Major Leagues

Since before and after this year’s All Star break, most of the chatter from the press and baseball gurus alike has been about the “Randy Watch,” better known as speculation that the Diamondbacks have asked pitcher, Randy Johnson, to drop the “no trade” clause in his contract so they can move him.

Unfortunately, this has overshadowed other players’ feats on the field this week as well as other players deserving of media attention.

But, primarily, the reason this leads the headlines and on sports TV is because it involves the NY Yankees, and is just one more opportunity for non-Yankee fans to dump on NY once again.

The difference this year is that all of a sudden, George Steinbrenner’s cash dole may not be nearly enough.

The luxury tax has kicked in a couple of times now for George, which has not even caused him to blink, but what is becoming evident this time around is that the small market teams may have finally leveled the playing field, so to speak, when it comes to dealing this season.

What they have and what George hasn’t got is farm prospects or up and coming players. The thought of trading established veteran commodities for a 41-year-old Johnson with $24 million left on his contract through next year, borders on insanity.

(The Diamondbacks supposedly pitched the idea of acquiring Yankee catcher, Jorge Posada, as part of a deal for Johnson.)

What has not been given enough attention, until maybe this year, is that many of these small market clubs have learned to develop their farm systems and have learned how to make deals with other teams by trading players rather than laying out cash, which they don’t have.

The Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Milwaukee Brewers and even the Detroit Tigers are just some of those teams now enjoying the fruit of those efforts.

While the big guys were busy buying up the smaller teams’ remaining big stars, which some smaller owners felt they could not unload soon enough, these previously losing teams were left with a well of up and coming talent, which they were forced to develop.

It will serve them well for the future too.

Clubs with large payrolls have aged and have run out of reserves to trade or to develop.

That is going to become a different kind of problem which MLB will have to address as a whole.

Player development will have to be a high priority for the likes of NY, LA and Boston.

Baseball owners need to appreciate this, and continue to build upon their teams for more than one season at a time.

More specifically as concerns Johnson, let’s get serious.

Even though he has had a wonderful 2004 season despite playing for the last place Diamondbacks, who are going to need to rebuild from scratch, and even though there are no apparent remnants of problems from his 2003 knee surgery, he’s 41!

All it takes is a tweak here or there and he lands on the DL.

Haven’t the Yankees gotten it yet?

Note Kevin Brown, who has been on the DL for six weeks at the age of 38.

Acquiring Brown was even more ludicrous as he had been on the DL more often in the past few years than he had been on the field.

When he performed he was great, but that was not very often.

Additionally, the Yankee roster is aged and they must start developing their system again.

So the only options now available to Steinbrenner and the serfs who are in his employ is to start trading his active players on the field!

This is wasteful and sets a bad precedent for all of baseball.

Finally, we have more parity in baseball, but through one way or another, we will soon be entering another phase of the haves and have-nots.

George will have his pile of cash with teams reminiscent of the 1980s when the Yankees never won any championships after winning the AL pennant in 1981.

More importantly, there is some incredible baseball being played out there this season.

We no longer need to be inundated with what Randy Johnson will or will not do.

The game is bigger than any one player or any one owner, which is precisely what explains baseball’s longevity.

It is a team spirit, made up of a collaboration of individual talents, unique in both respects.

Nevertheless, baseball is primarily played as a team and in order for its legacy to remain its Commissioner, owners, players and their union must continue to be reminded that the good of the game of baseball should always come first.

From http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/7-23-2004-56989.asp

Every year there are a number of players who play crucial roles in their team success or have a big year, yet somehow are overlooked by the media and/or the public at large.

To ensure that these players get proper recognition, I’ve drawn up an All Underappreciated Team for the 2004 season.

These players are the types who play pivotal roles on their teams yet never get the publicity. Many of them might not even be recognized outside of their home city. No 2004 All Star is eligible for this team, although a few of these players are obviously All Star caliber.

Catcher: Michael Barrett After years of disappointment in Montreal, is finally living up to his potential in Chicago. Barrett is currently batting almost .290, which is over thirty points higher then his career average. He also has already matched his season high in home runs, and let’s not forget that his role as battery mate for one of the best pitching staffs in the game.

First Base: Travis Hafner For those who have not noticed, Hafner is in the midst of a monster season. Just another promising bat coming into the year, Hafner has been one of the best hitters in the major leagues. Hafner’s OPS (the statistic that stat heads feel is most revealing of a player’s greatness) currently ranks third in the American league at 1.027. Can someone please explain how Hafner was passed over for the All Star game?

Second Base: Tony Womack Many thought that Womack was nearing the end after a fairly forgettable 2003, instead he has been the sparkplug at the top of baseball’s most potent lineup. Womack’s speed has always been his best asset, but this year he has added a dangerous bat. He is on pace to hit .300 (almost thirty points higher then his career average) as well as set new career highs in OBP and slugging.

Shortstop: Cezar Izturis Izturis was thought of as a only a glove man coming into this season. His defense is still top notch, but he has become a solid weapon at the plate as well. Izturis is currently hitting over .300 and his new found ability to get on base is letting him take advantage of his speed and as a result he has swiped 17 bases.

Third Base: Adrian Beltre Somewhat overshadowed by Scott Rolen’s MVP type season is the fact that Beltre is having an MVP caliber season of his own. Beltre has finally shed the dreaded p word (potential) and has started living up to, if not exceeding, the hype that has always surrounded him in baseball circles. Like Rolen, Beltre is putting up huge numbers across the board, as well as playing gold glove caliber defense for a team that is running away with its division. That he wasn’t an All Star was a travesty.

Right Field: Danny Bautista Lost in the horror that has been the Diamondbacks season, are the solid contributions of Danny Bautista. Bautista ranks first on the Diamondbacks in batting average, hits, and RBI. He is also among team leaders in runs scored and homeruns. Ranking first on the Diamondbacks in so many offensive categories might seem like faint praise, but just imagine where they would be without their only healthy, consistent bat.

Center Field: Mark Kotsay Coming off a fairly disappointing season in San Diego, Kotsay has been just what Billy Bean ordered. Kotsay has been solid at the plate hitting over .300 and getting on base at a clip that makes the front office smile. Kotsay’s solid bat and good glove work in center have been pivotal to a team that is in the midst of its annual second half surge towards the playoffs.

Left Field: Matt Lawton A long shot to contribute due to a particularly gruesome shoulder injury and perceived erosion to his skills, Lawton has proved that he has a lot left in his tank. Lawton is on pace to be a 20/20 player and score well over one hundred runs. With his batting average hovering around .290 and his veteran clubhouse presence, Lawton has been an invaluable contributor to the Tribe this season.

From http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-6-2004-57535.asp

Only slightly easing their discomfort was the fact that, as members of the Greek baseball team, both had been imported from North America and handed citizenship especially for the games. The team is bankrolled by Peter Angelos, the multimillionaire Greek-American owner of the Baltimore Orioles.

Andrew Brack has tested positive for the same anabolic steroid, stanozolol, as the disgraced Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson in 1988 and will be dropped from the team. Derek Nicholson, a reserve player, tested positive for a diuretic, officials confirmed.

“That we are talking about doping is very sad,” said Yiannis Papadoyiannakis, chef de mission of the Greek Olympic team.

Cynics will say a change of nationality clearly does not mean a change of habits, with American Major League Baseball having regularly been accused by the World Anti-Doping Agency chairman Dick Pound of failing to deal with a major drug problem.

Wada has been almost as critical of Greece’s attempts to stamp out doping. Papadoyiannakis also revealed that the agency had demanded detailed information on the whereabouts of several of Greece’s top Olympic competitors for routine testing.

He added that Kostas Kederis, the Olympic 200m champion, and Ekaterini Thanou, the European 100m champion, were not currently in Greece and would not be returning in time for Friday’s opening ceremony.

“We will fully cooperate with Wada,” Papadoyiannakis said. “The Greek team will crack down on doping wherever we find it.”

Two other Olympic hopefuls were yesterday revealed to have tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO). The Spanish canoeist Jovino González and the Swiss cyclist Oscar Camenzind have been dropped from their teams.

From http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-9-2004-57655.asp

The San Francisco Giants outfielder, who hit a record 73 home runs in 2001, testified to a grand jury that he used a clear substance and a cream given to him by Greg Anderson, one of four men charged in connection with supplying banned steroids.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday that Bonds testified to the federal grand jury last year that Anderson, his personal trainer, told him the substances he used in 2003 were flax seed oil and a balm for arthritis.

Bonds’s attorney Michael Rains said the leak of grand jury testimony was an attempt to smear his client. “My view has always been this case has been the US versus Bonds,” he said, “and I think the government has moved in certain ways in a concerted effort to indict my client.

On Thursday the Chronicle had revealed that the New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi told the grand jury that he had used steroids including “the cream” and “the clear”, which he had obtained from Anderson. Tony Serra, Anderson’s lawyer, said his client “never knowingly provided illegal substances to anyone”.

The case of Michelle Collins, last year’s world indoor 400 metres champion who has been charged with doping offences, will be decided by an American Arbitration Association panel on Friday.

From http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-3-2004-62481.asp

The lament, reputed to have been delivered by a small boy to the legendary fielder and hitter Shoeless Joe Jackson outside a New York courtroom, was back in circulation this week as the world of professional baseball confronted its latest demon: the use of illegal, performance-enhancing drugs.

On Wednesday, an investigative committee of Congress issued subpoenas to seven active and retired major league players, among them some of the sports biggest names, as well as four baseball officials, to testify before the house committee on government reform on the use of steroids.

Yesterday, players and team owners delivered their preliminary response: No.

Stanley Brand, a lawyer for the baseball commissioner’s office, said the players would contest the subpoenas. He went on to accuse Congress of using concerns about drug use to try to win points with the public at the sport’s expense. He also warned that the hearings could compromise a grand jury investigation now under way in California into steroid use. “The legal audacity of subpoenaing someone who’s been a grand jury witness before there has been a trial in the case in California is just an absolutely excessive and unprecedented misuse of congressional power,” Mr Brand told reporters.

The showdown now sets the stage for a fullscale confrontation between US lawmakers and baseball authorities. In a hard-hitting response to Mr Brand, the committee leaders, Republican congressman Tom Davis, and Democratic congressman Henry Waxman, indicated they were determined to have the players testify. If players defy the subpoenas, the committee could vote them in contempt, an action that could potentially result in jail time.

“Baseball and ballplayers do not, by virtue of their celebrity, deserve special treatment or to be placed above the law,” the statement said. “Any American citizen under these circumstances would be required to comply with the committee’s request. Major league baseball and baseball players are no different.”

The congressmen went on to accuse organised baseball of ignoring more than a decade of press reports about drug abuse, and said failure had encouraged an entire generation to resort to steroids in an attempt to be like their sporting heroes.

Yesterday’s showdown, and a series of high-profile deaths of major league and amateur players that have been linked to steroid use, now forces major league baseball to confront problems of drug use that were addressed by other sporting officials years ago.

“I think the world of sport has been waiting for this. When we introduced our code in March 2003, many of the Olympic sports said what about the major leagues, what are they going to do?” said David Howman, director of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Further fuel was added to the steroid scandal this year by a locker room exposé by one of the players summoned by Congress, Jose Conseco, who wrote at length about how he - and a number of team-mates - regularly injected themselves with steroids.

“It certainly taints some of the records and achievements that have been accomplished in the last 10 or 15 years,” said Dan Shaughnessy, the baseball columnist for the Boston Globe newspaper. “It hasn’t hurt them at the gate, but I suppose there is an element of trust that has been dented.”

The players summoned by Congress to testify on March 17 include some of baseball’s biggest names: the home-run kings Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, and Curt Schilling who last year continued pitching on an injured and bleeding ankle to lead the Boston Red Sox to their first World Series championship since 1918.

The first baseman, Jason Giambi, who has admitted using steroids and other substances before a grand jury, was also subpoenaed.

But there was criticism of the Congress decision not to summon Barry Bonds, who is poised this season to challenge the career home run records of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron. According to leaked testimony from a grand jury investigation into doping, Bonds has admitted the inadvertent use of a cream containing steroids.

“It’s like not requesting Tony Soprano to a discussion on organised crime in New Jersey. Without subpoenaing Bonds, the committee’s credibility is tainted,” the sports columnist George Willis wrote in yesterday’s New York Post.

From http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/3-10-2005-66960.asp