Does he have a midichlorian count clause in his contract?

The 2009 option seems like a no brainer, $2M incremental is nothing.

Mike Sweeney, Ken Griffey, Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and the entire A's ballclub should be tested for this.

More seriously, is this something steroids could help with? Should they be legal in this instance?

The 2009 option seems like a no brainer, $2M incremental is nothing.

What are the chances though that Baldelli will actually be useful in 2009? Pretty damn low I think considering his basically unknown medical disorder. It's not much money but it's $2 million that will basically be flushed down the toilet. I didn't object to the contract when he signed it and I still don't think it was a bad move now, it was a good risk and only $9 million guaranteed over four years anyway, but there's no point in throwing away two more million on it when they don't need to.

Way to throw your mitochondria under the bus, Rocco. Classy.

Speaking of fatigue, I'm tired of reading stories about how great Rocco would be if only he were healthy.

If the last few days are any indication, he should get his testicles and his anus checked.

What a surprise. Baldelli on the DL.

-- MWE

most of the references I could find on mitochondrial dysfunction and fatigue are related to post-viral fatigue syndromes; nothing about that in TFA

found this, though:

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2005 Dec;37(12):2086-93.5.

Mitochondrial myopathies: diagnosis, exercise intolerance, and treatment options.
Tarnopolsky MA, Raha S.

McMaster University Medical Center, Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA. tarnopol@mcmaster.ca

Mitochondrial myopathies are caused by genetic mutations that directly influence the functioning of the electron transport chain (ETC). It is estimated that 1 of 8,000 people have pathology inducing mutations affecting mitochondrial function. Diagnosis often requires a multifaceted approach with measurements of serum lactate and pyruvate, urine organic acids, magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), muscle histology and ultrastructure, enzymology, genetic analysis, and exercise testing. The ubiquitous distribution of the mitochondria in the human body explains the multiple organ involvement. Exercise intolerance is a common but often an overlooked hallmark of mitochondrial myopathies. The muscle consequences of ETC dysfunction include increased reliance on anaerobic metabolism (lactate generation, phosphocreatine degradation), enhanced free radical production, reduced oxygen extraction and electron flux through ETC, and mitochondrial proliferation or biogenesis . Treatments have included antioxidants (vitamin E, alpha lipoic acid), electron donors and acceptors (coenzyme Q10, riboflavin), alternative energy sources (creatine monohydrate), lactate reduction strategies (dichloroacetate) and exercise training. Exercise is a particularly important modality in diagnosis as well as therapy.

"We are fully prepared to stick by Baldelli to the best of our abilities to help him out in whatever way we can."

"Great. So you're going to help him out with the extra $4 million by keeping him on board through 2009..."

"Huh? What? Oh... uh... no. No. No, I didn't mean that. Oh, gosh. No. I thought, maybe if he needed, like, a ride to the doctors or something. But, oh, gosh, no... heh... no, no, we're not... no."

most of the references I could find on mitochondrial dysfunction and fatigue are related to post-viral fatigue syndromes; nothing about that in TFA

WTF are you saying that he has herpes? I'm confused.

Back in my day, we called this "the droops".

this article was linked here just last Saturday & didn't get any comments

in it, he denies having any "disease"

so I guess what was diagnosed today is a "syndrome"

Oh, it's the mitochondria that are the problem?

Typical whiner, blaming mommy for everything....

The first article I read on this implied that his career might be over.

Typical whiner, blaming mommy for everything....

You mean her?

"WTF are you saying that he has herpes? I'm confused."

Jeter ruins everything.

What a surprise. Baldelli on the DL.

To steal a not so old joke, you mean Bal-D-L-i

The 2009 option seems like a no brainer, $2M incremental is nothing.

That's what I thought at first but closer reading shows that if they exercise the $6M option, they then have to buy out the 2010-11 options at $2 M. So it's $4M incremental. Assuming he doesn't play this year (which is not clear), we're talking a guy with 500 AB over the last 4 seasons and only one half-season in his career as an above-average hitter. That's not worth $4 M, especially not to the Rays who have a lot of OF.*

OK, having cleared out Dukes, Young and Baldelli they are actually hurting for OF but after the Young & Dukes trades everybody kept telling me they've got an OF logjam. :-)

I'm sure he rather it didn't happen this way, but it's a big day for Jonny Gomes. And not a bad one for Justin Ruggiano.

I tell you, I'm pooped!

What a surprise. Baldelli on the DL.

Well, I'm surprised. These days, isn't this kind of thing only supposed to happen to players on the Mets?

Al I am also fateagued but it is not from mightochondria it is from 3 too many Mighty Mini Mojitos last night.

I keep reading the headline as though the DL is fatigued (presumably from carrying Baldelli)

Poor Rocco Bal-DL-i.

I'm sure he rather it didn't happen this way, but it's a big day for Jonny Gomes. And not a bad one for Justin Ruggiano.

And now they can have Gomes's sure-to-be-MVP-caliber season in the lineup, AND Barry Bonds at DH!

I tell you, I'm pooped!

Well, I hope you can swim. ;-)

Best Regards

John

Anybody here have Allan Wilson at Cal in the late 70s/80s?

OK, having cleared out Dukes, Young and Baldelli they are actually hurting for OF but after the Young & Dukes trades everybody kept telling me they've got an OF logjam. :-)

They've got Fernando Perez (Ahem...whom I played with high school), and while he probably won't hit like a corner OFer (short on power, but gets on a lot so probably not much worse), his baserunning and defense might make him average or better. Definately the best option they have I would think.

"..'metabolic', and/or mitochondrial abnormalities.."

Damn you, Joe Girardi, does your retaliation know no end?

Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli is going on the disabled list for an indefinite period due to an abnormality that has kept him in a constant stage of fatigue.

Was the abnormality that he played baseball for 2 weeks straight?

Hmm. I don't think that this problem has anything to do with his hamstring and leg problems. A mitochondrial problem would disproportionately affect the muscles, though, due to their high concentration of the organelle. I don't see how it would be more likely to cause them to tear, though.

I'm wondering what the more vague "metabolic problem" could refer to. I guess it could be any number of things.

Also, rather than a cellular problem like a bad protein in his mitochondria or a weak link in a metabolic process, wouldn't it be more likely that Baldelli has something like Crohn's disease that's sapping him of energy? Perhaps he has a vitamin inbalance or a nurtitional problem, something of that sort. I think these cellular disorders are pretty rare, so what's effecting Baldelli could be something else.