Sherman: Joba to the pen. Like the MSNBC report discussed on Friday, Joel Sherman's NY Post story claims to be an "exclusive" story on Joba Chamberlain beginning the season in the bullpen. He will likely pitch 40+ innings in relief before moving to the rotation for another 90+ innings during the second half of the season.

Joba Chamberlain will prepare during spring training as a starter, but will begin the season in the Yankee bullpen barring injury to any of the other five main rotation members, team officials confirmed to The Post.

It had been speculated throughout the offseason that Chamberlain could open in the 'pen as a way to restrain his innings from going beyond the approximately 140 the organization wants to limit him to in 2008.

The starting rotation, barring an injury, appears to be set with Wang, Pettitte, Hughes, Kennedy and Mussina. At some point after the all star break, the Yankees will move Chamberlain to the minor leagues for 3-4 weeks so they can stretch him out in lieu of making him a starter. He will then move to starting staff where either Hughes, Kennedy or Mussina will be pushed into another role.

Godzilla may or may not have a bum knee.

Hideki Matsui might not be at full strength when the Yankee position players begin spring workouts Feb. 21 because of lingering soreness in his right knee, the outfielder told Japanese reporters in New York Monday. Matsui, who is slated to fly to Tampa today to talk to team doctors and trainers, was examined by a doctor in New York. Matsui said he hopes to be healthy enough that he does not have to begin spring training under a different program than his teammates.

Meanwhile, however, the NY Post quotes Brian Cashman as explaining the knee exams are "routine" and that Matsui will merely take it easy early on in training camp

Pettittte's Testimony Backs McNamee

A report from Newsday.com reveals Andy Pettitte's testimony given to investigators supports the claims of trainer Brian McNamee, who has been engaged in a bitter war of words with Roger Clemens this past month.

The affidavit of Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte helps to support the account of Brian McNamee, Roger Clemens' former trainer, that he gave Clemens injections of banned drugs, according to a ranking member of the congressional committee investigating the use of illegal drugs in baseball.

Newsday.com first reported the story last night after interviewing Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) yesterday. Davis said that in an affidavit given to the House Oversight Committee, Pettitte's account matches McNamee's in most details, but that in a separate affidavit to the committee, Clemens said both are mistaken.

Sources said McNamee has told investigators that in the winter of 2002, he, Clemens and Pettitte were working out together at the gym in Clemens' Houston home. According to the sources, McNamee says that during a break in the workout, Pettitte went over to McNamee by himself and asked: "How come you don't give me the stuff you give Roger?" McNamee supposedly replied, "Because it's illegal."

Guess we can close the book on that one.

Pettitte Asks To Be Excused From Hearing

According to the New York Times, Andy Pettitte asked to be excused from testifying publicly during the upcoming hearing in Washington DC. Only Pettitte, his attorney and investigators know what is in the lefty's deposition, but legal experts may predict this to be a bad sign for Roger Clemens and his defense team.

From the article:

The chairman of the House Oversight Committee is supporting Andy Pettitte’s request not to have to testify publicly against his former teammate Roger Clemens at a public hearing on Wednesday, a congressional staff person said Monday.

The chairman, Democrat Henry A. Waxman of California, wants to take Pettitte off the witness list but he is consulting with Republican members of the panel first, said the person, who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Two other people familiar with the case said it is also possible that Clemens and his accuser, the former trainer Brian McNamee, may be the only witnesses who will ultimately testify on Wednesday.

Pettitte asked out of public testimony because he did not want to say something to hurt his friend and former teammate while in the glare of national television coverage, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

There has been no final decision on Pettitte’s request, the official said. A final witness list may be released shortly.

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Moose guaranteed a rotation spot? According to the Journal News piece, Mike Mussina will be "penciled in" as one of the starting five pitchers this season.

Cashman said that Pettitte and Chien-Ming Wang are in the rotation. He also has penciled in Mike Mussina despite the veteran right-hander going 11-10 with a 5.15 ERA last season.

"Last year was a blip. We're counting on Moose to have a bounce-back season," Cashman said. "He'll be one of our starters."

Alotting Mussina a guaranteed spot before Spring training opens is somewhat surprising. However, should his decline - seen in 2007 - carry into April, there is little doubt that Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi will call upon Ian Kennedy or a AAA arm depending on how the pitching staff is comprised leaving Tampa.

George King Is Senile

This probably seems like a statement reeking of the sarcasm, self-righteousness and relentlessness which makes bloggers great. However, this is not a poor attempt at humor as King's most recent column in the New York Post genuinely warrants such pondering.

Permeating an article with the idea that the Yankees will struggle to make the postseason next year is not unfair. It's not outlandish or out of the question. A ballclub whose 2008 rotation potentially houses three inexperienced kids 22 years old or younger spurs several question marks, making it altogether possible that the Yankees spend October playing golf. Attacking the integrity of such an unpredictable starting staff is fair game and easy.

However, leading your article with the idea that the Yankees would be better off without Alex Rodriguez for this season and the forseeable future quickly turns me for a loop. The second paragraph goes on to contend the Yankees should have also showed the door to Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Bobby Abreu.

They should have let Rodriguez dance out of The Bronx, thanked Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera for wonderful careers and sent Bobby Abreu away.

Wait... nope. Ashton Kutcher is still making terrible romantic comedies and hasn't rehashed Punk'D in newspaper form.. I checked. This raises the question of who becomes the Yankees starting catcher in Posada's stead, because I know King isn't demented enough to volunteer Jose Molina. Is he? Dropping you closer and starting rightfielder - also without a current and viable replacement - is equally odd strategy.

Then there's this:

If Chamberlain is in the rotation, Kennedy starts the season at Triple-A. If he is as good as the Yankees believe, he must be in the big leagues.

Let's get this straight, George. Should Joba Chamberlain pitch in the rotation [very likely for only a half season], Ian Kennedy is somehow relegated to AAA-Scranton? This is an interesting equation King is working with. Who's to say Mike Mussina will outperform Kennedy this Spring? Who's to say Mussina's 2007 season is merely a preview of what's to come in 2008?

It is very possible the Yankees start Chamberlain in the pen for the first half, move him into the rotation mid-July. Consequently, Kennedy could pitch the entire season as a starter with Mussina taking on the long reliever role should Chamberlain eventually push someone out of the rotation.

Finally, there is King's revelatory conclusion:

There was nothing wrong with Andy Phillips and Doug Mientkiewicz, but the Yankees got rid of them. How long before Rodriguez complains about not having a glove guy saving him errors?

You don't have to go out on a limb to suggest King is an A-Rod detractor. Maybe Rodriguez snubbed him for an interview or is making too much money. Whatever the case, Dougy Mink tricked the columnist into thinking he could hit and Andy Phillips confused King into thinking he was more than just the kindest AAAA player to man first base for the Yankees.

As an aspiring journalist, it's difficult not to cringe after reading such lazy, unsubstantiated dribble. The confusion is compounded when you realize the column came from a guy baseball insiders incorrectly consistently include amongst the most well-sourced writers in the sport.

Nick The Stick At 1st?

According to Joel Sherman, the Yankees may appease an obsessed segment of their fanbase and return former first baseman Nick Johnson to the Bronx should he prove himself capable this Spring.

Over 700 at-bats during the 2002 and 2003 seasons, Nick Johnson hit 29 homeruns and knocked in 105 runs for the New York Yankees. Five years later, Johnson is still recovering from a badley broken leg which forced him to miss the entire 2007 season.

His last year in the bigs - 2006 - saw Johnson hit .290/.428/.520 with 23 homeruns, 46 doubles and 77 RBI. Nick the Stick walked 110 times to only 99 strikeouts. All very impressive numbers considering his home park - RFK - is a drastic pitcher's park.

Should Johnson prove healthy, he would be an interesting option for Brian Cashman, and at the very least provide a potent platoon when paired with the righthanded Shelley Duncan. A lot of "ifs" stand in the way of that, though.

Schilling Gets Shot In Shoulder

The first step of Curt Schilling's rehab program - instead of his doctor's reccommended surgery - occured yesterday when the pitcher received a cortisone shot. While the Red Sox team physician believes the rehabilitation should be successful, Dr. Craig Morgan has not beaten around the bush on the issue:

Curt Schilling received a cortisone shot in his right shoulder on Friday, beginning a treatment plan the Boston Red Sox hope will bring the right-hander back before the end of the season, according to the Boston Globe.

The pain-killing shot would allow Schilling to begin rehabbing an injured shoulder tendon -- the Red Sox' team physician believes the tendon is damaged, not torn, and that rehabilitation gives Schilling his best chance to play this year.

Schilling's physician, Dr. Craig Morgan, disagrees, saying the tendon is torn and requires surgery.

On Saturday, Morgan said he could not confirm that Schilling had received the cortisone shot, but repeated his opinion that the team's recommended course of action is doomed to fail.

He said that within a couple of weeks of the shot, "[Schilling] won't even be able to exercise."

Ouch.

Wang, Yankees Arbitration Bound

According to the Journal News, the Yankees and Chien-Ming Wang are headed to an arbitration hearing to determine the 19-game winner's 2008 salary.

General manager Brian Cashman said yesterday he expects the team will need a hearing to settle its differences with ace right-hander Chien-Ming Wang.

"There have been talks, but they haven't been productive," Cashman said. "Unless something changes dramatically, we'll see them at the hearing."

The hearing is scheduled for Thursday in St. Petersburg, Fla., the same day Wang is scheduled to report to training camp in Tampa. The 27-year-old has been working out with a trainer in Arizona for the last two weeks.

Cashman and agent Alan Nero have discussed terms for Wang since the end of last season. But no deal could be reached, and the sides entered the arbitration process last month. The Yankees submitted $4 million, and Nero $4.6 million.

Wang is 38-13 with a 3.67 ERA over the past two years, probably enough clout to win him his arbitration hearing.

Closer Look At Phil Hughes

Via Pete Abe, comes Sam Borden's in-depth profile of Phil Hughes, a righthanded pitcher scouts fell in love with last year and Yankee fans begin to worship today. Borden's piece is an extensive look into the pitcher's personality, drive and humble beginnings.

Here are a few tidbits I found interesting:

Shortly after Hughes was drafted in 2004, the Yankees invited him to throw a bullpen session at Dodger Stadium before an interleague game.

Hughes was so focused that when pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre told him not to pay any attention to the catcalls coming from nearby Dodgers fans, Hughes replied that he hadn't even noticed there was anyone booing at all. This impressed Stottlemyre and manager Joe Torre, and the incident became a go-to anecdote for the two men when they were asked about Hughes in the future. He was so mature, even at 18, they would say.

And, on Hughes as a high schooler deciding to bypass college to turn pro:

"I was so against it," she said of Hughes turning down a full scholarship to Santa Clara so he could enter the major-league draft. "I remember we were at a game somewhere when PJ was in high school, and the field had a radar gun and one of those boards that showed how fast he was throwing. He threw the ball, and it said 100 mph, and right after that happened, one of the scouts who was there came up to me and said, 'Well, Mom, he won't be going to college.'

Joba: To Pen Or Not To PenThere Is No Question

The age-old question which is getting just plain old is what the Yankees plan to do with their new star pitcher, Joba Chamberlain. According to MSNBC columnist Mike Celizic, the Yankees plan to start the season with Chamberlain in the bullpen before moving him into the starting rotation.

The plan announced by Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is to start the 2008 season with Joba Chamberlain in the bullpen. That should be good news to the team’s fans. The long-range plan for the season is to move the sensational young pitcher into the starting rotation.

The LA Dodgers performed a similar approach with their own husky power-pitching prospect, Chad Billingsley. *Billingsley began the 2007 season in the bullpen and finished out the year in the rotation. The experiment worked out well for the Dodgers as the righthander earned a 12-5 record with a 3.31 ERA and 141 strikeouts in 148 innings. If Brian Cashman could sign on for that type of production from Chamberlain next season, you had better bet he'd be searching for a pen.

The hope is to keep Chamberlain around 150 innings for the 2008 season, something the Dodgers succeeded in achieving with their valuable righty. As long as Nardi Contreras signs off on a plan calling for Chamberlain to split his season between the pen and the rotation, there should be little to worry about in terms of a Joba injury. Celizic says:

It’s a tough call the Yankees have, one that I wouldn’t like to make. Chamberlain, Philip Hughes and Ian Kennedy are the kids whom the Yankees have groomed to form the core of the team’s rotation for the next decade or longer. And there’s no question New York needs the lift that strong, young arms can give a starting rotation.

The plan all along had been to use the 22-year-old Chamberlain as a starter, the role in which he excelled as a minor leaguer. But last year he proved to be an exceptional reliever, and in this era of ball, there’s no one more important to a team than a great closer.

There's no one more important to a team than a great closer.

Tell that to Colorado Rockies fans who had zero chance against a determined, dominant Josh Beckett. And a Beckett-like pitcher is just what the Yankees organization envisions when they look at Joba Chamberlain. Let the debate continue.

Its Still Yankee Stadium [Sort Of]

Derek Jeter and the interlocking NY aren't the only Yankees traditions making the switch from the old stadium to the new one. According to MLB.com, the new home of the Bronx Bombers will maintain its title as THE Yankee Stadium, refusing to relent to "Progressive" name changes like the one seen in Cleveland.

Lonn Trust put it best:

"You don't re-name the White House or the Grand Canyon," Lonn Trost said Thursday, acknowledging $50 million isn't just a ballpark figure. Moreover, the Yankees COO said the construction cost will exceed the announced $830 million by a half billion. In the name of tradition, the successor to The House That Ruth Built and John Lindsay refurbished will cost $1.3 billion to build.

The cost is for the Yankees to calculate, meet and privately lament. "We'll make it up some way," said Trost. Their public won't care about that anymore come 2009, when the gates open for the first time, than it cared about Derek Jeter's salary the night he sailed into the boxes in '04. The name of the park does matter, though.

The article also reports that the "the [new] field dimensions will be identical to the existing stadium."

Schilling's Loss Is Omar's Gain

Had Curt Schilling's shoulder issues come about a week or so earlier, the baseball world may have been discussing the Red Sox 1-2 punch of Josh Beckett and Johan Santana. There is no doubt that had Schilling been diagnosed with an injury keeping him off the field until after the all star break that Boston would have actually pursued Santana, instead of exercise smokescreen tactics.

Fortunately for the New York Mets - and by extension, the Yankees - Theo Epstein and company had no desire to surrender a package built around Jacoby Ellsbury or Jon Lester. The status of Boston's rotation as one of the best in the business made this decision much easier for the Red Sox. However, had the Sox known about Schilling's shoulder earlier, Omar Minaya would have been scrambling to sign Livian Hernandez or Kyle Lohse.

Subway Squawkers had this to say:

Reports out of Boston say that Curt Schilling has a major shoulder injury and the Red Sox may try to void his contract. Had the Red Sox known earlier that Schilling would be unavailable, might they have gotten back in the bidding for Johan Santana? Sure, Schilling might not have pitched more than one more year anyway, but the Yankees supposedly had a lot less interest in Santana once Andy Pettitte decided to return, and Pettitte may only be around for one more year himself.

Actually, the Mets also have an aging, injury-prone ace with one year left on his contract, but I’m glad they didn’t use Pedro Martinez’ return as an excuse not to pursue Santana. And if Pedro does continue his successful comeback, I hope he’s still an important part of the team next year at Citi Field.

Schilling Update

Boston Herald Update 11:41 pm:

According to the latest Herald report, Dr. Craig Morgan explained after examining Curt Schilling that the aging pitcher is suffering from an injury to his "bicipital groove," which is the portion of the bicep tendon running outside the shoulder.

Though he denies it within his latest 38Pitches blog post, Schilling and the Red Sox are reportedly at odds about whether or not to have the surgery. While the righthander would like to have the operation done, Boston threatened to void his contract if done so, thereby forcing Schilling's hand.

From Rotoworld:

Morgan said the biceps looks like "three strands of spaghetti," and is an irreversible problem if just using the Red Sox’ recommended remedy of a cortisone shot and rehabilitation. Morgan believes Schilling could undergo surgery and still be ready to go after the All-Star break. The Red Sox, though, disagree, and according to the Globe, threatened to void Schilling's contract if he attempted to undergo surgery. Indications are that Morgan became worried about the problem as far back as last summer. If that was the case, then the surgery he's recommending probably should have been performed in November, not now.

Yikes. Schilling is going to try to pitch with three strands of spaghetti holding his arm together? This makes the Mets acquisition of Johan Santana all the more satisfying. If what Morgan believes is true, and Schilling could make it back in equal time with the surgery, it would appear that Mr. Red Light let down the Red Sox on this one.

Callis Chats: Guess Hughes Back

I forgot to post a few Yankees morsels which Baseball America's Jim Callis spoke on during his last two ESPN chats. Topics include how Phil Hughes will fair in 2008, a comparison of Melky Cabrera and Carlos Gomez, a comparison of Jacoby Ellsbury, Adam Jones and Austin Jackson and more:

SprungOnSports (Long Island): For 2008: Hughes, Myers, Ubaldo, Francis?

Jim Callis: Phil Hughes. Let's give him 16 wins and a 3.65 ERA.


Marc: Commack NY: Will we see the real Phil Hughes this year... im talkin big time curveball, and 92-94 on the gun?

Jim Callis: Yes.


Jay (Madison,WI): Carlos Gomez or Melky Cabera?

Jim Callis: Wow, two guys I don't like as much as other people do. Gomez has more upside, Cabrera has more polish . . . it's a tossup on which way you want to go. I'd take Melky, I guess.


Max, (NY, NY): Pure speculation at this point but...who ends up having the better career: Austin Jackson or Adam Jones?

Jim Callis: Adam Jones. I want to see Austin Jackson have more than one strong half, but I do like him.


Jarrett (Medford, MA): ellsbury or austin jackson

Jim Callis: I'd take Ellsbury. Jackson has the higher ceiling but Ellsbury has a nice ceiling too and is much more of a sure thing.

Granted, Callis is admittedly more in love with Ellsbury than many other prospect gurus, but he still has a fair take on A-Jax. Interesting that - though he isn't very high on either - Callis selects Cabrera of Gomez. Callis' take on Hughes has been consistent since last September when he wrote Hughes would not be "right" until the 2008 season.

Schilling Needs Shoulder Surgery?

According to the Boston Herald, Curt Schilling may need surgery for what is being reported as a labrum or rotator-cuff injury.

From Rotoworld:

Schilling is done after this year, so we don't see why he'd undergo surgery. Unless he's reconsidering and wants to extend his career beyond 2008, then he'll have to try to pitch through the problem. According to the Herald, the Red Sox are already exploring the possibility of voiding Schilling's contract. They could decide to make a run at Kyle Lohse or take a flier on Bartolo Colon or Freddy Garcia if they don't think Schilling will make it back.

This could be a big loss in terms of losing a veteran stabilizer in the Red Sox rotation. Boston's multitude of young starting pitchers could prove capable of filling in for his innings, though the acquisition of a Kyle Lohse type seems the more likely alternative.

Pedro Martinez likes to cockfight. According to the NY Post story, Martinez and Hall of Famer Juan Marichal are seen in a video [since pulled from Youtube] laughing as a "gruesome cockfight" ensues at Coliseo de Gallos - the largest cockfighting venue in the Dominican Republic. The two pitchers "are seen grinning before releasing two roosters." Unlike the United States, cockfighting is legal in the Dominican and seen as an acceptable, popular practice. While Mike Vick sits in prison for his involvement with a dog-fighting ring, it's interesting to see a country some 100 miles from Florida allow a similar cruelty toward animals. Then again, in Pamplona, Spain, there is the annual running of the bulls and in countless other countries come comparable traditions.

Yu Darvish Update

According to Sankei Sports - via Rotoworld - the Nippon Ham Fighters may be willing to post 21 year-old superstar starting pitcher Yu Darvish after the 2008 season, if the young fireballer wishes to pitch in America.

Darvish won't be eligible for free agency until 2014 and has previously said that he's not interested in coming to America, but the Fighters could let him leave before then given a posting fee that some feel could rise beyond the $51 million that the Red Sox paid to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka. A Mariners scout told Sankei Sports that Darvish is as good or ahead of Matsuzaka at the same age and Darvish could become more interested in coming to America if he thrives in this summer's Olympics. Darvish went 15-5 with a 1.82 ERA and 210/49 K/BB ratio in 207 2/3 innings last season.

His curveball is a hammer and a true plus pitch already, but his fastball command could use a little work. However, Darvish appears to be far ahead of Matsuzaka at age 21 and in a couple of years could be a frontline starter in the big leagues. If you haven't heard of Darvish already, here is an excerpt from a piece I wrote on him a month ago:

Scouting Report:

Darvish throws a low-90s fastball (91-93 mph). At 21 years old, he is 6 foot 5 and under 180 lbs. which means he has the potential to add weight and thereby add velocity.

He throws a plus knuckle curveball along with a sinker, slider, and changeup.

His 2007 season, which earned him the Japanese version of the Cy Young was spectacular:

1.82 ERA, 26 starts, 207 innings pitched, 123 hits, 210 strikeouts, 49 walks and 12 complete games. That works out to a k/bb of 4.29, a batting average against of .170 while averaging 8 innings pitched per start.

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McNamee Evidence May Be Weak

According to a New York Times report citing scientific experts, the physical evidence trainer Brian McNamee submitted to officials yesterday may be impossible to date. The Clemens defense team will also lambaste McNamee during a trial as the fact that the evidence was handled by his accuser does not work in the ex-trainer's favor. From the article:

The syringes, vials and gauze pads that Brian McNamee has turned over to federal investigators to back up his contention that he injected Roger Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone will be the subject of a strenuous attack if they enter the courtroom, according to medical and legal experts.

The syringes, vials and gauze pads are said to date from 2000 and 2001, part of a four-year period in which McNamee contends he gave Clemens drug injections. But even if the physical evidence tests positive for Clemens’s DNA and, say, steroids, Clemens’s lawyers could argue that McNamee added steroid traces to the original evidence in a bid to incriminate Clemens, experts say.

“You can test to figure out what the substance is, but you cannot figure out how old it is,” Dr. Don Catlin, the former director of the Olympic testing lab at U.C.L.A., said in a telephone interview.

There is no way to date blood either, Catlin said, which means there may not be a conclusive way to establish that the syringes, vials and pads were from 2000 and 2001.

The experts said that any syringes were particularly important because they could have come in contact with Clemens’s blood and a substance he might have been injected with.

This is where I get off. Legal mumbo-jumbo and scientific experts become a baseball blog's worst nightmare. Not that this story hasn't been intrusive and annoying from the jump.

Former Players Make Current News

· David Cone
The former Yankee and Met was the quintessential gutty starting pitcher who could pitch seven scoreless innings even on days when his good stuff stayed in the bullpen. However, Cone's most valuable qualities remain his honesty and humility - traits which quickly made him a fan favorite in the Bronx.

Exemplifying these characteristics, it was no surprise to see Cone describe the plight of Major League Baseball as "embarrassing" and "humbling." Such regret stems from Cone's status as a MLBPA representative during the years in which steroids were most prevalent.

From ESPN.com:

David Cone is taking part of the responsibility for baseball's steroids era.

The former pitcher was on the union's negotiating team during the 1994-95 strike, when management proposed drug testing and the players' association successfully fought it off.

"Certainly in retrospect, I think there's plenty of blame to go around. Certainly I share some of that blame as being involved with the players' association at that time," Cone said Wednesday. "It's something I'm not proud of. It's humbling. It's embarrassing."

Cone wants to believe the allegations against Clemens aren't true.

"We played on championship teams together. It affects our era," Cone said. "And certainly I'm in a position to want to defend that era. But at the same time I understand how people may look back a little differently depending on how history is going to be written on this particular issue."

· Pete Rose
The master of sports gambling sat down for an exclusive interview with Sports Net Ontario?! Not exactly the New York Times, Pete.

Here are a few golden nuggets of journalistic brilliance:

"It's strange, it's one man, it's Bud Selig. You know Bud, get a life. You give everybody else a second chance, and to be honest, fans have given [Selig] another chance," said Rose. "All you hear now is he's gonna clean up all the steroids; well all the steroids started on his watch, so he should clean them up."

"The strange thing about my case is, I seem to be the only guy from America that can't get a second chance," Rose added. "It's sad to say this, but if I had been on drugs, I'd have gotten a second chance, if I had been an alcoholic, I'd have gotten a second chance, if I had been a spousal beater, I'd have gotten a second chance, but I chose the vice that baseball just can't stand, gambling."

Sure Charlie Hustle, you bet on your team to win every night. Or you could have bet your team to lose every night and bet big on the nights your centerfielder was hurt or your starting pitcher told you he was pitching through pain. Nah, that doesn't compromise the integrity of MLB.

Saying Rose does or does not belong in the Hall is one thing. Attempting to trivialize his massive blunders is a whole other ballgame. Then again, he does have a point on Selig. Just because Bud hired a Boston front office director and US Senator to police his own sport does not suddenly exonerate the Commish for years of ineptitude negligence.



· Bert Blyleven
The unworthy fringe Hall of Famer with a great curveball and a ton of strikeouts had a lovefest for Johan Santana via MSNBC. Also included was Blyleven scapegoating Santana's poor close to the 2007 season as a result of poor run-support.

As a Twins' broadcaster I didn't see one sign in Santana's pitching at any point last season that signaled to me he has lost any of his brilliance. Santana may not have pitched his best at points last year, but he was also hurt by a lack of run support. And early runs, which are such a big factor for starting pitchers, didn't come Santana's way very often last season.

He dropped to 15 wins after chalking up 19 victories in 2006, but most of his numbers were pretty much the same as they were in the three seasons previous to 2007 -- and in two of those years he won the AL Cy Young Award. So all the numbers were there last year for another 18-20 win season, but he just didn't get the support he needed offensively. No Santana hasn't slipped. He's still as good as he's ever been and Mets fans are going to find that out to their delight this season.

Lack of run-support may explain the mediocre win percentage [by Santana standards], but it does not account for a bloated ERA in the second half [by Santana standards] - or whispers that he was afraid to throw his slider.

Surely, Blyleven would not appreciate such insinuations, and probably would reenact his live broadcast of an F-Bomb barrage. In all seriousness, Santana will be an absolute beast in the National League and probably challenge for a Cy Young. But Bert still needs to lay off the Joahn Kool-Aid a bit.