Miscellaneous stuff I found interesting this morning:
- Japanese pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, who the Cubs pursued, for a time, both last offseason and this, signed a 3-year, $35.3 million deal with the Dodgers over the weekend. SBN's Dodger blog TrueBlueLA says the Dodgers got an older, more expensive Kyle Lohse.
- Bud Selig wants HGH testing. One US congressman says he may introduce legislation to give him that by law, or at least mandate some sort of drug testing for professional athletes, even while saying: "Let's be frank, this is not the No. 1 issue for the American people." And, if you think a HGH test is not yet available, think again.
- NL Manager of the Year Bob Melvin has been signed to a three-year contract extension by the Diamondbacks.
- Rick Morrissey spends column space today talking about Sammy Sosa's absence from the Mitchell Report and how that's wrong, because:
And Sammy? Clean as a whistle, according to his many fans. Must be, because his name didn't show up in the Mitchell report, they say.The "Big Three" to whom he refers are Sosa, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire. While it appears that Sosa may be among those who should have been on "The List", first, I am neither going to accuse nor exonerate him here, and second, as I wrote yesterday, the constant MSM focus on "naming names" misses the point -- which is that no matter who did or didn't do steroids or related PED's, the game has to be cleaned up, and the Mitchell Report gives some useful suggestions on how to at least get this started.
Are we to believe that, among the Big Three, only Sosa's numbers are legitimate? That Sosa came by his amazing power naturally? That his numbers suddenly jumped when he reached a certain age? That somehow those stunning numbers—numbers that are out of whack with baseball history—were the result of superior talent and work ethic?
As for "the numbers", which also appears to be a MSM focus, they are what they are. You can't wipe a decade's worth of stats out of the record books and pretend they didn't happen. They happened. Millions saw them happen. It will be up to us, and future generations, to decide what they mean in context. To Morrissey and others who continue to harp on "naming names", I'd suggest you stop and think about what the real issue is here.
- Jayson Stark has some thoughts about the difference in the reaction to Andy Pettitte's HGH admission over the weekend, and a similar admission by a certain NFL player.
- For those of us who don't like Scott Boras, A-Rod reveals he and his agent aren't on speaking terms.
- Interesting article from the NY Daily News about former Cub Moises Alou and the thoroughbred horses he owns in the Dominican Republic.
- Finally, Athletics Nation has a compendium of reader thoughts on who the A's should ask for if they do trade Joe Blanton; the Cubs aren't mentioned in that post as one of his possible destinations (Mariners, Indians, Mets, Reds are discussed).