Not sure what to think of this one*. You’ve got a current player admitting to using Andro and amphetamines and getting a jump on the Excuse Bus by doing so. Now, if his name comes out, he’s already admitted to using this stuff. Interesting tactic, Brandon.

Arroyo, who pitched for the Red Sox from 2003-05 and is now a starter with the Cincinnati Reds, said he took androstenedione, which was banned in 2004, as well as amphetamines, which were banned in 2006, according to the Herald report. He said he gave up taking andro, a steroid precursor, when a rumor spread through baseball that due to lax production standards, some of it was laced with steroids.
[...]
“Before 2004, none of us paid any attention to anything we took,” he said, according to the Herald. “Now they don’t want us to take anything unless it’s approved. But back then, who knows what was in stuff? The FDA wasn’t regulating stuff, not unless it was killing people or people were dying from it.”

Arroyo said he started taking taking andro after 1998, after a season with the Pirates’ Double-A affiliate. “Andro made me feel great, I felt like a monster. I felt like I could jump and hit my head on the basketball rim,” he said, according to the report.

That’s a pretty revealing tell, no? I think he’s 100% correct; there was very little oversight in this process back then.

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The emotional side of me wants the balance of the names on The List released, just so we can take the pain and move on. Of course, that position has no consideration for the rights of the players who were promised certain things. Releasing The List to satisfy our urges to “know it all” violates several important things, namely the rights of those on The List. Time to use the logical side.

Leave it to Shysterball to break out his lawyerriffic tendencies and flex his mental muscles on us:

The listed players have had at least two legal duties owed to them breached and two legal rights entitled to them violated: the fiduciary duties owed to them by their union, the contractual duties owed to them by baseball and the testing lab, their Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure, supposedly guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and the right to have their medical information kept private, guaranteed by HIPAA. It’s too late for Manny, Papi, A-Rod, and Sosa, but around 100 other of these guys still have not been damaged by these egregious acts, though they will be if their names are released as everyone is so blithely demanding.

Whether you agree or not, go have a read. At least you might learn a thing or two.

Last night the Yankees faced off against the Chicago White Sox in a game that featured both teams’ pitchers firing. Perhaps it was fitting that on “Mark Buerhle Day,” at U.S. Cellular Field, his perfect game savior, Dewayne Wise, would hit the game winning single in the White Sox 3-2 walk off defeat of the Yankees.

The White Sox drew first blood when Gordon Beckham ripped a double down the left field line to score Chris Getz in the third. Pettitte and Gavin Floyd kept the batters on both teams quiet until Jose Molina, catching for Posada after the trek from Tampa Bay, smacked a ground rule double in the sixth. Johnny Damon tied the game and got the Yankees on the board when his hit sent Molina to the plate. In the bottom of the seventh things started to unravel for the Yankees. Pettitte slipped on the infield, allowing Thome on base. Girardi brought out Hughes to relieve Andy with two runners on and one out. Hughes battled Quentin who fouled off a few pitches before grounding the ball to A-Rod for what seemed like an inning ending double play. Instead, a hard/late/questionable slide by Pierzynski caused Cano to throw the ball past Teixeira and Thome scored, giving the White Sox the 2-1 lead. With two outs in the ninth, Nick Swisher brought new life the Yankees, driving a homer into left field. Hughes came out again at the bottom of the ninth and after giving up a single to Thome and Konerko, was replaced by Phil Coke. Coke got Pierzynski to fly out to Melky, but Dewayne Wise would single in Posedenik (pinch running for Thome) for the walk-off win.

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I really don’t want to spend much more time on this, but a few more thoughts before I put it to bed:

• The only thing “good” coming out of the revelations is that those Sox fans who always cried that the Yanks run was tainted can now shaddup. So sayeth Big Red:

Boston fans have taken great pleasure in harpooning the Yankees and their fans since the Sox historic comeback against the Bronx Bombers in the 2004 American League Championship Series. It was tons of fun to ridicule 21st century Yankee steroid cheats Roger Clemens, Gary Sheffield, Andy Pettitte, and Jason Giambi. When Alex Rodriguez was outed last winter, it was a national holiday for Red Sox hubris.

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Thanks to Brad for these auto-generating PED response templates. There needs to be two templates created for what is always written whenever one of these PED stories comes out, one for the media and one for fans.

For the media might look a little like this:

According to [news source], [player name] tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in [year]. Long known as a [reputation clich"], [player name] is said to have tested positive for [PED of choice] the same year his team [insert win-loss record or playoff accomplishments].

For fans, it may look a little like this:

Now that the news is out about [player], I’m not surprised. What I’m wondering is whether this revelation invalidates [insert player or team accomplishment]. Likewise, what does this say about [choose as many as you want: the Mitchell Report, Rick Helling's union activities to encourage stringent testing, Frank Thomas' public anti-PED stance, Jose Canseco's book--and propensity to be the smoking gun, a former GM who let the player go and/or some lone published voice who said something worthwhile]? Should there be an asterisk on [insert player and/or team accomplishment]? I’m just sick of the media moralizing on this topic and wish the entire list of 104 players would be published instead of this dripping-faucet style of reporting. On the bright side, [insert inconsequential silver lining that will be lost amidst the furor].

We just need to have a Mad-Libs version….

Back a few weeks ago, esteemed baseball writer and RedSox advisor Bill James published a very interesting article (subscription required)”about PEDs.” The article (sent to me by loyal reader B.Jones) basically postulated that “If we look into the future, then, we can reliably foresee a time in which everybody is going to be using steroids or their pharmaceutical descendants“. In other words, maybe steroids aren’t that bad after all.

Two weeks later, Manny and Papi are outted from the original 104.

There’s a part of me that should really be happy that another player from the RedSox has been outted, but really, it’s just another gut-punch to baseball. Sure, there might be some of you (myself included), that might jump up and say: “See, THAT explains it all!” Except it doesn’t. Every team was dirty. Some more than others. But to think assume that your favorite player(s) are clean is just folly.

Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the sluggers who propelled the Boston Red Sox to end an 86-year World Series championship drought and to capture another title three years later, were among the roughly 100 Major League Baseball players to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to lawyers with knowledge of the results.

I would like to have the rest of the list released, if for no other reason than we wouldn’t have to do this every few months. Enough already. Back at the old place, I ran a poll and 60% of you wanted the names released.

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I was reading this article by Ken Davidoff and I had to shake my head at this comment:

The Yankees have maintained contact with the Blue Jays, but Hal Steinbrenner doesn’t want to take on significant payroll, and Brian Cashman doesn’t want to trade major prospects for a year-and-two-months rental, as Halladay would be.

A season and a half of Roy-freakin’-Halladay isn’t good enough? And the Yanks don’t want to add payroll? What alternate universe did I wake up in today? Cue the Twilight Zone music.

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Ed. Note: This was written PRIOR to Joba’s wonderful start last night. Note Brendan’s post-script at the bottom

Coming into the 2009 season, Joba Chamberlain was poised for stardom. The 41st overall pick in the 2006 MLB draft, Chamberlain breezed through the Yankee farm system in just over a year. Coming out of the bullpen at the end of the 2007 season he immediately announced made an impact by allowing only a single run in twenty-four innings while striking out thirty-four. If anything, he was too dominating; his ascent to the rotation was delayed by his effectiveness in front of Mariano Rivera. When he did finally make his starting debut, Chamberlain did not disappoint. He made only twelve starts last year, but once again he showed dominance. In sixty-five innings as a starter, Joba averaged over a strike out per inning, while surrendering only four home runs. He did walk twenty-one batters, though that figure was tolerable due to his excellence in other areas.

Despite all of that, Chamberlain has struggled in 2009. Though hindered by a low pitch count, Joba has barely managed to average five and a thirds innings per start. Part of that low figure is the pitch count, but so is a plummeting K/9 rate and a ballooning BB/9 rate (8.1 and 4.2 respectively). He can’t even blame Yankee stadium for his rising home run rate either: six of the thirteen home runs he’s allowed have come on the road, and he’s thrown more innings at home. On the season, his FIP is 4.63 almost two full points above his robust 2.65 last year.

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After a game where the Yankees did everything wrong, they responded by doing everything right. Well, almost everything but we will get to Bruney later. Joba was dealing; the bats were hot, and Jorge even nailed Bartlett trying to steal second. At the end of the night, the Yankees walked away with a 6-2 victory and another series win. The Yanks are now 3.5 games in front of the Red Sox, who lost another game to the A’s tonight.

Jeter set the pace for the Yankees, starting off the game with a triple to right. Teixeira singled him in before A-Rod hit into an inning ending double play. The Yankees broke through again in the fourth. A-Rod singled, Matsui doubled and Cano grounded into a fielder’s choice, which scored Alex for the second New York run of the night. In the sixth, Cano, who had just fouled the ball off his shin, decided he would rather trot around the bases so he parked the ball deep for his sixteenth homerun of the season. The Yankees added another run in the eighth and Joba continued to keep the Rays scoreless. Melky and Teixeira both added solo shots in the ninth for some insurance, which the Bombers almost needed as Bruney continued to struggle. Girardi went to Mo, who struck out Burrell and Hernandez.

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I did not intend the last week and a half to be a “bash the Mets” session.” They just keep giving me material worth bashing.

Thanks to Maury at the Biz of Baseball for this latest:

Tuesday, during a Citi Field press conference, Mets players Daniel Murphy, Bobby Parnell, J.J. Putz, Omir Santos and Gary Sheffield unveiled The Players Choice Signature Series featuring jerseys, T-shirts and caps they designed exclusively for their fans, with each product expressing the personalities and attitudes of the individual players who designed them.

Really? Green Mets jerseys? Check. Lightning? Check. Eagles? Check. Tribal patterns? Check. Scorpions? Check. Woooohoooooohoooo. Why not just get Ed Hardy to design something and it can come with a fake tanner.

I debated titling this posting: “Another reason why your team sucks“. Maybe I should have. Of course, as soon as the Yanks have a similar artistic brainfart, I will mock them equally.

Pictures after the jump. Just jump with caution.

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I realllllly like this trade for Philly. And the Mets should not consider themselves buyers. The NL East race is now officially over. I am calling it. No need to consult Nate Silver.

The Phillies have reached agreement on a trade that would bring them left-hander Cliff Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco from the Indians for Class A right-hander Jason Knapp, Class AAA right-hander Carlos Carrasco, shortstop Jason Donald and catcher Lou Marson, according to major-league sources.

The key, for me, is Lee’s contract:

• 2009: $5.75M (prorated to roughly $2.2 million)
• 2010: $8M club option ($1M buyout), price of 2010 option increases to:
  * $9M with Cy Young in 2008 (met)

That’s a dirt cheap price for a pitcher of Lee’s caliber. Not to mention, the Phillies get to keep Happ AND Drabek. The lack of subtraction from their MLB roster for the Phils is great. Pure addition. And they keep the best prospect in their system. Francisco is a useful part for the team, too. He’s got a bit of pop and can run, too.

Halladay, while a better pitcher, would have cost more in total dollars and would have cost the Phils at least one of Drabek and/or Happ.

Good one, Amaro.

This article by Tim Kurkjian is about as well done an article on the subject of the 100 pitch count limit as I have read in some time:

The term has been a part of baseball for over 20 years, and is defined as any start that is at least six innings pitched and no more than three earned runs. We have a generation of pitchers thinking if they go six and keep their team in the game, then they’ve done their job.

“That’s the biggest thing to me,” said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. “Six innings, that’s about 100 pitches. That’s where the magic number came from, I think. When I managed in the minor leagues [in the 1970s], when we got a guy to 120 pitches, we would start to watch, but we’d go as high as 140 pitches. But every year since, [the number of pitches] keeps on dropping.“

The Rangers, under club president Nolan Ryan, have changed the definition of the quality start, making it seven innings and three runs, instead of six innings. It seems to be working. The Rangers are pitching better than they have in several years, in part because they’re being pushed to go deeper into games.

“Curt Schilling said it best: six innings and three runs is a 4.50 ERA,” [Josh] Beckett said. “That is not a quality start — not from where I come from.”

Schilling’s a lot of things, but he’s spot on right there. So is Nolan Ryan, no surprise.