NEWHAN ON BASEBALL

Is Mattingly Done? The Clock Is Ticking--Unfortunately

2013-05-21T10:42:00.002-07:00

      By Ross Newhan

      The late Al Campanis, during his tenure as general manager of the Dodgers, liked to say that you can't really gain a true measure of a team until it has played every other team in the league.

      Campanis was schooled by Branch Rickey, the Mahatma, who worked at a time when there were only 16 teams, eight in each league, and the American didn't play the National until the World Series.

      Now there are 30 teams, 15 in each league, meaning that two are engaged in an interleague series almost every night, no team is going to play all of the other 29, and Rickey--who also worked in a vastly different payroll era--would have to preach a different theory in relation to gaining a first true measure of your own team.

     What we know for sure in 2013 is that a quarter of the season has passed, and the Dodgers, with their $230 million payroll, are 18-25 amid increasing speculation that Don Mattingly could be fired as early as Thursday, when the team returns from Milwaukee for an off day.

   (While a Dodger executive said by email there are no plans for a Thursday firing he left it at that, failing to include any other day of the week.)

     Can Mattingly survive? Should he?

    Can the Dodgers survive a stumbling start to win what now appears to be a wide open divison?

    My answer to all of that is an intertwined yes:

   Mattingly can survive, should survive, and the Dodgers can rebound in the NL West, but sound reasoning in relation to the manager could yield to the impatience of an ownership that generated a record payroll after spending a record $2.1 billion to buy the team and another $100 million--to this point--on stadium renovations.

    The Guggenheim partners have no track record as a gauge to their thinking, but an ownership/management that refused to pick up Mattingly's 2014 option in the off season could simply decide that firing him now to eliminate all the distracting speculation is justification enough.

    Forget a bat rack full of facts that would generally suggest the manager deserves more time.

    For example: injuries have prevented Mattingly from starting his projected lineup even once; six starting pitchers have gone on the disabled list; the bullpen, anchored by a closer (Brandon League) to whom the Dodgers gave a three year contract based on the final month of 2012, has lost a league leading 13 games; the left side of the infield has been largely a revolving door, and with Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier failing to produce anticipated power (which may be changing), the Dodgers have been among the NL's worst at hitting with runners in scoring position.

   How many times in how many other places have similar facts not mattered, and maybe my long fondness for Mattingly colors my thinking, my belief that he deserves an extended period with a full lineup, healthy rotation and a bullpen that needs to be sorted out.

   I recognize, beyond the facts, there is a perception held by many that Mattlingly is too much the nice guy, too much of a soft voice.

I recognize as well that current third base coach Tim Wallach was deservedly in line when Joe Torre stepped down as manager and lobbied on behalf of Mattingly and their pin-striped relationship, lobbied to an owner who was beginning to spend more time in court than at the stadium.

  Yet, how many times in how many other places has change for the sake of change produced an initial impact only to fizzle out?

Has the Guggenheim team made it's decision?

Is it too late for Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu to change it by doing to the Brewers what Clayton Kershaw did so masterfully in the Monday night opener.

Too late for Kemp and Ethier to prove their home runs behind Kershaw were, at last, an awakening?

The answer isn't clear, but the liklihood, unfortunately, is that the clock on Mattingly is definitely ticking.

Is Mattingly Done? The Clock is Ticking--Unfortunately

2013-05-21T10:29:00.002-07:00

Amid Angels Lost Dominance, Napoli Continues to Rub It In

2013-05-06T11:58:00.001-07:00

        By Ross Newhan

        Amid the misery that stalks the Angels on the field, amid the heat and unrest--internally and externally--rattling the organization, there is the continuing hate mail from Boston.

        Well, okay, it's not really hate mail that Mike Napoli has been dispatching as he now contributes to the resurrection of the Red Sox after helping Texas reach the playoffs in both of his years there.

         Call it long distance reminders of possibly the worst trade in Angel history--and whether the blame should be put on then general manager Tony Reagins or Manager Mike Scioscia (who didn't trust the catcher's defensive skills)--the numbers are haunting.

        Napoli is currently third in the American League with 31 runs batted in and has six home runs in the first six weeks.

       In the two plus seasons and 252 games since he and Juan Rivera were traded to the Toronto Blue Jays (who immediately flipped Napoli to Texas), he has hit 58 home runs and driven in 162 runs.

       About two weeks after the Angels failed to fill their biggest need in the offseason of 2010/11 by refusing to go to six years in negotiations with third baseman Adrian Beltre, who then got the sixth year from Texas in what represented one of several division turning points, the previously dominant Angels yielding to the Rangers, Napoli was exchanged for Vernon Wells and the $84 million left on his contract.

        Now, as the 11-20 Angels look up at the 20-11 Rangers, the Beltre/Napoli/Wells saga is just one part of a complicated story of mis-management, mis-spent money and missed opportunities, derailing that dominance.

        Injuries have played a part, certainly through the opening weeks of the current season with the revolving door bullpen, and in some ways the Angels are still trying to find a rotatiion replacement for the late Nick Adenhart.

       The story is too long to detail in entirety here, but even the successful tenure of Bill Stoneman as general manager was marred toward the end by the $50 million wasted on Gary Matthews following his only big year, and after Stoneman came Reagins and Jerry Dipoto, and there were the failed bids to sign free agents Beltre, Mark Texeira and Carl Crawford while the multi-millionaire Wells sat more than he played. Then owner Artie Moreno seemed to get more involved with his TV billions and there were the $329 million signings of Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson followed last winter by the $125 million laid on Josh Hamilton in what seemed to be an 11th hour attempt to compensate for permitting Zack Greinke to sign a $147 million deal with the Dodgers even though Dipoto had given up the organization's top prospect, Jean Segura, in acquiring Greinke at the trade deadline in 2012.

      Now Segura, one of several top prospects lost through trade or compensation for free agent signings, is a rookie of the year candidate with the Milwaukee Brewers and Hamilton, who struggled through periods of 2012 despite his 43 home runs, is battling the Mendoza line while leading American League right fielders in errors and strike outs, and Pujols, with eight more years to go, is limping through April and May with that bad heel and tender knee, and with the highest payroll in club history the Angels went cheap in filling the Greinke and other rotation holes with Joe Blanton, Tommy Hanson and Jason Vargas.

     There is a long way to go in 2013, and with three games against woeful Houston next, a chance to start the recovery, but this is not a good team at present. The Angels lead the league or are close to the lead in too many negative categories, the famed Scioscia aggressiveness piling up outs on the bases, the defense piling up errors behind pitchers who HAVE to get the outs when they earn them, and an offense, strong on paper, failing to hit in the clutch, and where is Mickey Hatcher when you need him?

    No one is without blame for the slow trickle of lost dominance over the last six years or so, but the heat now, of course, is hottest on the manager.

   Scioscia is signed through 2018, but know this: His relationship with the front office has not been the same since Stoneman retired in October of 2007, and even if the Angels rebound, it would not be a surprise if Moreno/Dipoto made a change, familiarity after 14 years building a degree of contempt, or it would not be a surprise if Scioscia made the change, and wouldn't a return to Dodger Stadium be interesting, certainly an easier drive from Westlake?

Matt Kemp: Has a Superstar Ever Been This Lost at the Plate?

2013-04-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

        By Ross Newhan

        A few observations....

        --Yes, it has only been two weeks, but I don't recall ever seeing a verifiable superstar looking as lost at the plate as Matt Kemp. The Dodger center fielder can not hit a breaking pitch, seems equally unsteady in the field, and is the equivalent of the Thin Man after his shoulder surgery, reducing his home run strength to that dreaded cliche of "warning track power."

        --Unless the Angels prove they can generate a consistent winning streak (a difficult task given their major league worst starting pitching statistics) the heat is going to build again under Mike Scioscia when, in fact, it was general manager Jerry Dipoto who put together a second tier rotation of Joe (home run) Blanton, Tommy Hanson and Jason Vargas. Granted, no one could predict the injury to Jered Weaver or the inconsistency of C.J. Wilson, but the buck has to stop at the top, and that means Dipoto and owner Arte Moreno, and we're not even talking about Albert Pujols' legs holding up for another eight years and Josh Hamilton appearing incapable of regaining MVP form.

      --Midway through April you would have to say that Bryce Harper has edged past Mike Trout as the better of the two young players.

      --Anyone who says that Justin and B.J. Upton weren't problems at times in their previous clubhouses is obscuring the facts, but uniting them in the Atlanta clubhouse has been an inspired move--at least until this point--as the Braves reeled off 10 straight wins before losing to Kansas City Wednesday. Justin, in particular became the first player in the history of a club that once included Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Dale Murphy and Chipper Jones to hit eight home runs in 13 games.

Matt Kemp: Has a Superstar Ever Been This Lost at the Plate?

2013-04-17T13:24:00.001-07:00

By Ross Newhan

A few observations....

--Yes, it has only been two weeks, but I don't recall ever seeing a potential superstar looking as lost at the plate as Matt Kemp. The Dodger center field can not hit a breaking pitch, seems equally unsteady in the field, and is the equivalent of the Thin Man after his shoulder surgery, reducing his home run prowess to that dreaded cliche of "warning track power."

--Unless the Angels prove they can generate a consistent winning streak (a difficult task given their major league worst starting statistics) the heat is going to build again under Mike Scioscia when, in fact, it was general manager Jerry Dipoto who put together a second tier rotation of Joe (home run) Blanton, Tommy Hanson and Jason Vargas. Granted, no one could predict the injury to Jered Weaver or the inconsistency of C.J. Wilson, but the buck has to stop at the top and that means Dipoto and owner Arte Moreno, and we're not even talking about Albert Pujols' legs holding up for another eight years and Josh Hamilton appearing incapable of regaining MVP form.

--Midway through April you would have to say that Bryce Harper has surpassed Mike Trout as the better of the two touted young players in the first month of the new season.

--Anyone who says that Justin and B.J. Upton weren't problems at times in their previous clubhouses is obscuring the facts, but uniting them in the Atlanta clubhouse has been an inspired move--at least until this point--as the Braves reeled off 10 straight wins before losing to Kansas City Wednesday. Justin, in particular, became the first player in the history of a club that once included Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Dale Murphy and Chipper Jones to hit eight home runs in 13 games.

2013-04-17T11:05:00.001-07:00

Can Nationals Be Beaten in Interleague Dominant Schedule?

2013-03-30T14:55:00.001-07:00

    By Ross Newhan

   One of the strangest seasons in baseball history begins Sunday with 15 teams in each league, an interleague game virtually every night and 30 owners rolling in money, the average franchise value having increased 23%--a one year record, according to Forbes--to $744 million.

   Amid the nightly/daily absurdity of "now you see the DH and now you don't," here is my top 10. the most obvious features being the absence of that former hedge fund giant known as the New York Yankees and their annual American League East rival from Boston:

   1. Washington Nationals: No weaknesses, from lineup to bench to pitching staff, unless the do nothing Congress counts.

   2. Detroit Tigers: You could say the same thing about the Tigers except for some consternation about the bullpen by committee. Still, easily the best in AL Central.

  3. Atlanta Braves: Should be a dynamite dogfight with the Nationals in the NL East. Upton brothers figure to inspire each other, and if only Chipper was still at third base.

4. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Spring pitching didn't provide much confidence, but Ernesto Frieri should be able to save enough high scoring games to edge out Texas and Oakland in AL West, a division that now welcomes the doormat Houston Astros.

  5. Toronto Blue Jays: With help from Jeffrey Loria, Miami North filled enough holes with that one-sided trade and subsequent acquisition of R.A. Dickey to be considered the favorite in the AL East, particularly amid decline of Yankees and Red Sox.

  6. Cincinnat Reds: GM Walt Jocketty did a major league with minor fanfare in flushing away a lot of strikeouts in his lineup, strengthening his bench, acquiring a legitimate leadoff runner in Shin Choo Soo and who cares whether Aroldis Chapman starts or relieves, as long as they don't make him do both. Now the best in NL Central.

7. San Francisco Giants: Two out of the last three World Series title and still no respect, but the thinking here is that someone in the NL West is going to have to prove they can best that pitching over 162 games, and the Giants did what they needed to do to retain their key players from 2012.

8. Los Angeles Dodgers: Here's what a $230 million payroll gets you: Questions in left field, shortstop, third base, back of the rotation and closer. Maybe they will all come up positive, but at this point no one is handing Guggenheim anything except a few more checks to be invested. The team has weapons but will have to prove it can return dividends.

9. Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies will open with a healthy Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, a revamped outfield in which Ben Revere and his 40 steals were acquired from Minnesota and the homegrown John Mayberry and Domonic Brown finally have unobstructed starting chances, but the ability to compete with Washington and Atlanta largely comes down to Doc Halliday proving he retains a fastball and Cliff Lee shaking off the 15 no decisions of last year.

10. Kansas City: Considering that 13 different teams have made at least one postseason appearance in the last two years and nine have won the World Series in the last 12, parity is obvious and there is no really no such thing as a sleeper anymore, but lets put the long dormant Royals in that disappearing category with their baseball best spring record, array of young talent and off-season acquisitions of starting pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis in exchange for top hitting prospect Wil Myers.

    And on to a season in which a schedule is mandatory.

K.C.'s 21-6 Record: Illusion or Reality?

2013-03-25T12:49:00.001-07:00

    By Ross Newhan

    The results of spring, individually and collectively, can be either an illusion or a significant steppingstone to a successful season.

    The Kansas City Royals entered a Monday night game against the Dodgers with a 21-6 spring record, easily the best in baseball.

     Their young talent is not an illusion--built through the draft over a series of years--and during the last winter owner David Glass and General Manager Dayton Moore felt what Moore described by phone as the  "narrow window of opportunity" was right, given "the young talent that is now under club control for a period of years" to support it with veteran additions to the rotation.

     The 21-6 record does not carry into the season, but the confidence that it has created does, and while many general managers generally dismiss spring statistics, Moore does not.

     Was it important for the Royals to win in the spring, to prove that the enthusiasm created among the young players by the veteran additions, translated to the field?

     "Absolutely," Moore said in our interview.

    "The Royals haven't been to the playoffs since 1985 (and have had only one winning season since '95), and so we're consistently reminded of the need to create a winning culture.

     "We know that on April 1 our record goes back to zero, but winning as we have in the spring is definitely, I believe, a reflection of our talent and quality depth."

    Parity grips baseball. In the last two years alone, 13 of the 30 teams have made at least one postseason appearance. Nine teams have won the World Series in the last 12 seasons, and their average payroll rank has been 10th. Both Tampa Bay and Oakland, with the second lowest payrolls in 2011 and 2012, made the playoffs in those respective seasons.

    In addition, with a second wild card team in each league now qualifying for the playoffs, many more clubs have acquired playoff fever.

Whether Kansas City can unseat the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central is uncertain, but it's a wide open division otherwise, and the Royals have delivered a spring message.

   Building on the homegrown talent of Billy Butler and Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer, Moore took three offseason steps to strengthen the rotation, the development of pitching having failed to keep up with the development of position players as the Royals took advantage of generally high draft positions because of their poor finishes during the season.

   First, he acquired Ervin Santana from the Angels, then re-signed Jeremy Guthrie, who pitched well for the Royals after his mid-season acquisition last year, and, believing there is "still enough quality in the pipeline,"  traded one of the he top hitting prospects in baseball, Wil Myers, to Tampa Bay for starters James Shields and Wade Davis.

   "I feel like our younger, position players responded immediately," Moore said. "The rotation now has a presence to it, and our entire camp had a more stable feel and sense of stability.

   "The one thing that should allow our young players to continue to mature at their natural rate is the better starting pitcher. We should be able to compete more effectively from the first day to the last."

   Moore and staff took over in mid-season of 2006. Gordon and Butler were in double A, "and I thought we were looking at an eight to 10 year process of building from within and developing the waves of players that would allow us to make a move of the type we did in trading Wil Myers.

   "As I mentioned, it's a narrow window in which you have quality young players under club control or signed to long term contracts, and we felt we had reached the point where we could enhance that nucleus by creating a veteran presence in our rotation that would enable us to build a winning culture that the city has been without for too long--at least on the baseball field."

   A long tenure in baseball has taught me to approach spring results cautiously.

  However, there is no denying that the Royals have some attractive young players augmented by a stronger rotation, and 21-6 is impressive at any time of the year.

MLB Suit Against Drug Clinic Is Innovative, but...

2013-03-22T16:45:00.002-07:00

    By Ross Newhan

      Give Major League Baseball credit for determination and innovation.

      The suit that MLB has filed in a Florida state court against six former employees of a now defunct South Florida clinic alleged to have distributed performance enhancing drugs to an undisclosed number of major league players is a backdoor attempt to gain evidence that can possibly be used in suspending those players.

     MLB is accusing the six of damaging the sport in distributing PEDs to the players and is asking for at least $15,000 in compensation, but the money is secondary.

    If the suit is not dismissed, MLB will gain the subpoena power it does not now have and access to a variety of notebooks and documents maintained by the Biogenesis Clinic and at least some of the six people named in the suit, along with the right, of course, to depose the six, who are alleged in the suit to have "participated in a scheme to solicit major league players to purchase or obtain, and/or to sell, supply or otherwise make available to major league players substances that the defendants knew were prohibited under baseball's" drug testing program.

   There are no players named in the suit, but among those who have been linked to Biogenesis records in various media reports are the New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez, currently recovering from a second hip operation, and Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers, who was the National League's Most Valuable Player last year. Braun has insisted he has "nothing to hide" and that his only link to Biogenesis resulted from his attorneys using the clinic on a consulting basis when MLB charged Braun with a positive drug test last year and suspended him for 50 games. Braun claimed at the time that it was a false positive, appealed through arbitration, and had the suspension overturned on a chain of custody issue involving his urine sample.

   One of the six defendants in the MLB suit is Marcelo Albir, a former University of Miami teammate of Braun and Detroit minor leaguer Cesar Carrillo. The latter, who did not have the protection of the Major League Players Assn., because he was not on the Tigers' 40 man roster, was suspended for 100 games last week for violating the minor league drug policy. MLB did not cite specific violations, but Carrillo was one of six players named in the original Miami New Times report that first broke the Biogenesis story and, according to multiple reports, was uncooperative with MLB investigators.

   The suit by MLB comes after the New Times refused to turn over documents pertaining to the clinic and would seem to suggest that baseball investigators, lacking the legal requisites, have not acquired the documentary evidence or witness testimony necessary to discipline players in cases where there is no positive drug test.

  The suit is an unusual and aggressive step in MLB's continuing battle with doping, but whether it will move forward is uncertain.

  It cites, in part, "loss of goodwill, loss of revenue and profits and injury to its reputation, image, strategic advantage and fan relationships.''

Can that be proven in a period of record attendance and revenue even amid the doping brushfires and lingering ashes of the steroid era?

U.S. Failure in WBC Won't Stop Globalization; Dodgers/D-Backs Could Open in Australia Next Year

2013-03-18T17:10:00.001-07:00

      By Ross Newhan

      Baseball's global initiative will continue despite another failure by the U.S. team in the World Baseball Classic.

      In fact, the Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks are discussing the possibility of opening the 2014 season in Australia, a relaxing flight of about 15 hours.

     The irony in that is this: It's surprising any team is discussing anything with the Dodgers.

    If L.A.'s record payroll of $230 million hasn't annoyed the majority of organizations, owner Mark Wohlers upset many in the National League West with a recent USA Today interview bordering on braggadocio. I just returned from a Cactus League trip and spotted the interview on several clubhouse bulletin boards.

    Warner said that one of his goals was to win 14 straight division titles as the Atlanta Braves did in the former NL West except that he wants to do far better than Atlanta's one World Series win.

    "I want to be a team that people are not looking forward to playing unless they want to play the best," he said.

    I'm not sure there is anything wrong with an owner expressing high expectations, especially an owner who paid a record $2.15 billion for the franchise before building a record payroll.

   But as one division executive said to me: "Sometimes it's just better to let your team's play speak for itself."

   If the Dodgers and D-Backs open in Australia it will simply be a continuation of Commissioner Bud Selig's determination to stretch the game worldwide, reaping the licensing, merchandising and media benefits.

   It's just too bad that so many U.S. players, who share in the WBC wealth and globlalization of the game, aren't inspired inough to participate.

  It is understandable, to some degree, that they are drawn two ways, feeling a responsibility to the club that pays them as well as the opportunity to represent their country, but under the current plan the WBC is conducted only once ever four years, seemingly a chance not to be missed, as many of their foreign teammates recognized.

  What has been illustrated in the last two WBCs is that a U.S. team of second tier players at some positions can not automatically beat the animated Caribbean teams, the always difficult Japanese team and now the most advanced of the European countries, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which now boasts six academies and has sent 10 players to the majors. It is true that the U.S. may have advanced beyond the quarterfinals this spring except for injuries to David Wright and Mark Teixeira, inuries that could have happened in their spring camps or exhibition games, but the lack of depth and absence of too many powerful U.S. players took a toll.

   The U.S lost games to Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. A few U.S. players objected to the celebratory mannerisms of the Dominicans and Puerto Ricans, but as Dominican manager Tony Pena said, "We're not trying to show anybody up. We're just showing the emotion that is our culture."

   It will all be forgotten as players from the various countries rejoin their major league teams. The percentage of players born outside the U.S. on last year's opening day rosters was 28.4%, the second highest ever. Globalization rolls on, and the Dodgers and D-Backs may go a distance in showcasing the game next year, a possibility still being discussed.

Hurdles Mount for Yankees, but the Calendar Still Reads March

2013-03-06T16:35:00.001-08:00

           By Ross Newhan

           Even with the overall toughening of the American League East---with the rebuilt Toronto Blue Jays, the revived Baltimore Orioles, the always resilient Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox on the road to revitalization--it would be foolish to dismiss the New York Yankees in early March.

           Nevertheless, amid issues of age, departures and a seemingly inescapable series of injuries, it's hard not to speculate that the pin stripes could be more of a pin cushion.

          The latest hit came Wednesday with news that first baseman Mark Teixiera will be out eight to 10 weeks with a strained tendon in his right wrist, an injury that occurred Tuesday while hitting off a tee in the camp of the U.S.A. team that will play in the World Baseball Classic and, initially, was not believed to be that serious

          In an earlier exhibition game, outfielder Curtis Granderson suffered a broken right forearm when hit by a pitch and will be out a similar length of time. Granderson hit 43 home runs last year while Teixeira, in an off season, hit 24, meaning the Yankees will play into May without the power of two prominent hitters who combined for 67 home runs.

        Of course, that's only part of the hurdles facing the Yankees after an off season in which they failed to storm the free agent market with their usual abandon as George Steinbrenner turned over in his grave and sons Hank and Hal, with the payroll tax in mind, ordered their general manager, Brian Cashman, to get the payroll to $189 million by 2014, cedeing their normal No. 1 ranking to the record $230 million of the Dodgers.

      In the process, outfielder Nick Swisher (24 homers, 93 runs batted in), catcher Russell Martin (21 homers) and closer Rafael Soriano (42 saves as Mariano Rivera recovered from a torn ACL in May) all were allowed to leave as free agents.

     Rivera is now attempting to reclaim his closer role at 43, Derek Jeter, returning from a broken ankle suffered in the American League Chamionship Series, is attempting to prove he can still be the fulltime shortstop at 38, and then there's Alex Rodriguez, at 37, recovering from a second hip surgery and the Yankees, unsure if Rodriguez will be able to play at all this season, preferring to work out some form of buyout with A-Rod on the five years and $114 million he is still owed. Rodriguez also still has his alleged involvement with the Biogenesis clinic in South Florida hanging over him and it could be that Major League Baseball may find a way to suspend him without pay, earning gratitude from the Yankees.

   With all of that, 16 game winner Phil Hughes has a bulging disc and may open the season on the disabled list, GM Cashman broke his right leg while sky diving on behalf of chairity Monday, and Ichiro Suzuki totalled his SUV in a Florida traffic accident last week. The one bit of good news is that Ichiro was uninjured.

   So, there are the suddenly budget conscious Yankees, partially decimated by injuries and free agent departures, potentially weakened by age at key positions, and facing the realistic possibility that if they are out of the division race by mid season they might choose to make a move that their division rivals often face, trading a key player who will be eligible for free agency at the end of the season.

   In this case it's the Yankees best player, second baseman Robinson Cano, who is represented by the renowned (or is it dreaded?) Scott Boras, who almost never allows his players to sign a long term contract with their current club before testing the free agent market. The Cano issue/distraction is one more in a list of issues/distractions that have the rest of the division salivating over the possible fall of the Evil Empire, although on March 6 it's awfully early for anyone in the A.L. East to get giddy.

Angels Took Big Risk in Playing Salary Hardball With Trout

2013-03-03T10:11:00.001-08:00

     By Ross Newhan

     The contract renewal process in baseball is comparable to the sequester.

      It's ugly--or it can be if the club and player can't reach a compromised agreement through negotiation.

     The process generally affects players with less than three years of service time and are not eligible for salary arbitration.

     And it can prompt bitter and lasting feelings from the player and his agent if they contend the club's renewal salary is unfair, which is how agent Craig Landis termed the Angels renewal of Mike Trout at $510,000.

     In fact, Landis termed it well short of fair.

    At $510,000, the American League's Rookie of the Year in 2012--author of one of the most brilliant all around debuts in baseball history--will make only $20,000 (about 4%) above the 2013 minimum of $490,000.

    I recognize that $510,000 is $510,000 and, as General Manager Jerry Dipoto pointed out, baseball is generally criticized for paying players too much instead of not enough.

   In this case, however, given Trout's rookie season, the fact that he is already at the center of the Angels' marketing program (there are five giveaways during the coming season built around Trout), the risk inherent in alienating a player at the heart of their future, and the money that owner Arte Moreno pulls out of his wallet when he otherwise seems done for that year (see: Vladimir Guerrero or Josh Hamilton), that $20,000 raise is akin to playing hardball with a core player who was at their mercy.

   Dipoto simply toed the service time line

   "...the 0-to-3 class drives the boat," he told writers covering the club. "Mike understands how the system is set up, and he understands the benefits that come to him later."

It's a complicated, and often nasty, process.

The Colorado Rockies, for example, recently renewed the contracts of 21 young players and three other, more experienced players--Jeff Baker, Carlos Gonzales and Ryan Spillborghs.

The three are represented by the renowned Scott Boras, who has long argued against the renewal process and with whom the budget conscious Rockes had no interest in trying to bargain.

   Among the Angels,  Mark Trumbo, who has played for two years, signed for $540,00, the most of any Angels player with less than three years experience.

  If Dipoto pays Trout more than Trumbo, he faces criticism from Trumbo and his agent.

Trumbo has had two big seasons in the power category but he is not the player Trout is, and I suspect he recognizes the historical elements of Trout's rookie season and would have accepted Trout either surpassing his salary or, at the least, drawing even, which, at the least again, would seem to have been a fairer step by the Angels with their $160 million payroll and would not have sunk the 0-to-3 boat.

  Mike DiGiovanna, my former baseball writing colleague at the L.A. Times, reports that the last 10 rookies of the year made an average of 21% over the minimum salary in the following year. It is natural to think that Trout's 4% raise could come back to haunt the Angels when he gains bargaining power through arbitration and, especially, when he becomes eligible for free agency.

It is doubtful, however, that given his obvious joy at simply playing the game he would allow it to affect his performance in 2013, although multiple sources tell me he is not overly joyed at moving to left field, making room in center for Peter Bourjos.

"You could easily put yourself in a bad mood about it, but that's not me," Trout said of the renewal. "I like to play baseball....(and) my time will come."

   It will indeed.

Claire's Payrolls: Another Time and Era Compared to $230 Million

2013-02-19T13:37:00.002-08:00

       By Ross Newhan

       It is no surprise to any of the check signers among the new owners and management leaders with the Dodgers that their industry record payroll of $230 million has only guaranteed them a series of questions for which they hope to find answers in spring training. Nor is it a surprise that in the approximate 15 years since Peter O'Malley sold the team, ending the club's last period of stability and continuity, that baseball salaries and payrolls would have continued to inflate amid record revenue and attendance, internal revenue sharing, global merchandising and soaring TV contracts.

      Yet, that $230 million compared to what Fred Claire was working with in his last five full years as general manager under O'Malley is staggering--or as Claire said in a phone interview--"even when you consider the number of years and acknowledge that it would have been a surprise if salaries and payrolls wouldn't have continued to rise, the number is somewhere between surprising and shocking."

     Doing his own research and leaning on former assistant Robert Schweppe for help, Claire said the Dodger payroll over his last five full years totaled $194.7 million, a period in which Dodgers had the fifth best record in baseball and spent the second lowest amont of money.

    Instructed to stay under $48 million, the Dodgers had a 1994 payroll of $37,194 million to rank 10th, a 1995 payroll of $30,459 million to rank 18th, a 1996 payroll of $34,647 million to rank 12th and a 1997 payroll of $43,400 million to rank 11th.

   "There is only one thing by which to judge a season by and that's winning the World Series," Claire said. "Yet, there is a natural tendency to measure what you've accomplished against expenditure, and no matter what the payroll I was given, I never felt that was not a reason for not winning. I mean, the World Series is the prize, but we were leading the division when the strike cancelled the rest of the season in August of 1994, we reached the poast-season in 1995 and 1996, and we weren't eliminated until the next to last day of the 1997 season."

   The Dodgers have not won a World Series since 1988, Claire's second year after replacing Al Campanis, and the years since O'Malley sold and Claire was replaced under Fox in 1998 have been marked by increasing parity throughout the industry.

   In the last two years alone, 13 of the 30 teams have made at least one post-season appearance, and nine teams have won the World Series in the last 12 years, the average payroll of those teams ranking 10th.

   The big market teams still have more room for error in judgements, or as Claire said, "there is still a relationship between winning and payrolls, but it has become obvious that the biggest payroll doesn't guarantee the biggest prize."

   The Dodgers will be putting that to a test this year, but at $230 million they must first decide on a leadoff hitter, the health of Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp, the ability of Hanley Ramirez to play a full season at shortstop, the rotation after Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greineke and where they turn if Brandon League isn't the closer that his three year contract suggests he is.

   "I give the Dodgers a lot of credit," Claire said. "The new owners came in expressing a desire to win, to improve the team and to improve the fan experience. They have backed up their words.

   "The signings make the headlines, but given what I know of Stan Kasten's background in Atlanta and based on what he has said, I know he understands that you can't neglect the other part. The importance of scouting, player development and consistency of philosophy and personnel are as old as the game and as important.

    "I give the Angels credit because they understand that their farm system is the foundation of the team despite the big signings of the last couple years, and you can see that the Dodgers understand with the moves they have made to strengthen their international signings."

    Kasten has insisted that the Dodgers do not intend to sustain a $230 million payroll. Who knows? Given baseball's rate of inflation, it could go up before it goes down.

Piazza's Rap on Scully Doesn't Ring True

2013-02-14T09:54:00.003-08:00

    By Ross Newhan

    No one is perfect, including Vin Scully.

    The iconic Dodger broadcaster is not a complete journalist, and has never claimed to be.

    He is paid handsomely by the Dodgers, and has always believed his primary role is to report developments in the game of that day or night. Off the field controversies affecting the club or players do not fall in his purview, he frequently told me in the years I covered the Dodgers and travelled with the team or covered the industry overall as national baseball columnist of the Los Angeles Times.

    This is not to say that there aren't times that Scully may make a point statistically, leaving the viewer/listener to read into it what he/she will, but the complete reporter?

   When emotions boiled over, for instance, and Don Sutton and Steve Garvey wrestled in the then Shea Stadium clubhouse before a game between the Dodgers and Mets in 1978, neither Scully nor his late partner, Jerry Doggett, reported the incident during their broadcast that night.

    There are a myriad other examples of headline developments involving ownerships or players that were basically ignored or received only a cursory mention in the Dodger broadcasting booth.

    I bring all this up because of a claim by Mike Piazza in his new book, "Long Shot", that Scully, in his broadcasts, turned fans against him during the catcher's 1998 contract stalemate with the Dodgers that preceded his trade to the Florida Marlins in May of that year, a trade that arguably ranks with the trading of Pedro Martinez as the worst in L.A. Dodger history.

   Given Scully's view of his function and job it is difficult to accept Piazza's interpretation, memory or insinuation that the broadcaster would have conducted a campaign against him.

   Piazza, who was eligible for free agency after the 1998 season and hoped to stay with the club, reiterates in the book that he set a Feb. 15 deadline for a new contract and that Scully asked him about the negotiations in a spring interview.

   "He wasn't happy about it," Piazza wrote of Scully, "and Scully's voice carried a great deal of authority in Los Angeles."

    Piazza details the negotiations in his book, confirming what Jason Reid as the club's beat reporter for The Times had written then, or I had in my overview column.

    He then writes in his book:

    "The way the whole contract drama looked to (the fans)--many of whom were traking their cue from Scully--was that by setting a deadline and insisting on so much money ($105 million initially), I was demonstrating a conspicuous lack of loyalty to the ball club. I understood that."

     The Dodgers were willing to make Piazza the highest paid player in baseball with a multi-year offer of $76 million, but the catcher ripped the club in an opening day interview with the Times and also went hitless in his first four games.

    None of that played well with the fans, Piazza wrote, and added, "on top of that, Vin Scully was crushing me."

    Scully, in a Thursday story in The Times, denied all of that, said he could not recall the spring interview with Piazza, and "as God is my judge, I don't get involved in these things. I can't imagine I would ever put my toe in the water as far as a player and his negotiations. I have no idea where he is coming from.... I'm really flabbergasted."

    It was a tumultuous period. Given the Pizza contract issue and the fact that Fox had only recently bought the club from Peter O'Malley, I was at the ballpark almost every night. I certainly did not hear all of Scully's broadcast during this period.

However, given his philosophy and approach to ongoing controversies of the Piazza type, and not recalling anyone telling me Piazza was taking a beating on the air, the book interpretation just doesn't ring true.

    Six weeks after the start of the '98 season Piazza was traded to Florida by Fox executive Chase Cary, going behind General Manager Fred Claire's back, and was traded by the Marlins to the Mets about a month later, signing a seven year, $91 million contract in 1999.

    Unlike many books in the player genre, Pizza's (written in collaboration with Lonnie Wheeler), touches on several headline subjects and is worth reading.

    I just don't buy the Scully rap.



        .

The Steroid Era Rolls On, and Who Believes the Denials Anymore?

2013-02-07T18:02:00.002-08:00

      By Ross Newhan

      Baseball's steroid era plods on--synthetics, human growth hormone, deer antler spray--and the only way to slow it, as I wrote recently.is to stiffen the penalties, as many players have supported in calls and letters to their union.

     The names of fourteen players--led by Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun (whose explanation seems to challenge belief)--have emerged from the notebooks and records of Tony Bosch, a clinician at the now closed Biogenesis Clinic in South Florida, and it is believed there are more names to come.

     It's another major hit to baseball, whose investigators are scouring the Miami area and meeting with editors of the Miami News Times, a weekly publication that broke the initial story, in an effort to obtain any and all material that the News Times retains.

     The investigators are also following two tracks.

   One leads to the University of Miami, where the strength and conditioning coach, Jimmy Goins, is alleged to have ordered performance enhancers from Biogenesis.

   Four of the 14 players whose names have been revealed to this point---Braun, Baltimore second baseman Danny Valencia, San Diego catcher Yasmani Grandal and Detroit minor league pitcher Cesar Carrillo--played at Miami, and Rodriguez has donated about $4 million to the program. The university is conducting its own investigation.

    The second track leads to Seth and Sam Levinson, whose firm, ACES, represents five of the 14 players identified to this point. The Levinsons released a lengthy statement denying any dealings with Bosch and Biogenesis, insisting they would never advise a player to try a PED or condone the use of a PED.

   However, the Bosch notes, according to material that has surfaced so far, contain the names of Goins and a former Levinson employee, Juan Nunez, who may have provided Melky Cabrera with the enhancers that led to a positive test and his 50 game suspension with the San Francisco Giants last year.

   Much of Bosch's notes take two forms:

   --Either outlining the PEDs that were provided and/or injected a player (and when), such as in the Rodriguez situation...

   --Or denoting money apparently paid or owed Bosch, whose father, Dr. Pedro Bosch, wrote the prescription that got Manny Ramirez suspended in 2009.

   Rodriguez, through his crises management firm, has denied any involvement with Bosch or his clinic and accused baseball of conducting a "witchhunt" designed to drive him out of the game.

In the case of Braun, the figure $14,000, is listed by his name, and the Milwaukee outfielder has said in explanation that last year, when his lawyers were researching an appeal of his 50 game suspension as the result of a positive test for elevated testosterone--an appeal he won based on a technicality in the handling of his urine sample--his attorneys were familiar with Bosch and hired him as a consultant. One of the attorneys, David Cornwell, has since, in reaction to the Braun statement, said that he had no previous knowledge of Bosch, and the question lingers, even if there was previous knowledge, why they would hire an alleged clinician from a clinic with which Braun insists he has never had any dealings rather than a doctor or expert familiar with chain of custody issues?

  The beat goes on, and there is no predicting how this will play out for any of the 14 named so far.

   Two, Cabrera and Bartolo Colon, drew 50 game suspensions last year for positive tests, and Grandal, the promising Padres catcher, will miss the first 50 games of the upcoming season because of a positive test.

    It is clearer than ever that this remains an era without end, and if more evidence of that is needed, Curt Schilling supplied some on yet another front Thursday, another situation that baseball has said it will investigate.

   Schilling, retired since 2009, said that while battling a shoulder injury with Boston in 2008, an employee no longer with the Red Sox, suggested he try a banned supplement.

   "It was embarrassing to me because that is something I wouldn't do and because other people were present and heard him," Schilling said, adding to the embarrassment that is the daily reading material provided by Tony Bosch.

A Stiffer Drug Penalty Should Accompany Stiffer Protocols

2013-02-01T09:48:00.002-08:00

      By Ross Newhan

      I've been trying to figure out which is the most reckless:

     1. Doing somersaults and other tricks in a 450 pound snowmobile?

     2. Arming every teacher with a gun?

    3. Watching baseball try to eradicate the use of PEDs with tougher protocols and testing as chemists stay ahead of the game in legitimate and illegitimate laboratories and hunters provide deer antlers for spray and pills containing the banned IGF-1?

    Admittedly, all three are pretty reckless, but every time I venture away from baseball the wolves come out, so for the purpose of the blog I will go with No. 3, first recognizing and giving credit to the industry for having the toughest drug program in professional sports.

    I also recognize that total eradication will probably never happen.

   However, an increase in the number of 2012 suspensions--seven major leaguers and 104 minor leaguers--and the current investigation into the Miami clinic that allegedly provided Alex Rodriguez and six other players with synthetic testosterone (and other banned products) gives rise to the belief that the tougher protocols initiated recently should be accompanied by tougher penalties.

    Under the current agreement between management and the union, a first positive test calls for a 50 game suspension without pay, a second positive results in a 100 game suspension without pay, and a third brings a lifetime ban.

    Three strikes and you are out. Isn't that the way the game is played?

   Well, maybe this one should be reduced to two strikes.

   A 100 game suspension without pay for the first positive test, and a lifetime ban for the second.

Too tough?

Well, the way it is now, you can cheat fans, teammates and the game--statistically, financially and otherwise--over a period of several years (assuming you are dumb enough to keep using and assuming it takes that long for three tests to turn up positive), but don't bet on the game or you are through for life.

  Shoeless Joe Jackson, at the heart of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, will never get in the Hall of Fame despite judged innocent in court.

  By this time it seems clear that Pete Rose--the alltime hit leader--will never have his gambling ban lifted, although I personally feel that enough is enough despite originally agreeing with the ban.

Gambling carries a dangerous and implied threat to the outcome of games, but so does cheating by the use of performance enhancing drugs, and it is an insult to teammates who don't cheat.

Yes, the current agreement gives Commissioner Bud Selig authority to suspend a player for "just cause," and the penalty system includes a heavy salary hit, but in most major league cases the player still takes home a healthy check.

  There are myriad examples. Among the most recent, Melky Cabrera, suspended 50 games last year while with San Francisco, still cleared more than $4 million, and his PED use didn't stop Toronto for signing him to a two year contract for more than $8 million.

   The union would undoubtedly fight a "two strikes and out" penalty. Only Congressional pressure forced Don Fehr, then the union's executive director, to accept negotiation on a testing program and then only after a year of sample testing in which positive test results had to come in over a certain percentage.

Marvin Miller, who built the union, went to his grave arguing that the union should never have accepted testing because it violated civil rights and there was no proof that steroids or other drugs improved performance despite the dramatic change, for one, in Barry Bonds' physique and power.

   Michael Weiner, the union's current executive director , has shown a tendency to be more amenable on a variety of negotiated subjects, but that doesn't mean "two strikes and out" would be acceptable.

   Should it?

Given the belief that a 100 game suspension followed by a lifetime ban--a dramatically more stark penalty--might prompt a potential cheat to think twice, the answer here is yes.                .

2013-01-29T13:12:00.001-08:00

Baseball Faces New Drug Issue, As First Hinted at In This Blog

2013-01-29T13:11:00.003-08:00

        By Ross Newhan

        As I wrote in a Nov. 28 blog, Baseball was nervously girding for a new steroid era built around synthetic testosterone, and was negotiating with the players union on a new and tougher testing program aimed at the synthetics. That program--featuring a stiffer synthetic protocol and in season blood testing for human growth hormone--has been in place now for several weeks, but it comes too late to forestall the potential indication of sweeping synthetic use.

     The Miami News Herald, a weekly publication citing information in the personal notebooks of a former employee of a since closed Miami "wellness" clinic, named Alex Rodriguez and five other baseball players as having used or deeply investigated performance enhancing drugs. The notebooks belonged to Anthony Bosch, the director of the since closed Biogenesis clinic. Bosch, according to two baseball sources familiar with the industry's investigation of the Biogenesis and other South Florida clinics, confirmed to me Tuesday morning that Bosch is not licensed to practice medicine in Florida and is the son of Pedro Bosch, who was Manny Ramirez's doctor when Ramirez, then with the Dodgers, was prompted to drop his appeal of a 2009 testosterone suspension when baseball investigators unearthed a testosterone prescription from Pedro Bosch.

     The notebooks belonging to Anthony Bosch portray Rodriguez as a serial drug user despite his 2009 denials, according to the News Herald, and also name Toronto outfielder Melky Cabrera, San Diego catcher Yasmani Grandal, Texas outfielder Nelson Cruz, Washington pitcher Gio Gonzalez and former San Diego pitcher Cesar Carillo. Cabrera, then with the San Francisco Giants, drew a 50 game suspension last year when he tested positive for elevated testosterone and ultimately gave up the National League batting title. The promising Grandal will miss the first 50 games of the 2013 season for a similarly positive test.

    The notebooks, according to the sources I talked to, provide detailed information on doping in several sports, lacerate in depth the last bit of credibility that Rodriguez has tried to sustain and could result in criminal accusations or suspensions. Both Rodriguez, facing the possibility that the already fed up Yankees could attempt to void his longterm contract because of continued drug use, and Gonzalez have denied connections to the clinic.

    Under the Joint Drug Agreement between baseball and the union, the commissioner can enforce disciplinary action against a player for "just cause" where there is a violation not specifically mentioned in the agreement. PED use, purchase and/or prescriptions fall under that umbrella. This promises to be a moving story but should not come as a surprise to readers of the blog.

Weaver and Musial: The Loss of Two Legends

2013-01-20T09:09:00.001-08:00

       By Ross Newhan

       The Baltimore Orioles under Earl Weaver, even as the names changed, had to rank as one of the 10 best teams of the last 50 years, and Stan Musial, Stan the Man of the St. Louis Cardinals and the real El Hombre as Albert Pujols insisted in reaction to those Angel billboards, had to rank as one of the 10 best hitters ever.

      Weaver died Friday night, and Musial died Saturday.

      Two giants of the game with differing personalities.

      There was the pugnacious Weaver who battled players and umpires, and there was the mild Musial, who seemed to take as much delight in pulling out his harmonica and playing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," as he did in discussing his Hall of Fame career, the fourth player elected to the Cooperstown museum on the first ballot.

      In the years that I covered the Dodgers and baseball in general--first in Long Beach and then at the Los Angeles Times--I did not see Musial play in person.

     I did chat with him a few times at the old Busch Stadium in St. Louis and I recall asking him if it was true that he could discern the nature of a pitch in the split second it left the pitcher's hand, as Ted Williams claimed he could see the seams on the ball, see it hit the bat.

    "Well," said Musial, "studying pitchers was a key to my sucess. I don't know about seeing the seams, but I became so familiar with the pitchers that I could tell what a pitch was almost immediately and I was able to adjust my swing by the time it reached the plate."

    He had a .331 career batting average, won three Most Valuable Player awards, played on three World Series teams, was consistent to the remarkable point of collecting 1,815 hits at home and the same number on the road, and never struck out more than 46 times in a 22 year career (and those 46 were in his next to last season).

   Who needed steroids when you had the eyesight of Williams and Musial, and to a degree there has to be grudging respect for Barry Bonds in the same regard.

Steroids helped inflate his physique and double his normal home run totals, but he still had to see the ball and hit it.

What impact steroids had on that basic fact is uncertain. Bonds cheated and made the most of it.

  Williams and Musial had no need for the cream, even if it had existed then.

In the years that I covered the Angels and baseball in general--in Long Beach and then at The Times--I had many pre- and post-game talks with the always quotable, biting and crusty Weaver, who loved to tell reporters that his tombstone should read: "The sorest loser who ever lived."

  He preached the "three run homer" and had the hitters who could produce it, supported during many of his 17 years at the Orioles' helm by one of the best rotations ever.

  Weaver led the Orioles to four American League pennants and one World Series title, and his cap turned, gesticulating arguments with umpires were/are video highlights. He was ejected 94 times, a figure far surpassed by Bobby Cox's record 158.

If those umpire debates are not among the first things that come to mind when thinking of Weaver, his long feud--real at times and, perhaps,cinematic at others--with stubborn and perfectionist Hall of Fame pitching ace Jim Palmer shares billing.

  Each took delight in getting under the skin of the other, or as Palmer once famously said, "The only thing Weaver knows about a curveball is that he coudln't hit one."

   The basic fact is that Palmer teared up and broke up when speaking of his Hall of Fame manager during an impromptu news conference at the Orioles' Fanfest on Saturday, and Weaver is known to have told every young pitcher who tried to break into the club's rotation that he should go about it the way Palmer does--in both preparation and performance (the latter, of course, being almost impossible given that Palmer would win 264 games).

  The basic fact, too, is that the passing of Weaver and Musial has left the baseball landscape much less than it had been.

Credit Baseball for Continued Advance on Drugs

2013-01-11T10:20:00.003-08:00

       By Ross Newhan

       The Commissioner and Players Union may have been tardy in reacting to the spread of steroids and performance enhancing substances, but they deserve credit for accelerating the pace to an extent that baseball now has the most comprehensive testing program in U.S. professionnal sports.

       The latest improvements, as agreed to by Bud Selig (through his labor leader Rob Manfred) and the union's executive director, Michael Weiner, is highlighted by in-season blood tests aimed at detecting human growth hormone and a more rigorous protocol aimed at unmasking the development of synthetic testosterone.

       I reported in my blog of Nov. 28 that there was widespread industry concern about the development of synthetics and that the union and commissioner's office was negotiating a testing program designed to better detect the unending work of unethical chemists trying to stay ahead of the game.

     For baseball, it's a constant process that may never be totally perfect, but give the Commissioner and union appropriate recognition for continuing to work at it.

    X

   SCOUTS DINNER

   One of the highlights of the baseball off-season will be held Saturday night at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza: The 10th annual dinner/auction known as the "Spirit of the Game" and sponsored by the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation.

   The event was the branchild of Los Angeles insurance man and philanthropist Dennis Gilbert, and has helped dozens of scouts--a transient and indispensible profession--through periods of illness and unemployment. Harrison Ford will be among the presenters, and Vin Scully, Jim Palmer and Ferguson Jenkins are only a few of the baseball luminaries who will be honored. Ticket inquiries: 818 224-3906.

Justifiably, Bonds and Clemens Face Long Climb to Hall of Fame Election

2013-01-09T13:06:00.004-08:00

     By Ross Newhan

     It is clear that the steroid era impacted virtually every candidate on the Hall of Fame ballot, arguably the most controversial ever. No one was elected in the vote by eligible members of the Baseball Writers Assn. of America. What this means for Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, easily the two most acclaimed players linked--authoritatively and circumstantially--to performance enhancing drugs, is difficult to decipher.

    In their first year on the ballot and needing 75% of the more than 600 votes, Clemens, the only pitcher to win seven Cy Young Awards, received 37.6% .and Bonds, the only player to receive seven Most Valuable Player Awards, received 36.2%. In other words, two thirds of the electorate did not vote for either, but was that simply a first ballot statement by many voters or a telling and significant indication they will never receive 75%?

    Both have a long climb and are eligible to remain on the ballot for 15 years as long as they receive at least 5% of the vote.

    In other words, the Hall of Fame election is a process, and it is possible that some votes may have simply deferred possible support for Bonds and Clemens.

    This was the eighth time in voting history that no one was elected by the BBWAA and the first time since 1996, when six players on that ballot ultimately climbed to 75%. It is also noteworthy that only 21% of all Hall of Fame members were elected on the first ballot. Even Joe DiMaggio had to wait.

    Neither Bonds nor Clemens made my ballot and never will. The evidence of PED use by both is monumental, a shame given that it seems safe to say that both would be first ballot selections save for the cheating.

   Yet, both did better in the voting than Sammy Sosa, a stalwart of the steroid era who hit 609 home runs, reportedly tested positive for a PED and received only 12.9% of the vote, leaving him with virtually no chance to be elected. Two other players once thought to have a chance but firmly associated with the era through admission or testing continued to slide towards the end of the ballot: Mark McGwire at 16.9% and Rafael Palmeiro at 8.8%

   My ballot listed Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Jack Moris, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling and Lee Smith.

   Biggio finished first in the voting at 68.2%, missing by only 39 votes. Morris, in his next to last year on the ballot, moved by up only 1% to 67.7, a disappointment.

  Piazza and Bagwell, both victims of the rampant suspicions that clouded the steriod era, have a shot at the 75% in time.

  Piazza, in his first year on the ballot, got 57.8%, and Bagwell, in his third year, received 59.6% .

  Schilling, a 216 game winner whose post-season record is among the best in history and whose strikeout to walk ratio IS the best, got only 38.8%, and, like Morris, may have a tough time climbing significantly next year since Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Mike Mussina are among the pitchers eligible for the first time.

  Only 10 players can be listed on a ballot and that impacts the procedure. For Bonds and Clemens, next year's percentages could be more telling in relation to their eventual shot at election.

  The Cooperstown Museum may not be a Hall of Saints, but it is impossible for me to condone the cheating that twisted the statistics of an era and a sport's history.

Angels and Dodgers Play 'Can You Top This?'

2012-12-14T10:06:00.002-08:00

       By Ross Newhan

       It was foolish to think that Angel owner Arte Moreno was through after Joe Blanton, particularly when Zach Greinke made his departure official by signing with that other Los Angeles team for $149 million.

      The Angels and Dodgers are playing an expensive and dangerous game of "Can You Top This?"

     Moreno's response to Greinke was a shocker, the five year, $125 million signing of Josh Hamilton, the premier hitter on the free agent market, coming out of the blue, although it had been quietly in the works for several days, even as General Manager Jerry DiPoto insisted nothing major was imminent after his comparatively quick signing of four pitchers--Blanton, Tommy Hanson, Sean Burnett and Ryan Madson--to bolster the rotation (devoid of Dan Haren and Ervin Santana) and bullpen.

    Now Moreno can plaster all those billboards throughout the Dodger market with a new El Hombre, Hamilton replacing Albert Pujols and featuring a plug for the Hamilton movie that is already in production.

    The story of Hamilton's career--his struggle with drug and alcohol addiction and the years he missed because of it--has been chronicled. He has had two known relapses, is required to take three drug tests a week and, in six years with the Texas Rangers, accrued more than 500 at bats only three times. Yet, he never failed to hit fewer than 30 home runs or drive in 100 runs, and last year, despite a second half falloff and some erratic play in the playoffs, he hit 43 homers and drove in 128 runs.

    C.J. Wilson, his former Texas teammate, spoke highly of Hamilton and the bonus of a mellow Anaheim environment to Moreno when the Angel owner was contemplating that pursuit, according to a club source who was not authorized to speak on the record, and, at 31, the left handed slugger will now provide balance to a predominantly right handed lineup--and more. He provides DiPoto with the opportunity to trade Mark Trumbo (which is doubtful) or Peter Bourjos (more likely) for a front line pitcher (initial speculation has centered on R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets and Rickey Nolasco of the Miami Marlins), and he gives the Angels an explosive lineup that features Mike Trout leading off, Pujols and Hamilton batting third and fourth, and Trumbo hitting fifth, if he stays as expected. With a rebuilt rotation behind Jered Weaver and Wilson, there may be more games in which the Angels will simply have to outscore the opposition, and the only lineup question involves the No. 2 spot with Torii Hunter having gone to Detroit as a free agent.

    There is some belief, according to industry sources, that this trade was made by Moreno and club president John Carpino despite opposition of the top executives in the baseball department, and the deal came as a shock to the Rangers and to the popular Hunter, who wanted to stay in Anaheim and whose first reaction was that he had been lied to by the Angels when they told him they didn't have the financial resources. The Rangers, who have won three straight American League West titles at the frustrated expense of the Angels, were angered that--despite admittedly offering fewer years and dollars than Hamtilon received--they were not given a chance at a final negotiation and only called after a long period of silence to be told by Hamilton he was going to Anaheim.

     In my last blog I wrote that the free spending of the new Dodger owners should be welcomed after the tumultuous and sometimes penurious ownerships of News Corp. and Frank McCourt. However, the Dodger payroll is now over $200 million with more roster spots still to be signed, and the Angels, with Hamilton at $25 million per year, headed for a club record payroll, although there will be relief in 2014 when Vernon Wells is gone.

     Wells, of course, is an example of an expensive deal gone bad, and for all of Moreno's and Mark Walter's bank accounts, for all of the TV money that will soon be rolling in, there comes a time when enough is enough, although the fight over the L.A. market may have no end.

Were the New Dodger Owners Not Supposed to Spend?

2012-12-09T18:59:00.001-08:00

            By Ross Newhan

            So, what is another $183 million, the Dodgers' latest outlay, not counting the $25.7 million posting fee they had to pay the South Korean league for the negotiating rights to Ryu Hyun-jin, who beat Sunday's deadline by agreeing to a six year, $36 million contract?.

   The deal with Ryu came a few hours after the Dodgers reached agreement on a six year, $147 million contract with Zack Greinke, which made him the highest paid right handed pitcher in baseball history--eclipsing Matt Cain's five year, $112.5 million extension of last April--and who now has the highest average annual salary (among pitchers) of $24.5 million, surpassing C.C. Sabathia's $23 million a year.

These latest two signings, lifting the multi-year salary commitments since Mark Walter and his partners took over as the Dodger owners to about $630 million and assuring that their 2013 payroll will be the highest in baseball at more than $200 million (it was less than $100 million in Frank McCourt's last season as owner), is bound to create some raised decibels among other owners, but what is/was Walter and Co. to do?

   Spending $2.1 billion on a flag franchise that was operating at half mast and required restoration as an organization and market at a time when there was virtually no help in the farm system, the new owners have had little choice but to demonstrate they are dedicated to that restoration and understand it had to be done quickly.

   For all of their spending, of course, the Dodgers aren't guaranteed of anything except that Manager Don Mattingly will be carrying a lot of pressure.

The New York Yankees have produced a $200 million plus payroll in each of the last five years and won only one World Series.

   Can Ryu, 25, jump from Seoul to a major league rotation? Does Greinke have the mental fortitude to cope with that record contract and his premier status given that he has coped with mental issues in the past?

   At $200 million plus, there are other questions. The left side of the Dodger infield hinges on Hanley Ramirez proving he can play shortstop. There is no bonafide leadoff hitter, and left fielder Carl Crawford needs to prove he can still be Carl Crawford.

   But should the Dodgers have left Greinke go elsewhere and not taken a chance on Ryu?

Should they have not made that blockbuster trade with Boston even if, in the long term, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is the only meaningful part of it?

    With Clayton Kerhsaw and Greinke at the top of the rotation, and possibly Chad Billingley, Josh Beckett, and Ryu forming the rest of it (where Chris Capuano, Ted Lilly and Aaron Harang fit in isn't clear), the Dodgers may have a rotation potentially competitive with that of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants. .

   They are also in the verge of a multi-billlion dollar TV deal with either Fox or Time-Warner, presuming they don't initiate their own network.

   The point is that the new owners set a record to buy in, recognizing the market's and brand's potential. They have recognized, as well, what had to be done and the time frame in which it had to be done. The TV potential, restoration of the fan base, eventual revitalization of the stadium and the internal strengthening of the front office aimed at improving domestic and international scouting will ultimately pay off to a larger extent than all these pay outs.

In the aftermath of the sordid News Corp. and McCourt ownerships, I don't see where the club's rooters have anything to complain about, despite the ruckus that some in the industry may create.

If Moreno Has Drawn a Line, What in the World Are the Yankees Doing?

2012-12-06T10:21:00.000-08:00

       By Ross Newhan

       Baseball's winter meetings ended Thursday, but the head shaking signings will continue, and two things are now clear:

       1. Arte Moreno may have a new TV contract, which admittedly was why he felt comfortable committing $317.5 million to Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson last winter, but he apparently won't let the 2013 Angels surpass last year's record payroll of $159 million.

      2. Hank and Hal Steinbrenner have tightened the New York Yankees budget to such an extreme that their late dad, Boss George, must be screaming from his unknown location, be it heaven or hell.

     The Yankees, whose industry high payroll has topped $200 million in each of the last five years while producing only one World Series title, are not hiding the fact that they are determined to be under the 2014 luxury tax threshold of $189 million, taking advantage of financial covenants in the . collective bargining agreement.

   The 2013 lineup will include some familiar faces such as Derek Jeter, Mark Texeira, Robinson Cano and Mariano Rivera back as closer after losing a year to surgery, but it isn't going to be the intimidating Wall Street of the Bronx. They have gaping holes at catcher (they wouldn't match the two year, $17 million contract Pittsburgh gave Russell Martin), at third base (while Alex Rodriguez recovers from a second hip operation that will sideline him until mid season or longer) and in right field (where they refused to meet the years and financial requests of Nick Swisher).

  Typical of the Yankees' new financial restraints is the situation at third base.

  They let Eric Chavez leave as a free agent (he signed a $3 million contract with Arizona) and they refused to give free agent Jeff Keppinger a three year contract that he then received from the Chicago White Sox at $12 million. Chavez and Keppinger are utility types who don't resemble Rodriguez (even the fading Rodriguez) but they were cheap alternatives in a market not overflowing with third basemen. Now, Kevin Youkilis may end up there, and Nate Schierholtz, who has never hit more than nine home runs in a season, may be the inexpensive replacement for Swisher's 24.

   At the winter meetings, renown agent Scott Boras told reporters he couldn't speak for the Yankees, but he then couldn't resist doing just that.

"I think the model to be a Goliath is wholly different than the approach they're taking," he said. "They're reducing their payroll from past practices, despite record revenues in the $800-$900 million area, and frankly, when you look at the collective bargaining agreement, their reason for doing it, (given) the value of their brand, has to be looked at very closely."

   Responded Yankee President Randy Levine: Scott's a great agent, but he's an agent. Last I looked, he had zero experience running a professional sports team. I think the Yankees have done pretty well following our own course. My advice to Scott is stick to your day job representing players."

   Boras, however, isn't alone in wondering about the Yankees' motivation given their flagship status and industry high revenues, which were further enhanced recently by a reported $420 million check from News Corporation as a part of a complex deal that enabled Rupert Murdoch's company to buy a 49% equity stake in the club's YES network.

   The Angels' new TV deal may surpass $4 billion with built-in options but Moreno seems to have drawn a line. They have apparently withdrawn from the pursuit of Zack Greinke, initially thought to be their No. 1 winter objective, and gone a much more modest route. To this point they have added starters Tommy Hanson (who has gone backwards from his once thought of ace potential) in a trade with Atlanta and the homer vulnerable Joe Blanton for a questionable two years and $15 million as a free agent, in addition to relievers Sean Burnett and Ryan Madson.

   The Angels could be through, in fact, since general manager Jerry DiPoto seems to have satisfied his stated goal of flushing out a pitching staff now devoid of Ervin Santana, Dan Haren and Jordan Waldon. The Yankees still have holes to fill, but who would have thought they'd be looking only for bargains?

In Baseball, the Fiscal Cliff Is A Molehill

2012-12-05T10:27:00.001-08:00

       By Ross Newhan

       Will Congress or the free spending major league baseball owners go over the fiscal cliff first?
       Trick question.
       With the industry's soaring TV revenue--collectively and individually--the clubs, for the most part, continue to make a molehill out of any potential cliff as they continue to dole out multi-year contracts of a head shaking nature. An average annual value of $13 million or more is now common-place. A player making less is second tier, perhaps utility. The average salary of $3.4 million at the end of the 2012 season could surpass $4 million by the start of the 2013 season.
      As Mike DiGiovanna, my former baseball writing colleague at the Los Angeles Times exclaimed in an e-mail this week: "What a country!"
      Mike had two former Angels in mind: Mike Napoli and Dan Haren.
     Napoli received a three year $39 million contract from the Boston Red Sox. He will catch and play first base, neither of which he does very well. His primary assignment will be to use the towering Citgo sign beyond the left field monster at Fenway Park for target practice. At $13 million a year he owes a thank you note if not a case of champagne to Angel manager Mike Sioscia, whose disbelief in his catching ability prompted the team to trade him in 2011, a haunting decision.
     Haren labored through 2012 at 12-13, battling physical issues at times. The Angels did not pick up his $15.5 million option, but the Washington Nationals didn't hesitate giving the 32 year right hander a $13 million contract. Haren, however, will actually receive $16.5 million since the Angels still owe him a holiday token of $3.5 million.
     What a country indeed.
     How about the Red Sox also giving Shane Victorino a three year, $39 million contract to play right field? Victorino's main job is to get on base and steal. He is still capable of that latter task, but getting on base has become increasingly difficult as exemplified by miserable on-base percentages of .324 and .316 with Philadelphia and the Dodgers last season.
    Consider, as well, Angel Pagan, always a utility outfielder before helping San Francisco win the World Series last season. The Giants initially wanted to retain Pagan for two years, but to get him for two years in a competitive market they had to give him four years for a numbing $40 million.
    Even the Pittsburgh Pirates have been at it, giving former Dodger and New York Yankee catcher Russell Martin a two year, $17 million contract coming off a season in which he hit .211, although he also hit 21 home runs.
     The beat goes on, and the two prizes of this year's free agent class, outfielder Josh Hamilton and pitcher Zach Greinke, haven't even signed yet, and a second tier of pitchers, including Anibal Sanchez, Kyle Lohse, Edwin Jackson, Ryan Dempster and Shaun Marcum, have their wallets eagerly out and ready, waiting for Greinke to set a bar of sorts.
      Over the years, I suppose, we have become immune to the numbers.
     Last year, with the Angels on the verge of a new TV deal, they gave $317.5 million to Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, and then the new owners of the Dodgers sent their payroll to $200 million with that blockbuster trade with Boston knowing, as well, a new TV contract (being estimated at $6 billion)  was around the corner.
    Now, both the Dodgers and Angels are battling over Greinke, while that fiscal cliff gets flattened by deals that make you wonder and others--for example David Wright agreeing to an eight year, $138 million extension with the New York Mets and conservative Tampa Bay giving Evan Longoria a six year extension at $100 million--that fit the ho hum category. I mean, by comparison, why not?