Diamond Notes: Bill Plaschke on his feelings on Manny Ramirez today

“I’m even madder now. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Yeah Dodger fans, He’s being as if he’s returning from Iraq or something.

“The club has done nothing during the suspension but coddle him and treat him as if he had suffered some life-threatening disease or something and he was trying to make a valiant comeback.

“Basically the Dodgers and their fans - a lot of their fans, not all of them, but a lot of them - have pretty much accepted steroids in saying, ‘It’s no big deal. Glad to have you back, Manny. Sorry you were gone.’ It’s all that sort of thing. So it’s really kind of disconcerting.

“He’s lost $7 million. I undestand that. Otherwise, it’s been the best summer of Manny Ramirez’s life.

“First time in baseball history that a team will devote a section of its stands for people who want to cheer a drug cheat.”

Heyman: If Cleveland’s willing to trade Martinez, Boston’s a likely suitor

Bah...rumors, rumors. Remember when it was rumored that Don Mincher had invented drooping tear-drop eyeglasses? Wasn’t true.

Indians higher-ups say they aren’t likely to trade hitting star Victor Martinez. Not only is Martinez one of the better hitters in baseball, with 14 home runs, 57 RBIs and .313 batting average, but the Indians hold a bargain 2010 club option on Martinez for $7 million.

A trade for Martinez still has to be considered something of a long shot. Yet, within the past day or two the Indians dispatched a scout to check out the progress of Boston’s best prospects, according to a league source. The Indians, a realistic early seller, may only be covering their bases. But of course, it could develop into something more, as Boston’s interest in Martinez is well known.

Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell’s recurrence of hip trouble has at least temporarily opened first base for Boston (since Kevin Youkilis has switched over to third base). The Red Sox have been seeking offensive aid for months with their protracted winter pursuit of Mark Teixeira and a much shorter try for Hanley Ramirez. Boston is also one of a couple teams that could match up nicely with Cleveland in a Martinez trade, what with three very hot young pitchers—Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson and Michael Bowden—who just happen to be exactly the sort Cleveland craves.

L.A. Times: When it comes to Manny, what would Nietzsche do?

What, you didn’t know Socrates was a baseball junkie?

You thought Plato and Nietzsche were so above it all they didn’t have a favorite National League team?

Yeah, stupid me, I had no idea either.

But this week I paid a visit to my local house of all things psychic: Tattered Glove Palm Reading of Chavez Ravine.

With Manny Ramirez back Friday, L.A. is now confronted with a bulked-up existential question: How should we view those who have cheated the system by using banned substances? What should we think of those who appear willing to do anything to win? How do we forgive?

Searching for answers, I convened an emergency meeting with the spirits of some of the prime shapers of Western thought.

It actually wasn’t hard to get this group together; it’s a little-known fact they have been meeting regularly to philosophize on baseball since the White Sox World Series scandal of 1919.

First up? Socrates (Manny-applicable quote: “An honest man is always a child.").

What, I asked, do we make of this Ramirez mess?

“Well, let me say it is good, my friend, that you’re asking questions. That’s what I’m all about: pondering. The most important question is this: What, exactly, is cheating?”

Just my luck. I go looking for absolutes, all I get is doubt.

Jason Stark: It’s so wrong to celebrate Manny’s return

So instead, the reaction to Manny, from Albuquerque to Ensenada, has been—what else?—downright hero worship. You’d think the guy had spent the past 57 days curing cancer, dousing tensions in Iran and smoothing out plot glitches for the final season of “Lost.”

But why? That’s the question we’ve been struggling with since Manny-mania busted out in Albuquerque last week.

Why is America so ready to forgive this guy, of all guys? Because he has fun hair? Because he has a lovable smile? Because he has a long, not necessarily proud, history as baseball’s foremost goofball?

Why would that be enough to outweigh his disgraceful exit from Boston, his indisputable guilt in this case and the dubious alibi his spin doctors typed up to explain his way out of this mess?

Why? We posed that question to four men who have thought about it a lot themselves: esteemed Columbia School of Journalism professor Sandy Padwe, cerebral journalist/author Robert Lipsyte and two of the most thoughtful players we have ever covered, Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt and a man who has turned into an official New York Times op-ed columnist, Doug Glanville.

L.A. Times: Baseball’s pharmacy hall of fame

Paul Lo Duca

Position: Catcher

How it went down: On Dec. 13, 2007, Lo Duca was cited in the Mitchell Report as a user of steroids and human growth hormone. He was also accused of referring former Dodgers teammates Eric Gagne and Kevin Brown to his drug supplier. Upon his arrival with the Washington Nationals on Feb. 17, 2008, Lo Duca issued a statement in which he apologized for “mistakes in judgment,” but he did not say what those mistakes entailed.

How he fared on the field: Lo Duca started the 2008 season in Washington as the team’s least productive batter, hitting .200 in 50 at-bats. He then fractured his right hand and went on the disabled list from early May to mid-June. The Nationals released him July 31, 2008, after he batted .230 with no home runs and 12 runs batted in in 139 at-bats. The Florida Marlins picked Lo Duca up in a minor league deal on Aug. 8 and he was called up eight days later, hitting .294 with three RBIs in 34 at-bats. He became a free agent after the season and remains unsigned.

Andy Pettitte

Position: P

How it went down: On Dec. 13, 2007, Pettitte was cited in the Mitchell Report, which attributed a claim from trainer Brian McNamee that he injected Pettitte with human growth hormone while with the New York Yankees in 2002 to treat an elbow injury. Two days later, Pettitte acknowledged using HGH only to heal his elbow.

How he fared on the field: Pettitte had a 14-14 record and a 4.54 earned-run average with the Yankees in 2008, including going 2-7 with a 6.23 ERA in the last two months while suffering a sore left shoulder. This season, he is 8-3 with a 4.25 ERA in 97 1/3 innings.

Diamond Notes: Ned Colletti talks sabermetrics on XTRA Sports 1360 AM in San Diego:

“I think the sabrmetrics gets you interested. I think it gives you a chance to seek more information on somebody. But I’d have a hard time trading for a player or drafting a player that I really didn’t know what was inside his head and inside his heart and how he thought and how his priorities were set up and if he aspired for greatness and was willing to sacrifice. I’m not sure you’re going to get that off a stat sheet. But the numbers do tell part of the story. I think you have to have a mixture of all. Information is power, and as much information as you can get - whether it’s a number on a page or whether it’s a conversation with somebody - I think it adds to your decision-making process and helps you make better calls.”

L.A. Times: Manny Ramirez and the gray areas of Dodger blue

Similarly, the Dodgers made the business decision to pay Ramirez more than his cleaner-cut teammates. And Manny, having made the business decision to avoid scrutinizing his medicine intake, delivered more results. Life is full of accommodations.

We expect athletes, particularly those wearing the Dodgers uniform, to act as role models. But Manny didn’t get into baseball to make parents like him. A few youths may imitate his mistake, just as they’ll copy gangsters, corporate thieves and slimy politicians. The majority, though, will emulate his batting psychology and charity work; the medical matter won’t endanger their fragile souls.

Ramirez’s sin wasn’t a rare aberration among athletes, here or elsewhere. Yes, we should monitor drugs and scan the horizon for the next shortcut to prowess. But let’s conserve our dwindling reserves of outrage for deadlier infractions.

D Magazine: Rangers borrowed $15M from MLB to make payroll

Amid increased internet chatter Wednesday that Tom Hicks financial woes are deepening and that the club has borrowed money from MLB’s rainy-day fund, club officials took a strange approach.

They went silent.

The chatter arose Wednesday after a local blog reported hearing on a national radio broadcast the team had borrowed $15 million from MLB to make its most recent payroll obligations and to fund ongoing operations. Asked about the reports, owner Tom Hicks referred questions to team spokesman John Blake, who said the team would have no comment on Hicks’ financial situation.

Tom Hicks needs to be the next to go in the name of financial flexibility.

Bruce Jenkins Blog: Hypocrites

Show me an announcer that’s not a hypocrite and I’ll show you a Ganglians recording session without a theremin-equipped sandbox.

Part of the fun of Manny Ramirez’ return to the Dodgers, scheduled for Friday night, will be the exposure of Charley Steiner as a hypocrite. Michael Kay was the first to go down, and Charley’s next.

...It seems this didn’t go over too well in other cities. Kay, who anchors the Yankees’ telecasts, ripped Krukow and Kuiper in a public forum for getting so excited over a steroid guy. Steiner, part of the Dodgers’ radio team, made some equally rude comments (off the air), establishing himself as a real high-and-mighty beacon of integrity.

Except it doesn’t work that way. Alex Rodriguez opened the season in disgrace after the steroid-related embarrassment of spring training, but that didn’t stop Kay from going nuts when A-Rod slugged his first home run. Presto—instant hypocrite! Now we get to hear Steiner when Manny rocks Dodger Stadium for the first time. What, he’s going to treat it like a funeral while the place is going crazy?

I’ve known Kay since his days as a Yankee beat writer in New York, and he’s a good guy. So is Steiner, who livened up many an ESPN “SportsCenter” before he joined the Dodgers. Ripping the Giants’ broadcasting team, to say the least, was not their finest hour.

Acorn: Dorman: So Manny reasons to cheer baseball’s non-cheaters

Association of Community Organizations for Refills Now!

There are players who didn’t cheat Major League Baseball during its lie to our faces performance-enhancing drug era, and on this Fourth of July weekend we should take a minute to honor those brave ballplayers instead of hailing the return of a fake like Manny Ramirez.

...Second base: David Eckstein

The 2006 World Series MVP with St. Louis looks like your younger brother and has probably never shaved.

The guy’s career-high RBI total is 63 as a member of the 2002 Anaheim Angels, and he’s never hit more than eight roundtrippers in a season. Others have put up better numbers than Eckstein, but he’s the prototypical overachiever, and every team needs a guy like that.

On the bench: Chase Utley and Ryne Sandberg.

Center field: Willie McGee

Have you ever seen Willie McGee play? Is there any doubt that his 6-foot-1, 175-pound thin-as-a-rail frame was all natural?

This speedster was a National League MVP with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1985, a fourtime All-Star and two-time batting champ. Oh, and he hit a grand total of 30 home runs in the 1990s.

If McGee, who retired after the ‘99 season, was dirty, then everything we know about performance-enhancers must be a lie.

On the bench: Ken Griffey Jr. (only because McGee was less obvious).

Murray Chass On Baseball: SOSA SCOOP AND QUESTIONS IT RAISES

Good thing Murray didn’t get his blogless hands on The Fake List.

If soliciting and obtaining sealed information from a lawyer constitutes breaking the law, the Times would be hard pressed to argue that Sosa’s negative result rises to the level Schotz refered to.

Schmidt did not have an altruistic or noble reason for getting Sosa’s name or any name. He just wanted to get a good story and beat the others covering the steroids scandal. Sports Illustrated had Rodriguez; the New York Daily News had other stories since Schmidt last broke a steroids story. He wanted to get back in the game.

“The whole steroid issue seems to have people looking for information,” Schotz said. “There seems to be a much lower standard. The feeling is any time you can get a scoop you do it.” But Schotz raised a relevant question: “Is any particular name going to surprise anyone any more? Nobody is above suspicion. Is it worth pursuing to unusual means to get one more name?”

Schmidt and the Times evidently thought it was. The Times realized four or five years too late that it had made a major mistake when it ignored the Balco story and ceded coverage to other newspapers, primarily the Chronicle. So getting a name, a big name, if possible, was important, and Schmidt got his Sosa scoop. Now it’s just a question of what he did to get it.

Rosenthal: Source: D-backs ‘can’t conceive’ of Haren trade

Not even an immaculate conception?

As the Angels recently discovered, the D-backs do not intend to trade Haren, who leads the National League in ERA.

“I almost can’t conceive of a package that would motivate us to move him,” one Diamondbacks official said.

The D-backs, viewing Haren as a critical part of their future, declined to engage in serious discussions with the Angels, who could have used their surplus of catchers and middle infielders to put together a blockbuster offer.

The talks could accelerate if the Angels overwhelmed the Diamondbacks with the right combination of players, one source said. But such a deal, for now, appears to be a longshot.

“Surplus of catchers and middle infielders?” Ken, put down the pipe! I’m sure the Dbacks can’t wait to jump on an offer of, say, Jeff Mathis, Sean Rodriguez and Howie Kendrick. Their combined OPS+ doesn’t even add up to Haren’s ERA+ this year…

Why is Bucky Dent in my Mailbox?

So I opened my mail last night … and there he was.

Bucky Dent. 

Well, at least a three and a half inch cardboard facsimile of him in near-Mint condition.

Someone is anonymously sending baseball cards to baseball bloggers and writers ... including David Pinto, Will Carroll and Craig Calcaterra

Bucs Dugout: We Don’t Need Lastings Milledge

When he came up in 2006, a Mets fan – or a paid hack i LM’s entourage – produced the website http://milledgefacts.blogspot.com which included, among others facts about LM ....

1. Lastings Milledge isn’t a 5 tool player. Lastings Milledge has more than 100 tools, many of which are unknown to most baseball scouts.

4. Lastings Milledge doesn’t hit 8th. Those seven other guys are just warming up the pitcher for the first real at bat of the game.

27. Lastings Milledge beat Jose Reyes in a race running backwards.

96. Lastings Milledge is his own species. His biological name is “Homerun Rakings.”

Milledge proceeded to hit .241 (with a .689 OPS) with only 4 home runs. He apparently so annoyed his teammates that a “Know your place, rook” message was left on his locker. He was late for a game in Philly.  He improved slightly in 2007, but was still traded, even though the Mets need some youth and speed in their outfield to go along with the youth, speed, and power they have with David Wright and Jose Reyes.

Bill Plaschke: SoCal really lets Manny have it . . . with love

We arrived in hilly Riverside County on a scorching Saturday afternoon, the fertility drug fatale and I, same game, different missions.

Manny Ramirez was here to play for the Class-A Inland Empire 66ers on his first phony rehab assignment in Southern California.

I was here to find a Dodgers fan brave enough to boo him.

Surely it would happen, right?

Surely, somebody will hold him accountable for a 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy?

Surely somebody would let him know that, because he has yet to offer any true remorse or explanation since his May 7 suspension, somebody was going to publicly wonder why?

He had appeared in two games at triple-A Albuquerque, where he was showered with love, but folks down there rarely see a celebrity that didn’t come out of a UFO, so they can be excused.

Dodgers fans are tougher, right?

Ramirez was going to be, um, needled, right?

S.I.: Pearlman: A-Rod, Manny Ramirez great with steroids, but what about now?

“Could it be that without drugs players like A-Rod, Manny aren’t that good?”

Again, I know. I know. Blasphemy! But the question must be addressed: Why is it that, when PED-implicated ballplayers return from lengthy absences, we never ask whether their non-drugged selves will live up to past greatness? If, as was suggested by Selena Roberts in her recent biography, A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez, Rodriguez used performance-enhancing drugs during his Yankee tenure, shouldn’t his presumed newfound, post-steroid cleanliness coincide with a dropoff? After all, performance enhancers enhance performance. They make you stronger, faster, quicker. They help you work out more, bounce back in a shorter time span.

In Los Angeles, the Dodgers anxiously await the July 3 return of Manny Ramirez, who was suspended 50 games for failing a drug test. After initially protesting his guilt, Ramirez slunk off into the abyss—a guilty man hoping that, with time, all things pass. Now, all things have passed. Yet instead of wondering whether Manny will return as Jim Rice or Jim Bolger, the Dodgers assume they will be getting the same masher who averaged 36 homers and 118 RBIs over his first 14 full seasons. Manager Joe Torre, whose continued naiveté/indifference over steroids staggers the mind, has repeatedly expressed his excitement over Ramirez’s reappearance in the Dodgers outfield, where he clearly expects nothing less than an All-Star-quality slugger.

But why? At 37, Ramirez has reached the chronological threshold, where the majority of legends find themselves either mimicking Buddy Biancalana or filming “Hi! I’m Danny Tartabull! You might remember me from ...” commercials for Biff Jones Toyota. At 37, Dale Murphy was batting .143 with no home runs in 26 games with the Rockies. Duke Snider was batting .210 with four homers and 17 RBIs for the San Francisco Giants. Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Roger Maris were retired.

And at age 37 Del Rice hit no home runs!

Nationals pursuing Nyjer Morgan in trade

Washington is pursuing a trade for Pirates outfielder Nyjer Morgan, according to two sources late last night, including one source inside the Nationals’ baseball operations.

The teams began discussing this eight days ago, and a Washington proposal in which the Pirates would get younger outfielder Lastings Milledge crumbled when the Pirates came back seeking Milledge and starter Craig Stammen.

One of the sources said the teams plan to continue to talk, mostly because the Nationals are eager to have Morgan as a leadoff man.

Thanks to Montone.

Fangraphs: Eric Seidman: Perplexed About Lee

With the Indians tanking and Lee’s value likely higher than it ever will be, it makes sense for Shapiro to kick the tires on a potential deal netting him prospects, but for some reason, more rumors and trade talks have involved guys like Marquis, who is actually making almost double Lee’s salary this year, and is a free agent at the end of the season with no option on which to hang his head. I am honestly perplexed as to why Lee has not attracted more attention; or if he has, why we have not heard about it yet. It is almost as if teams are still waiting for the massive regression to occur, when we now have a year and a half of awesomeness from the Indians lefty proving his worth.

Since the beginning of last season, Lee has thrown 334.1 innings over 47 starts, with a 2.67 ERA almost matched by an equally low FIP, a 1.17 WHIP, a sub-2.0 walk rate, and a 4.2 K/BB ratio. The only thing missing is the reputation that usually accompanies the name of a pitcher with numbers like that over an extended period of time. It is time to start realizing that Cliff Lee has become a very good pitcher, not a back of the rotation upgrade. If any of the Phillies, Brewers or Rangers is serious about solidifying their rotation by trading a young stud prospect, they should start amping up efforts to acquire Lee. He might not win the Cy Young Award again, but given his contract and current established level of performance, as well as the lack of health issues, no other pitcher being discussed as a trade target would be a more significant upgrade.

Main reason why people aren’t trumping Cliff Lee as possible trade bait. People still think he’s a fluke.

12:01 Tuesday: Patent Unearths Mascot Mystery

But why would The Boss want a mascot?  After all, everybody knows the Yankees are just one of four MLB teams that don’t have a mascot, as beautifully illustrated the other day by the folks at GOOD.

So maybe it is for the new Tampa high school named in George’s honor.  That must be it.  They were looking for a mascot recently.  But this guy certainly isn’t a “Warrior”.

It couldn’t be a Yankees mascot, could it? And if the traditional, no-names-on-jerseys Yankees were going to have a mascot, would it really be this?

Just a little more Googling and there it is: a reference and picture of this “Yankees mascot” at a recent charity event.  In pinstripes.  Oh my.

The story gets better.  The inventor, Felix Lopez, is Senior VP of the Yankees.  And he’s Steinbrenner’s son-in-law.  In other words, the 26-time World Series champions, who will pay hundreds of millions of dollars for top talent on the field, won’t hire the best graphics designers in the land to come up with an endearing entertainer to keep fans happy in their overpriced seats as they watch their team struggle to make the playoffs.  For that, they turn to family.

Yeah, this mascot is kind of cute.  But he’s no San Diego Chicken or Phillie Phanatic.  For what the Yanks paid, I’d think they’d have done better getting Dancin’ Homer to do the Baby Elephant Walk on the jumbotron.

T.J Simers: They’re crying foul over apologist for Manny Ramirez

“Your idolatry of Manny is ludicrous,” is the way Shirin Patel put it in an e-mail, rewriting an earlier headline in The Times, but hey, if Manny needs me to be his mule so he can keep going like he did a year ago, I’m here for him.

“Let me understand your warped logic,” writes Dan Howard. “It’s OK to be a cheating drug user if you are charismatic, talented and interesting like Manny.”

It also helps to hit home runs.

“Now I get it,” e-mails Jack Tracy. “Persecute Gary Matthews, but kiss Manny’s [behind].”

It’s such a satisfying feeling when people finally get it.

I like someone, I’m far more forgiving. I don’t, and I’m going to treat them like Kobe.

I know what Dodgers games were like before Manny arrived, and I wouldn’t wish that on any paying customer or someone obligated by employment to attend.

The Dodgers are not only relevant again, but a show worth watching. Of course, Times beat reporter Dylan Hernandez thinks “Sponge Bob” is a show worth watching, sitting in the Isotopes press box before the game, hanging on Bob’s every word.

Chicago writers to discuss steroids, Hall of Fame

Ben Bentley lives!

“We’re going to spend the next decade or so voting for guys who have been implicated or rumored” in steroid scandals, said Paul Sullivan, the Cubs beat writer for the Chicago Tribune and president of Chicago BBWAA chapter.
“We’re debating it in press boxes anyway, so it’s a good idea we all get together and discuss it,” Sullivan said Tuesday. “We’re just going to see what people have to say about it.”

Neither the national BBWAA nor the Hall of Fame had heard about the Chicago chapter’s plan to meet, and any decisions the chapter makes would not be binding. But representatives from the BBWAA and the Hall said they would look at any recommendations.
“We’ve been pleased with (the BBWAA’s) capabilities to interpret the criteria presented and to elect accordingly,” said Brad Horn, Hall spokesman. “They’ve had that privilege for a long time, and they’ve done a very good job.”

...It’s that kind of uncertainty that prompted Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander to ask the Chicago chapter if it could discuss the issue during this weekend’s Cubs-White Sox series at U.S. Cellular Field.

“The guidelines used to be so simple: stats, longevity and star power. It’s all been trumped by performance-enhancing drug use and drug use suspicion,” Telander said Tuesday. “Part of me says it’s not fair we have to make these determinations, but we do.”

NBC Sports/Pouliot: 10 most likely to be traded - Infielders

Mark DeRosa (Indians) - With Grady Sizemore back, the Indians aren’t likely to sell just yet. Still, at least as big of a problem as being 10 games behind is that they have four teams ahead of them in the AL Central. DeRosa has been talked about as trade bait for close to two months now, and the Indians have soured on him as a third baseman after originally acquiring him to play the position. Given that he’s on pace for about 30 homers and 110 RBI, it shouldn’t be a problem getting more for him in trade than they would by letting him walk for draft picks at season’s end.

...

Nick Johnson (Nationals) - While some free agents-to-be are more likely to stay with their current teams because of the ramifications of draft-pick compensation, it only makes Johnson more likely to go. Since Johnson was limited to 38 games last year, there’s little chance that the Nationals will receive a pick by keeping him and letting him walk at season’s end. Perhaps on his way to his first healthy season since 2006, Johnson is currently hitting .315/.423/.444. The OBP is no fluke and Johnson is a quality defender, so he’s the Nationals’ best bargaining chip as they attempt to add more young talent to their organization.

Keith Law: Harper looking for a challenge

If Bryce wants to take this step, and all indications are that he is ready to do so, why would his father stand in his son’s way?

In fact, much of the hue and cry over Harper’s plan to leave high school two years early is rubbish. If Harper is eligible for the 2010 draft after his first year of junior college—and he should be, although Ron indicated he has yet to receive a “100 percent answer” on that question from MLB—he’ll be 17 years and almost eight months old on draft day. That would make him just two months younger than Mike Trout and Randal Grichuk were June 9, when they were selected in the first round of the 2009 draft. The Marlins’ third-round pick, Da’Shon Cooper, is one year to the day older than Harper. None of their fathers were criticized for allowing their sons to enter pro ball at such a young age.

Inevitably, there’s also a backlash in the scouting community, among the same scouts who dropped what they were doing at the 2008 Area Code Games to watch every one of Harper’s at-bats. On Tuesday, when one scout learned I was writing a piece about Harper, he said “Don’t feed the machine,” referring to the tremendous hype that already surrounds the player.

It’s perfectly natural for a talented player like Bryce Harper to want to be challenged further when he has already shown he has mastered his current level. It’s not the place for anyone, including MLB or the media, to deny him the chance to succeed or fail at a higher level of play. The smart money is on him succeeding.

Sports Justice: Manny will get a hero’s welcome back, and the world just gets sicker

Won’t someone think of the Skids?

It’s a sick world, isn’t it? I mean, when you get down to it, it’s absolutely sick. Manny Ramirez is about to return to the Dodgers, and he’ll be getting a hero’s welcome back from the fans at Dodger Stadium.

His minor league assignment is creating the kind of buzz the Beatles once generated on their American tours. Now if I ask you if you care about steroids, you will tell me you sure do.

You will tell me you want the cheats banned for life and that these people — owners, players, union leaders — have ruined the game forever. You’ll say this, but you’re lying. You care more about baseball than you did before steroids. Don’t believe me? Check out the attendance totals and revenues and every other measuring stick of interest. This is baseball’s golden age.

... Remember how all those blowhards said it was about the kids? It was never, ever about the kids. If it had been about the kids, there would have been legislation generated punishing distributors, making it tougher for boys and girls to get their hands on the drugs.

Not one piece of legislation came out of those hearings. Not one Congressman raised a hand to do something for the kids.

38 Pitches: Schilling: Donald Fehr, Thank You

Wow!… My Rhetoric Society Quarterly came early.

It’s Donald Fehr’s fault A-Rod stuck a needle in his ass? It’s Donald Fehr’s fault Manny took a female hormone to regulate his testosterone levels? It’s Donald Fehr’s fault that ‘allegedly’ the greatest players of our generation cheated their asses off because being great was just not enough?

It’s Donald Fehr’s fault that we players stood in front of Congress and either lied our asses off or didn’t ’speak our minds’ about the catastrophic and illegal conditions we players willingly chose to work within?

...It’s Donald Fehr’s fault that the sports media, like eveyrone else, took the 1997, ‘98 seasons at face value, and believed in the huge biceps, skulls and stats as honest and hard working gains?

That ’saving the game’ during that period of time was anything but stupid men, with insane God-given talent, choosing the wrong path at almost every turn?

So Phil would have us believe that in addition to running the union, he was supposed to visit each player individually and parent them to make the right choices for the good of the game? Isn’t that what parents are for? Isn’t that what society is supposed to do????

...We, the players (well former player here) are the ones completely and totally responsible for the lack of ethics, integrity, and morals so prevelant in sports today. Drugs, spouse abuse, animal abuse, DUI, DWI, vehicular manslaughter, murder, rape, extortion, gambling, last I checked Mr. Fehr had never been accused of any of those crimes, but there are police blotters around the country with athletes names on them.

Bleacher Report:  Hot Commodity: Los Angeles Dodgers Interested in Jarrod Washburn

Washburn’s stats are misleading (26-48 4.23 ERA), as he has something like the second lowest run support out of all AL pitchers in his tenure with the Mariners, something interested teams know.

Since the Mariners are not in a desperate situation (i.e. 30 games out and forced to sell for the future), and could either be buyers or sellers this season, it will drive the price for their players up. No matter what they decide to do, they are going to get top line young talent, or established MLB ready players.

With a confident, competent GM in Jack Zdurencik who has already shown his savvy in trades by grabbing guys like David Aardsma, Jason Vargas, Garret Olson, and Franklin Guiterrez, Mariners’ fans should feel good about what goes on at this years trade deadline. It has been a refreshing change from the Bavasi era when all of the best trade chips were given away on a silver platter. I know every trade deadline of late felt like a kick to the nuts for Mariners fans.

Name one Bavasi era trade import who is currently making any impact for the Mariners. That’s funny, because there are not any.

In regards to Washburn, a three prospect package containing two high rated prospects, and a mid to low level, is what can be expected. I would expect them to be looking for a SS with the lackadaisical Yuniesky Betancourt drawing the ire of many Mariners fans. I know I am not the only one wishing those Jack Wilson trade rumors had not fallen through.

A report from the Seattle Times had Dodgers OF Juan Pierre as a possible match for Washburn. Just what the Mariners need, another OF who cannot hit for power.

With JZ at the helm, just let this thing play itself out and the result should be positive Mariners fans.

Man, Bleacher Report is always good for a laugh.

NBC Sports/Pouliot: 10 most likely to be traded - Relievers

Huston Street (Rockies) - Street appeared to be a lock to go a few weeks ago, and it seemed likely that the Rockies wouldn’t even wait until the deadline before making a move. However, their recent surge, combined with the loss of former closer Manny Corpas, is going to make trading him much more difficult. At the very least, it figures to go down to the deadline now. Street’s value is sky high at the moment thanks to 16 saves in 17 opportunities and a 35/9 K/BB ratio in 31 innings. Odds are that it will only drop as time goes on. Even if Street remains this effective, there won’t be as much demand after the year, since he’ll probably make $7 million or so next season in what will be his final year before free agency.

...

Ron Villone (Nationals) - The Washington pen, so brutal for two months, suddenly has Mike MacDougal, Villone, Joe Beimel and Julian Tavarez all throwing well. Of course, no one from the group can be counted on for the long haul. Three of the four will be eligible for free agency at season’s end, and MacDougal, who is making $2.65 million this year under the terms of his deal with the White Sox, would be costly to keep in arbitration if he remains effective. The Nationals should deal one or two of the veterans of the group if decent prospects are offered, and the two lefties are the most likely to go.

Sandberg: Sosa doesn’t belong in Hall

It’s against the law and against society! (It’s friggin hot under this Councillor Sandberg mask!)

Appearing on the “Waddle & Silvy” show on ESPN 1000, Sandberg said “I don’t think so,” when asked if Sosa belongs in the Hall of Fame.

“They use the word ‘integrity’ in describing a Hall of Famer in the logo of the Hall of Fame, and I think there are gonna be quite a few players that are not going to get in,” Sandberg said. “It’s been evident with the sportswriters who vote them in, with what they’ve done with Mark McGwire getting in the 20 percent range.

“We have some other players coming up like [Rafael] Palmeiro coming up soon, and it’ll be up to the sportswriters to speak loud and clear about that. I don’t see any of those guys getting in.”

...Sandberg said that punishment should include being banned from Cooperstown.

“It’s something that’s against the law and against society,” Sandberg said. “It was cheating in the sport.

“I think it has to be spoken very loud and clear on the stance, and baseball needs to stand as they have. I’m very, very satisfied with the testing program they have in place now. For a guy who’s tested positive today under what happens now like Manny Ramirez, it almost takes an idiot to participate in that. For the society, for the up-and-coming players and youth out there, I don’t think those guys should be recognized at all.”

NBC Sports/Pouliot: 10 most likely to be traded - Outfielders

missed this yesterday…

Matt Holliday (Athletics) - The early-month surge hasn’t held up, as the A’s have gone 3-6 since interleague play resumed. While Oakland is still just seven games back, there’s nothing to suggest the team will ever get healthy enough to make a real run. Holliday, who has been an above average regular since the end of April, even if he’s still not playing at his usual level, would have no problem bringing back more than the A’s could get if they held on to him and let him go for draft picks at season end. San Francisco makes more sense as a possible destination with every victory and every Fred Lewis strikeout.

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Josh Willingham (Nationals) - Willingham’s incredible nine-homer, 13-RBI season to date is worthy of its own post, but while he has been a huge failure hitting with men on base this year, it’s not a career-long trend. Willingham doesn’t offer a whole lot on defense and his history of back troubles would make him a poor choice for a long-term contract, but he’s a legitimate 25-homer guy and he hits righties better than alternatives like Spilborghs and Ross. He’d be a great fit for Minnesota’s lineup.

Sony pulls plug on ‘Moneyball’ movie

Soderbergh’s changes?  Instead of the A’s, it’s a casino.  And instead of running it, they’re robbing it.