djtestudo

Well, this was from 2003.

The one thing I find interesting is his statement that he hasn't seen the test and, because of the anonymous part didn't even know about the fail until Selena Roberts asked him directly for the story.

Really, I think he's handling it as well as he could be considering that he got blindsided with something he didn't know about and is still willing to sit down, talk and even apologize for doing something wrong. Of course, I've always liked the guy and hate how he can never seem to do any right in the eyes of so many, so maybe I just have too optimistic an outlook.

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--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

MontanaXVI

I find humor in that, he is handling it well for being blindsided by something he didn't know about.

He knew he took the steroids, he knew he got tested and he is shocked that the test came back positive?

He should be blindsided that it took this long for it to get leaked.

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pan6467

He admits, he avoids perjury charges and facing the possibility of being the next Barry Bonds.

His admission is nothing more than that.

What, seriously does anyone believe that he would say, "I took steroids when I won the MVP and was making all that money, I was in essence cheating and ruining the fans trust, I relinquish my MVP and will repay the team 1/2 my salary for the years I took the steroids, because I'm really not that great of a player."

Now, I am not one to believe in coincidences and I am a bit of a conspiracist... so maybe it is just me, but does anyone else find it odd that right after Torre trashes A-Fraud in his book the "leak" comes out on his use?

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

QuasiMondo

No conspiracy. People were always accusing A-Rod of steroid use. George Mitchell pressed Kirk Radomski about whether he ever sold any steroids to Rodriguez (Radomski says he never has) when he was writing the Mitchell Report, and Jose Canseco accused Rodriguez of steroid use in his second book, "Vindicated," but nobody paid attention to him because we figured the only reason he wrote that book was to cash in on his second shot at his 15-minutes (which he tried) and because he was broke (which he was).

What I do find funny is how quickly people are defending him, as if his 'admission' excuses it. Let's not forget that his admission is six years late and only comes to us by way of this leaked report. If this didn't come out, we would've gone to our graves thinking he was the anti-Bonds.

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Cameron originally envisioned the Terminator as a small, unremarkable man, giving it the ability to blend in more easily. As a result, his first choice for the part was Lance Henriksen. O. J. Simpson was on the shortlist but Cameron did not think that such a nice guy could be a ruthless killer.

-From the Collector's Edition DVD of The Terminator

MontanaXVI

As a side note, Yahoo opened up registrations for fantasy baseball 2k9 tonight.

I took the liberty of setting up the TFP league again. I would like everyone from last season in it again this year. Donuts has naming rights on the Guns of Navarrone's team this season.....I have been trying for the last hour to register the league, I keep getting an error saying the server failed. Will try again in the morning.


Maybe start off a 2009 baseball thread now with the league information in it?

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Ilow

The worst part for A-roid is that he is now in a no win situation. If he continues to put up astronomical numbers, people will just assume that he has found a way to continue to cheat and beat the system, if his numbers drop off, then people will point to the roids as the reason for his success. And believe me, I'm not sympathetic.

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djtestudo

So...the highest-paid non-Yankee in the sport is...Bud Selig.

Scott Van Pelt has an issue with this, and ends up suspended by ESPN.

Personally, I find this to be a giant bowl of crap (or is that giant pimp's chalice?), though I'm not surprised ESPN would do something like this.
ESPN sucks, MLB (the organization) sucks, and former Terps rock!

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"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

MontanaXVI

Just wanted to add that I managed to get the league created earlier this morning, as always I am sure someone will take issue with the draft time, but I was only able to get Sun the 22 at 11pm Eastern. I tried different draft times for both of the weekends leading up to the start of the season and they kept telling me there were no drat slots open for that time frame.

League invites were sent out to everyone who was in the league last season, if someone doesn't join or isn't interested in playing this season let me know and I will send out invites to those who asked here to play on a first come first served until the league is full.

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pan6467

On a sad note:
Sports Rumors - MLB - Yahoo! Sports

Granted it is Yahoo rumors. If this is true about Roberto, it would explain his very fast downfall. It also could raise questions as to was this due to a steroid needle being shared and if so will we see more players come out HIV positive?

The tragic thing baseball and the players need to see is that if he has full blown AIDS or is even HIV positive, the vast majority will question whether it was a shared steroid needle.

So very sad this whole situation, where players in a whole generation will be doubted and everything that happens to them questioned. Baseball continues to make it worse. Where is Judge Keenesaw Landis when we need him? He'd release all tests, suspend the positive players for life and get baseball moving again.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

djtestudo

He'd also end up getting murdered by a wild-eyed Marvin Miller after completely ignoring everything the union tried to do

That Alomar thing is sad, but something doesn't add up when the first time anyone has heard ANYTHING about him and AIDS is a $15 milllion lawsuit from his "former girlfriend". I read a story that had a quote from his dad, Sandy Sr., saying that he had no knowledge of Robby and AIDS, and though he could well be covering for him, you would think if anyone would know...

Don't get me wrong; if this is true, she deserves at minimum every cent. It's just a little strange is all. Ok, really weird. Ok, completely Will-Ferrell-as-Harry-Carey insane.

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"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

Glory's Sun

Miguel Tejada has pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about steroids.

This could be a huge blow to the others who are trying to let this whole thing slip under the rug.

Baseball's face is getting dirtier and dirtier.

Houston Astros' Miguel Tejada pleads guilty to lying to Congress - ESPN


in other news, Manny's market is even smaller since the Nats picked up Dunn, and the Angels picked up Abreu.

Guess he should have picked up that one year $25 mil when he had the chance.

MontanaXVI

I feel that a 1 year just over 5 mil for Abreu is cheap, no idea what the market for Manny will be with Abreu signing that low of a deal.

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Glory's Sun

It's probably about right for Abreu.. I can't see a team giving him more than that now.

The Dodgers and the Yanks are the only teams that can save Manny at this point.. and I still think Manny will end up with a 2 year deal in LA, but it's not going to be at 25/per. Maybe 18/per 20/per something like that.. and he'll want to kick Boras' face in, because he could have had alot more earlier in the market.

MontanaXVI

Obviously no one else did so you aren't alone, but you don't see Abreu being good for more money or a longer deal?

Not saying teams are smart with the money they pay players, but what was this deal that Milton Bradley just got this offseason from the Cubs? I believe they are paying him 5mil this year, they could have gotten Abreu for the same money for the most part whom I believe is the better player by far and doesn't bring the "crazy" factor that Bradley does.

I guess Abreu probably lowered his demands as time went on and it isn't a shock that him and Dunn both ink deals within a day or two of each other, I am sure one was waiting to see what the other got before signing with a team.

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Glory's Sun

He probably could have got a longer deal, but I think the issue with him is his fielding lately. He still has a hell of an arm, but watching him play his defense looks slack, although, it's certainly better than Manny's.

Dunn I've never been impressed with him. He's a strikeout king..at least that's what I see.. stats may say otherwise. Bradley, well, yeah he's crazy but he's probably a better overall player than Abreu.

MontanaXVI

Dunn is a strikeout king, that isn't even close to being in question, but look at the numbers. He is money for 40 HR. Last 5 years 40+ and we don't look at him as one of the "steroid guys", not saying he isn't or couldn't be but his HR numbers over the last 5 years are right up there.

No way Bradley is a better player than Abreu, I would take the declined defense and the all but guaranteed .300/20/100/20 over Bradley and KNOW he isn't going to go after anyone or need the manager to hold him back, couple that with the fact that he hasn't played in less than 151 games since 1997 tells me he is going to be out there everyday playing.

Bradley shined last year in a DH role a career year that earned him his paycheck from the Cubs, he has never hit more than 22 HR in a season (that came in his career year last season) has never stolen more than 17 bases in a season and holds a career AVG of .280, not to mention he hasn't played in 100 or more games 4 times in the last 7 years due to injury and suspensions, now the Cubs want him as an everyday outfielder and gave him a 3 year 30mil deal?

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Glory's Sun

Yeah the guarantees that you get with Abreu are nice.. I was just mentioning all around better as far as defense, base running etc..but yeah the numbers that you just threw out there make me a bit cautious about that statement now. Perhaps if he stays healthy he'd have the numbers, but, you could just say the cubs are the NL version of the yanks. Overpay, under perform.

Dunn while he does hit high HR numbers just doesn't seem to fit anywhere.. sure he's a threat for the long ball, but at the end of the day an all around hitter would be nice.

damn I've been drinking Epstein's Kool-Aid

kutulu

Dunn is the ultimate TTO player (K, BB, HR). You can pencil him in for 40HR, 100 BB every year. There is a lot of value in that. The K's hurt but as long as you don't surround him with high K guys he's very valuable to any team.

MontanaXVI

Dunn is also a high on base guy, he will walk and will get on base which is what you want, couple that with the RBI and HR potential and it is exactly as kutulu said, the K's aren't bad if you surround him with talent.

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Glory's Sun

right..

but he signed with the Nats. Not exactly a ton of talent there.

MontanaXVI

No argument here, my thoughts exactly.

I wonder why the Dodgers didn't go after Dunn? Instead of pissing around with Manny and all that drama since last season why not just pick up the younger Dunn, surrounded with Loney, Pierre, Kemp and Ethier I think he could be very solid.

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MacGuyver

I think the number and power of the bats in the free agent pool this offseason contributed to Abreu going so low, otherwise, if there weren't as many people he would go for a higher and longer deal. Dunn is a big hitter but he's kind of on the decline, I can see him going to the Nats since they were looking for Teix to be their big bat, I also never thought they were a serious contender for him. Dunn fits that hole that they wanted Mark Teix in the lineup, and though Dunn may be a big bat, he's older and doesn't quite have some of the qualities that would make other teams bite on him (defense, K's, etc.) which gives him much less upside.

Hmm... just found an interesting stat, that Ryan Howard was the only one who homered more than Dunn in 08. Didn't know that, maybe I'm underrating him.

Also I definitely want to get in on that fantasy league if there are any spots open!

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Glory's Sun

Manny just has this thing..this stigma. When he's on your club you don't care what he does (until that shit he pulled last season in Boston) because you know he can miss the entire spring training, roll out of bed and hit like a madman. He's a great hitter with 2 strikes..etc etc etc.

Trust me as a Boston fan since I was born, I've experienced it. It also doesn't hurt when you bring a guy in and all of a sudden you're in the playoffs. Although, I think the Dodgers are putting too much stock in runs rather than pitching.

djtestudo

Dunn is only five months older than Teixeira and there's nothing in the stats to suggest a decline.

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--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

MontanaXVI

People don't look at the overall numbers and just get scared when they see all those K's and 40 HR from Dunn, when in reality you get the same thing pretty much from Howard and everyone sucks his nuts.

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pan6467

The more common opined problem with Dunn is he played for Cincy and was never really on the map. He's not a "marquee, fill the seats" name.

That shouldn't affect how team GM's look at him tho, so there is something there (steroids as an example, I seriously doubt it) or maybe teams fear he can't handle pressure in the "BIG" time cities or contenders. He just has been under the radar for whatever reason.

Personally, I think Cleveland should have tried to sign him. Sizemore, Hafner, Peralta, Martinez, Garko, Cabrera, Shin-Choo and Dunn.... that lineup starts sounding close to Baerga, Thome, Vizquel, Lofton, Belle, Alomar, Ramirez. Only better because this time it has pitching to back it up.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

MacGuyver

Huh wow. I thought he was older than 29, my bad! Maybe he's just one of those players that most people don't think he's very 'sexy'. I think my underrating of him is confirmed. The unfortunate thing about signing with the Nats, is though he'll have the HR's still, his RBI's may see a dip, since the Nats probably don't see as many people on base as other teams. Though I suppose the Reds weren't exactly up there either.
-----Added 13/2/2009 at 01 : 02 : 17-----
The problem with Cleveland is that they are currently stuck with an unproductive/injured Travis Hafner, who would be where Dunn would go. I don't think Cleveland could realistically look at having room for Dunn when theres Hafner at DH and possibly V-Mart spending some time at 1st due to the Catcher position starting to wear on his injuries and a really rising Kelly Shoppach.

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We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
---Aristotle

Deeds, not words, shall speak [for] me.
---John Fletcher

Glory's Sun

MacGuyver, you have seen the Teix and Youk comparisons right?? Youk actually has better numbers in almost every category..knowing you're a boston fan, I'm sure you're pleased with that.

pan6467

Naw, you could put Dunn in RF. Our corner OF are not set and could be true problems.

Hafner had the bad shoulder last year but supposedly he's 100%. If so, I would not say Cleveland is "stuck with him". I think Haf will be ok this year.

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

MacGuyver

I have actually, and it's great. But I'm not going to say that I'm not worried about Lowell's hip. I would have bought on the moving Lowell, and putting Youk at 3rd and Teix at 1st if he actually signed, but alas, the great Yankee bank breakers of the 09 preseason happened. Don't get me wrong, I bought a Lowell t-shirt when he and Beckett came over, and I love his defense, but for a big bat like Teix, I'd move him in a second. Then again, I was also a Mark Loretta fan... haha.
-----Added 13/2/2009 at 04 : 14 : 37-----
Maybe I'm not a big Hafner fan because he's busted me the past couple years. Going from 40+ HR in 06 to almost half that in 07, then 5 and a .197 AVG through 60 games didn't really rub me the right way.


Also, I think with Spring Training being here, we should start a baseball '09 thread.

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We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
---Aristotle

Deeds, not words, shall speak [for] me.
---John Fletcher

Glory's Sun

Well I wouldn't have minded moving Lowell out either, but it wasn't the yankees that were the problem.. Teix will never play for Boston. He hates them and holds a grudge against them for that shit that happened in the draft like 10 years ago.

wow.. you're the first person to ever admit being a Loretta fan

If Lowell's hip is fine, then I'm quite pleased with the infield that will be in place on opening day. I'm more worried about the pitching than I am about Lowell tbh.

MacGuyver

Well one thing we did do is completely overload ourselves with pitching. With a rotation like Beckett, Matsuzaka, Lester, Wakefield adding a fifth starter/spot starter like Smoltz and Penny is a huge upgrade over what we have had in the past, like say a Tavarez. Plus that would allow Papelbon, Okajima, Delcarmen, Masterson, and an addition of Saito and Ramirez in the bullpen makes that a pretty scary pitching staff. Scary for other teams. They just need to be healthy and they'll produce. I feel confident that we have more pitching than we need, which is not true anyways because "you never can have enough pitching!" Don't forget that we also have Bucholz in the minors probably itching to get back in the saddle again!

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We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
---Aristotle

Deeds, not words, shall speak [for] me.
---John Fletcher

Glory's Sun

I don't have much confidence in Wake anymore.. he's just old and everyone knows how to hit him now. I'm pretty confident about the bullpen but, you just never know how that will go. That's probably the hardest thing in baseball to predict.

SO, anyway, Rodomski is saying that 4 players outed A-Rod about the steroid use. I'm surprised it was only 4, but it kinda makes me think he did it more than that you know .. since in Torre's book, players called him A-Fraud.