Osama bin Selig

[cubfan33]

Anderson is iffy, at best. The injury he has is very very similar to
what Tom Gordon experienced and he's been able to return in a time
frame that would put Anderson back around the beginning of September.
The question is more, when will Anderson fix his mechanics so this
doesn't keep happening or is he someone who can't and will have a
short burst of a career? The other factor is that Anderson hasn't been
the best at being able to come back within a stated time frame. When
someone says two weeks, for Anderson it's usually three. If you're
relying on Anderson, you might want to consider German, the guy
Detroit got from Oakland in the Weaver deal. I havent seen him, but
the scouting reports look like Anderson's - electric stuff, odd
mechanics, poor control.

[SmedIndy]

Will -

Looks like your main report was truncated.

[CpUltravox]

Here's what he sent out last night... I want to talk about it, so sorry, Will... I'm pre-empting you.

Someone once said about Bud Selig that he had incredible timing for ruining things. While I agree with his decision in principle to end the All Star Game as a tie, I think the method he used was his usual pathetic. Not sticking around to ask what would likely be softballed questions was his usual pathetic. Using his personal attorney Bob DuPuy to spout lies and poormouthing - and PLEASE read Doug Pappas' latest work on BP - is his usual pathetic. Almost everything he's done or said in his reign as Dictator For Life is his usual pathetic. This story on MSNBC is probably the best one I read about last night's fiasco.

This one shocked me. Bud Selig is now threatening to let a team cease operations on Monday. I've confirmed with sources at MLB that lines of credit taken out by baseball were suspended and that any team that cannot make payroll on Monday will be seized by the league and immediately fold. The likeliest candidate, despite denials from the team, is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Devil Rays have reportedly asked for cash in each deal in order to continue operations. Obviously, the Rays have several days to shore up their own finances, sell players, or make a cash call, but it appears Seligula is ready to let Rome burn while he fiddles. (Yes, I know I crossed up Roman emperor references there.) Some media reports have the Arizona Diamondbacks as the team in the crosshairs, but sources close to Jerry Colangelo state that the team is in no financial danger and has their own available credit lines. Other rumored teams are (surprise) the Montreal Expos and the Minnesota Twins. Is this one another of Bud's idle doom and gloom threats? Oddly, there's no Pravda-esque piece by Barry Bloom over on MLB.com. I'm working the phones HARD on this. Late report: I have one source saying that MLB attorneys and officials from the Diamondbacks have a conference call scheduled for oh-dark-thirty tomorrow morning. I usually don't run with one source stories, but this one's reasonably credible.

No new trade news tonight, but all the trade rumors I spoke of last night are still spinning. The Rangers are working on about six other teams right now, the Rockies are doing about the same (and actually considering either dealing or calling up Jack Cust), and the Cubs are sounding more like a buyer than seller.

Speaking of the Rangers, watch Gabe Kapler, Juan Gonzalez, and Rusty Greer's roster status this week. All seem to be involved in one rumored trade or another and getting them off of or keeping them off of the DL would make it easier to deal them, rather than deal with delays or PTBNL. The Rangers are reporting that Gonzalez's MRI showed the thumb problem was not related to the earlier thumb injury, making this both problematic in treating and somehow positive, as it is not a chronic problem.

Kevin Jarvis is not on the DL, but underwent surgery with Jim Andrews today. The surgery went well and did not become a Tommy John procedure. Jarvis had his flexor tendon repaired and should be ready for the start of spring training next year. The only problem is that the Padres pitching staff may have gotten a lot younger and a lot better by that point. Bobby Jones will be activated to replace Jarvis, while Jake Peavy and Oliver Perez will keep their rotation slots.

That Barry Bonds uses creatine is not news. I'm happy he admitted it, but while creatine is untested in the long term and has dubious value, it is not banned for players to use and is not illegal in the U.S. What Barry has that thousands of amateur athletes don't is proper supervision, a personal trainer who will watch him closely, a medical staff to administer to his needs, and a dietitian that will keep him not only properly hydrated, but away from vitamin B6 deficiency and excessive loss of calcium.

Todd Helton played in the ASG, but continues to be bothered by pain in the lumbar region of his back. While the injury shouldn't keep Helton out of the lineup, it may curtail his power somewhat. Helton at 80 or 90 % is still darn good, especially on Planet Coors, but if you're relying on him as a power source, get a backup.

An MRI conducted on Monday shows that Omar Vizquel has a badly torn labrum that will require surgery. The question is whether Vizquel will be able to play out the season and have it done over the winter or if it will affect his hitting. He looked pretty good last night in the ASG and our best guess here is that Vizquel will play until the Indians are officially out of the running in the AL Central, when he'll have the repair and let the Indians showcase John McDonald or Brandon Phillips.

A reader asked today about Matt Anderson - here's my reply: "Anderson is iffy, at best. The injury he has is very very similar to what Tom Gordon experienced and he's been able to return in a time frame that would put Anderson back around the beginning of September. The question is more, when will Anderson fix his mechanics so this doesn't keep happening or is he someone who can't and will have a short burst of a career? The other factor is that Anderson hasn't been the best at being able to come back within a stated time frame. When someone says two weeks, for Anderson it's usually three. If you're relying on Anderson, you might want to consider German, the guy Detroit got from Oakland in the Weaver deal. I havent seen him, but the scouting reports look like Anderson's - electric stuff, odd mechanics, poor control."

Brad Radke is working with Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson on replacing his changeup with a split fingered fastball. Radke believes that his groin may be aggravated by the motion he goes through in throwing the change. This report interests me because an effective change is thrown exactly the same as a fastball, but with a different grip. Was Radke actually tipping the pitch?

Kevin Goldstein's Prospect Report tells me that Phil Nevin is getting closer to a return, this time to third base. He hit a home run in a minor league rehab game and should be activated sometime late this week.

The Yankees may juggle their rotation for the next month, giving Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and David Wells extra rest when possible. If Orlando Hernandez stays with the team, he may become in effect a sixth starter. It should be interesting to see how this is handled and if it works. There's no need for the Yankees to do something as radical as using the Fuson "paired-starter" system, but a team without the depth of the Yanks and in the same situation (Seattle? Anaheim?) might do well to consider it.

Marcus Giles will restart his rehab this week and should be about two weeks away from Atlanta - if the decision is made on health alone. The Braves are facing roster squeeze and are on such a run, no one wants to mess with a good thing.

The Mariners were ready to send Rafael Soriano to the minors again after a lack of success as a stater with plans to bring him back later in the year as a reliever. There's been a slight change - he'll go on the DL with shoulder soreness and then go to Tacoma for a rehab stint before returning. The report I'm getting is that they wanted to keep him working with Bryan Price while getting the roster spot opened. Shenanigans!

Corey Patterson will return for the Cubs and move down in the order as announced by new manager Bruce Kimm. Patterson was miscast as a lead off man, a problem exacerbated by Don Baylor's bunt fetish. This move should be nothing but positive for Patterson and may presage the return of Bobby Hill. Oh, Patterson's bruised foot is much better. Patterson may wear a shin/footguard if he can find one that feels comfortable while running.

Quick admin notes: Several of you got the Redbook article ("The Holy Grail") with an HTML error. I'm not enough of a techie to know why some of you got a version that didn't have complete paragraphs, but here's the easy solution - check out the "writings" section on the UTK website! All feature articles are there now and there will soon be some of my baseball fiction, if you're so inclined. Also, thanks to everyone who asked how the radio gig went. It went pretty well. No panic attack on the air, thankfully, and Greg Rakestraw and I had a great, intelligent conversation about performance enhancing drugs. I'm still working on a way to get recordings or transcripts of the show onto UTK.



BASEBALL'S BEST SOURCE FOR INJURY INFO DAILY @ www.willcarroll.com WEEKLY @ www.foxsports.com TO SUBSCRIBE, use the form at www.willcarroll.com. It's free!

[CpUltravox]

Originally posted by cubfan33
This one shocked me. Bud Selig is now threatening to let a team cease operations on Monday. I've confirmed with sources at MLB that lines of credit taken out by baseball were suspended and that any team that cannot make payroll on Monday will be seized by the league and immediately fold. The likeliest candidate, despite denials from the team, is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Devil Rays have reportedly asked for cash in each deal in order to continue operations. Obviously, the Rays have several days to shore up their own finances, sell players, or make a cash call, but it appears Seligula is ready to let Rome burn while he fiddles. (Yes, I know I crossed up Roman emperor references there.) Some media reports have the Arizona Diamondbacks as the team in the crosshairs, but sources close to Jerry Colangelo state that the team is in no financial danger and has their own available credit lines. Other rumored teams are (surprise) the Montreal Expos and the Minnesota Twins. Is this one another of Bud's idle doom and gloom threats? Oddly, there's no Pravda-esque piece by Barry Bloom over on MLB.com. I'm working the phones HARD on this. Late report: I have one source saying that MLB attorneys and officials from the Diamondbacks have a conference call scheduled for oh-dark-thirty tomorrow morning. I usually don't run with one source stories, but this one's reasonably credible.

AAHHH!!!

So.. mid-season contraction...

Out of curiosity.. how does this work? Does the team just contract? Does MLB become ward of the team? Does Namioli still own them?

The players are under contract to the Tampa Rays, not MLB, right?

[Duque]

Question about Bonds and creatine -

Would taking creatine preclude someone from taking steroids or HGH? Are there health issues with trying to take both?

[sweaver]

Creatine is supposed to be a chemical precursor to testosterone (that is, creatine is chemically changed by the body into testosterone, supposedly) and so taking steroids at the same time (also either testosterone or similar chemicals) would be somewhat redundant.

Not that someone willing to take steroids wouldn't also do creatine, therefore risking shutting down the body's natural production even more.

[cubfan33]

Not to completely contradict you Sweaver, but creatine doesn't so much have an anabolic effect as you state here. Please check out the creatine article over at www.willcarroll.com for more details. If interested, email me and I can give you some links to the technical stuff.

There's ABSOLUTELY nothing that would keep someone from taking creatine with any other substance. Remember the athlete's creed - if one is good, ten is better. I think I'll rename this the Tufnel Doctrine: "This one goes to eleven."

[cubfan33]

Thanks for picking me up on that, CP - I did this so late and burned so many cell minutes I didnt even check it.

I have no idea how this would work. Neither does baseball. THAT's one reason I should have been more dubious about it. Baseball seems unable to think on its feet and even with months to plan something, tends to screw it up.

[sweaver]

Originally posted by cubfan33
Not to completely contradict you Sweaver, but creatine doesn't so much have an anabolic effect as you state here.
Of course, you're right, Will. Serves me right for trying to do it off the top of my head without checking. Creatine is actually just amino acids.

[CpUltravox]

I think what makes creatine so much more dangerous than every other thing out there is that it's widely accepted and relatively approved of. Even though it doesn't stop all the people, the stigma of being caught taking steroids discourages some people from using them. I'm afraid without that stigma, the likelyhood of serious problems resulting from creatine use and overuse are far greater on all levels of every sport than with steroids...