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Told ya so...

Told ya so.

Told ya so, way back on July 28^th (third section). Not like it was really any huge secret. Jason Giambi took steroids. It wasn’t really a shocking new development in the story. Take a look at the photo on his rookie trading card (above). You’re gonna honestly try to tell me that this guy went from that to what he is today by just busting his ass in the weight room, without a little help? Puh-leeze.

So where does MLB go from here? There have now been four players or former players (three of whom won MVP awards, by the way, and one who could have – multiple times) who have admitted to using illegal steroids. Ken Caminiti has already died, though not as a direct result of steroid use. Jason Giambi was sidelined for most of last year with “intestinal parasites” and a pituitary gland tumor (!! little red flashing lights !!). Barry Bonds, who has been linked with two admitted users (Giambi and Gary Sheffield), has somehow managed to remain relatively injury-free. Sheffield has had a myriad of injuries during his career, but nothing that could really be blamed on steroid use. (By the way, how weird is it that of these four admitted users, three have worn pinstripes? Canseco, Giambi, and Sheffield have all been Yankees at one point in their career. And it’s even stranger that Giambi is getting so much crap about his admitted use, while Sheffield admitted to it and it was almost as if it was non-news. Just throwing it out there…)

Here’s another oddity. Ignoring anything that may happen from here on out, consider this. In the 2003 ALCS against Boston, Jason Giambi hit two home runs in Game 7. Two home runs that kept the Yankees within three runs. Two home runs hit while he was admittedly on HGH. Let’s play the “What if?” game. What if he’s not on steroids? Do the Yankees come back to win that game? If not, do the Sox win the ’03 World Series? If so, do the Yankees, not Boston, make the deal to get Curt Schilling? Now consider that if all of that had happened, in the end, Jason Giambi could cost the Yankees a lot more than the $80M remaining on his bloated contract. If the Yankees ended up with Schilling, chances are good that they don’t deal for Kevin Brown, Javier Vasquez, or Alex Rodriguez. That’s over $46.7M in salary just in 2004, not to mention Giambi’s $12M and the $13M that New York gave Gary Sheffield this year. Yes, Schilling made $12M, so he and Giambi would be a wash. But it would be interesting to see what moves the Yankees would have made last year had Boston held on in Game 7 and gone on to win the series. Oh well.

So again, I ask: Where does MLB go now? The so-called “tougher” drug-testing program is a farce. A bone thrown by MLB executives to the wolf pack of national media and fans to try and keep them off the scent of the star abusers. People are coming out now and admitting that they beat the system – shouldn’t that be incentive enough to actually create something that would stop the problem?

I don’t think I’m alone when I say that, as a fan of the game of baseball, the only thing I really expect the commissioner’s office to do is keep the game fair. If fair means banning players who are juicing, then so be it. Yes, Barry Bonds’ numbers are amazing. And yes, steroids don’t help you make contact with the ball. And no, steroids don’t give you four balls every time you walk to the plate (though they may take one away later in life… sorry, it was too easy). What they can do is make you so big, so strong, and so intimidating that opposing pitchers know that if you manage to make contact, the ball is going a long, long way.

It’s cheating, plain and simple. Players who cheat are normally a black mark on the game, but for some reason, most of these guys have managed to skate. And the ones who have previously come clean – Sheffield, Ken Caminiti, Jose Canseco – have, for the most part, been lauded for breaking the silence and speaking out on a subject that most of baseball would rather ignore.

Once upon a time, hitting a home run was one of the most difficult things to do in sports. Now, it’s almost expected. Yeah, I know. Pitchers aren’t as good as they once were. Ballparks are smaller than they used to be. Hitters are bigger and stronger – BINGO! The pure home run hitter has been lost, maybe forever. That’s a shame.

Maybe now baseball will stand up and take notice. Maybe not. But if home runs keep flying out of parks at the current rates, and if players keep bulging almost to the brink of exploding, I really think fans will walk away from the game.

I don’t know why I’m writing what is now my fourth column in seven days. A lot has happened that I wanted to comment on, so I just keep typing. Obviously, the topic above started things off. There have been a couple other stories in the news here that bear watching, and I’ll touch on them briefly.

The Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2005. This year’s ballot really only holds one name that should be a no-doubter – Wade Boggs. Yes, he was a womanizing, fried-chicken eating, bad mustache wearing third baseman who made a career out of hitting the big, friendly wall in left field at Fenway. But he’s also a 3,000 hit guy (3,010), a guy who won 5 batting titles (including four straight from 1985-1988), none with an average below .357. He holds an American League record of seven straight seasons of 200-plus hits. His .328 career batting average and two AL Gold Gloves aren’t too shabby either.

Among the other names on the ballot are return members Ryne Sandberg, Don Mattingly, Bruce Sutter, Andre Dawson, and two guys who should have been in a long time ago – Goose Gossage and Jim Rice.

But then there’s a newcomer to this ballot that makes for quite a debate: Darryl Strawberry.

I got a couple of irate IM’s from my friend Tim about Strawberry’s chances of making the Hall this year, if ever. He made mention to the fact that should Strawberry get elected, he might have to find a way to take out the hall altogether. That might be a little over the top, but knowing Tim, not totally out of the question.

Here’s where I stand. Straw was a great player – there’s no denying it. 335 home runs and a couple of World Series rings over 17-years would normally get you serious consideration for the hall, if not outright induction to it. But then there are his off-the-field situations. Drugs, DUI’s, 3 different suspensions from baseball (1995, 1999, 2000), prison time. He’s not exactly a saint. But since when does not being a good person deny you entry into the Hall of Fame?

Babe Ruth was a womanizer and a drunk. Ty Cobb was a racist and a murderer. Two of the “best” players in the history of baseball, and two Hall of Famers. There are probably others that I can’t name off the top of my head, but you get the idea.

Tim’s theory was that if Strawberry gets inducted, Pete Rose should be put on the ballot next year. I’m not so sure about that. Strawberry never did anything to disgrace or dishonor the game. Personally, I believe that Pete Rose should have been on the ballot for quite a while now, but that’s another story. Strawberry deserves at least the chance to be inducted on his baseball achievements alone. I’m a great believer in the idea that what you do off the field should not effect what you do on it. Unless you’re doing something that affects or enhances the way you play or manage (steroids, gambling on your own team), then you should simply be judged on the merits of your game. Period.

And now after all that, I must say this: Don’t worry Tim – Straw’s not getting in anytime soon.

Next, more baseball hot stove. It seems that Randy Johnson is on the move. Well duh.

Now the question is just: “Where?”

Obviously, everyone assumes the Yankees are the only partner for the Diamondbacks in this trading dance. Well, not necessarily.

The White Sox, Cardinals, Dodgers, Angels, and Red Sox could cut in at any time, giving the D-Backs something to consider before getting blinded by the lights of the Big City. Not to mention that New York isn’t exactly willing to pay the price that Arizona has asked (Javier Vasquez, Tom Gordon, Brad Halsey, at least two high-level prospects, and about $18M of the $19.6 difference between Johnson and Vasquez’s contracts). Plus, New York is pretty focused on Carlos Beltran. Now, I’m no mathematician, but trading for Randy Johnson and his $16M salary, plus the extra year he’s probably going to want, if not more, would put a burden on even the Yankees if they were to sign Beltran too. Or imagine Johnson, Beltran, and Pedro? Now that would be excessive.

The White Sox are almost immediately ruled out because Randy doesn’t want to play there. He has a no trade, and unless Chicago offered him a couple more guaranteed years at $16M or more, I don’t see him waiving it to go there.

That leaves St. Louis (too pricey, not enough prospects), Anaheim (too much money, won’t trade their best prospects), LA (already tried – won’t give up Edwin Jackson) and Boston. Hmmmmmm….

Don’t worry. I don’t think he’s coming to Boston, since he more or less said he didn’t want to pitch here last year. That, plus most rumors say that he and Curt Schilling aren’t exactly buddy-buddy anymore. The predominant theory is that Randy was pissed because a lot of people said he couldn’t win on his own – that he needed Curt before he won anything. Then the fact that Schilling came to Boston and won another one, this time without Johnson, probably tweaked Randy just a little bit more.

The proposed deal doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for Boston either. Sure, it would clear the way for Pedro to leave town, or return for much less money. But Johnson would probably require another year or two guaranteed in an extension in order to waive his no-trade. At $16M or more per season. That would mean that next year alone, the Sox would have $32.35M tied up next year alone in three pitchers on the wrong side of 38 years old (Schilling, Johnson, Wakefield). And if Petey returned for the $12.25M offer on the table, well, now we’re talking Yankee-like overpayments.

Plus, the players that the Sox would have to give up – Bronson Arroyo, probably Kevin Youkilis or Trot Nixon, and a very highly-rated minor league pitcher just don’t make sense for a one or two year rental of a very, very good pitcher (probably the best lefty of the last 30 years, if not ever), but a guy who has a history of back, knee, and arm problems, and who will be 41 next season.

It just doesn’t make sense. Don’t do it Theo.

Yeah, I’m sure Theo’s a regular reader to my blogs.

That’s all I have to say. I’m still dominating the competition at Party Poker – so much so, that I’ve earned enough to enter the $20 one-table tournaments without fear of losing. Of course, when you win a couple of those in a night, it alleviates a lot of worries.

posted by Big D @ 10:28 PM