained several Yankees as I mentioned in my last update. One of the major guys is obviously Andy Petite. But remember that when he used them it was not illegal, so he shouldn’t be punished or even scrutinized for that.

Other Yankee names include Clemens, Knoblauch, David Justice, Sheffield, Giambi, Kevin Brown, Glenallen Hill, Ron Villone, and Grimsley. All of the accusations on these guys were not during their tenures with the Yankees. Ok, now lets look at the Red Sox names: Mo Vaughn, Manny Alexander. Mo Vaughn is an ex-sock and he doesn’t really matter. Alexander was already accused so that is nothing new and it isn’t like he is a big name anyway, does anyone even know who he is? Hmm… it seems like he didn’t get much on the Red Sox; but there was a lot of the Yankees. Biased? Please, anyone can clearly see that.

It is like this guy only asked the New York trainers. He does know that there are 28 other teams with trainers right?

There were a few other big names, but obviously they weren’t tied to the Red Sox in any way. The report states Tejada as a possibility. It will be interesting to see how that story develops, especially since the Astros just traded for him yesterday. Paul Lo Duca was also accused. Below is a list of all of the new and old names included in the report of players believed to have used steroids: Read more

It is 2 o’clock and it has been released. Stay tuned as I update with the big news. If you would like to check it out for yourself, you may do so here: www.mlb.com/mitchellreport

You can also watch the live press conference at mlb.com or on the CNN website(which I prefer).

Update: There are certainly a lot of names in the report. Yankees include Andy Petite, Roger Clemens, Chuck Knoblauch, Jason Grimsley, and Giambi (not that that is new). Andy Petite is said to have used it to speed up recovery from an injury. And guess what? No major Red Sox names. Not even that many minor names.

Well, there are twenty minutes left until the 2 o’clock press conference which will reveal the Mitchell Report. Rumors are flying left and right, but don’t get raveled in them because chances are that most of them are just that, rumors. Stay tuned as I will be updating as the report is released. Many speculate that there will be Yankees on the list and one trainer has even come out and said that he had supplied Roger Clemens with steroids, so it is like that Clemens will be in the report. Well, find out in 20 now 15 minutes…

The Alex Rodriguez deal is officially finished. He will be a Yankee for the next ten years and earn $275 million, possibly more if he breaks the home run record. With this deal he beat his old best of $252 million, as well as sports history’s best, by signing the largest deal ever. A press conference is planned for today, where he is expected to officially explain why he opted out.

So tomorrow is the big day. Former Senator George Mitchell is ready to release his masterpiece, a report on a 20 month investigation on steroid use in the MLB. It has been hyped up and everyone is eager to see what it says. It claims to have evidence on several big name major leaguers who have used these drugs. It is a drama lover’s dream come true, an instigator’s heaven, and a cheater’s nightmare. But, is this all good for the sport?

No.

It is as simple as that. You tell me, what is there about this whole mess that is good for Major League Baseball? Will it increase the popularity of baseball? No. Will it give it a better image? Certainly not. Will it increase revenues? No. Now, a few questions of a different sort: Will it destroy careers? Yes. Will it give baseball a bad image? Yes. Will it cause suspicion of more players, so more lives can be disturbed? Yes. Any arguments here? Because I really don’t see how anyone can say this is a good thing for the sport.

Sure steroid use may give players an unfair advantage over others and we should investigate, but we don’t have to make it a witch hunt. We don’t have to promise big names just to get attention; in fact if no big names every used steroids that would be better. The Mitchell Report shouldn’t be a ploy to get attention, it should be the just the opposite. We should reveal those you cheated, punish them, and move on.

Sadly with all the hype it doesn’t look like it will go this way. If we do want it to go smoothly and quickly, some of us have to change ourselves. One thing we must learn to do is realize that no matter what we do someone will always cheat, especially with all the money and fame involved with playing pro ball; it is just a sad part of reality. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for punishing cheaters, but their has to be a better way than this. Give a lifetime ban for steroid use even one time, enforce regular drug tests (and spend money to find tests for those untestable drugs, instead of spending git on 20 month long witch hunts), just do something which doesn’t have people accusing every other guy and their dogs of using steroids.

Or if you find that an overwhelming majority of players are using these supplements, then just turn the shoulder and look the other way. I know its not good, but if there really is a cohort of players using steroids then it may be for the best. I mean that would be better than having every player publicly demeaned until there was no one left. It’s not like baseball would be able to restart with all clean players or something because that would mean a decrease in pitching speeds and how far/fast balls get hit, which means lower ticket sales; no team is going to agree to that.

Well one mistake has already been made and that was the hiring of George Mitchell. Next time please choose a guy that is unbiased and gets evidence before he makes accusations. In other words, do not choose George Mitchell. The man who is a director on the board of the Red Sox, has more than a biased view. He has a thirst for any leads, even if it means hearing lies. Several trainers and coaches have reported being pressured by Mitchell and his fellow Sherlocks for information even if they didn’t have any. When they said that they weren’t sure about anyone using steroids they were asked who they thought was using steroids. Mitchell’s crew tried them to say names of people who’s bodies have changed a lot recently. They do know that people can change their body type with using steroids, right?

Hopefully what we get tomorrow won’t have any of the what ifs in it, but only hard, cold evidence. The best outcome would be to get enough information with evidence, so that this can be dealt with and become nothing more than the past. A lot of the trainers ended up not guessing no matter how much they were pressured because they knew damn well that they could be fired on the beat if they started a rumor of that intensity. Hopefully tomorrow’s report is nothing but facts. This is the optimistic view; will it come true? I guess we’ll find out at 2 tomorrow.

There have been rumors about the Phillies being interested in Mike Mussina. A trade is certainly a possibility since the Yankees have six possible starters at the moment (Petite, Moose, Wang, Kennedy, Hughes, and Joba). Whether a trade is a good thing is a different story; our rotation isn’t exactly the most proven. Also, as always the possibility of injuries exists, so maybe have six possible starters is a good thing. I believe that if Moose does stay he should be moved to the bullpen and then he can be moved up to starter if someone gets injured or is just horrible. It is obvious that he is aging and I think that with less innings (more rest) he will still be able to be successful. I would actually prefer Mussina to stay a Yankee unless we get some proven pitchers in return.

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