Roger spoke with the media today and played a taped phone conversation with former trainer Brian McNamee. You can listen to the tape and watch the news conference below.
UPDATE: McNamee stands by his claims that Roger* juiced.
Full Video here
Tuesday is the day for the announcement of new Hall of Fame inductees. Here's what Rice has said about the process: "Things are not like they used to be; the players are not the same. You have to put guys in different categories and ask, 'What were those guys considered during their time? You can go back before the steroids; you can go back to Nautilus equipment, weights, more teams, smaller ballparks. There's a lot of things you can go back into. The question is, what kind of hitter was I? Did I do things for the team or more as an individual? I could have been more selfish, but when I played it was a team thing. If you tell a young guy now, you've got to hit 500 home runs to get to the Hall of Fame, he'd have to decide if he wants to do that."
It should be a close vote, maybe the 14th time will be a charm.
'07 Season: The Massachusetts native had no decisions last season but did pick up one save and had a 2.05 ERA in 44 appearances. He did not give up a hit during his last 4 regular season appearances and made the post-season roster where he saw action in each of the series. His post-season was not good; he had an ERA of 8.31 and he gave up a home run in game 4 of the World Series.
'08 Outlook: Delcarmen has a good fastball and an average changeup. He has earned himself a spot as a situational reliever in the pen and will be used for a late inning here and there an will occasionally fill in for Oki as the setup man. He needs to work on a better secondary pitch or he will have batters sitting on his fastball like they did during the post-season. He has good control and limits base runners making him a good candidate for late inning relief. He should build upon his successes from last year and become a reliable option for Tito out of the bullpen.
Clemens goes on 60 Minutes and tells Mike Wallace he is angry at his former trainer, shocked that Pettitte took HGH and was only injected with pain killers and B-12. He went on to say "I was eating Vioxx like it was Skittles," he said, adding that he has since been made aware of its dangers and will possibly discuss its effects with Congress next week." He also declared, "You will never see me pitch again." Just like Nixon I guess we won't have Clemens to kick around any more. What BS. He dodges the lie detector test by saying he "doen't know if they work" and still no lawsuit because it would cost too much, maybe we should take up a collection for Roger. The testimony under oath should be more interesting. With his constant statements of denial he may be able to get a job with the Clinton campaign.
UPDATE: Clemens files lawsuit against McNamee, maybe he is telling the truth.
Theo spoke with the media yesterday and said he has been back at work for a week but many of the GM's took this week off. The "Hot Stove" may heat up again Monday and we may see some new negotiations that have been moving at a snail's pace this off-season. Theo said that other deals are not being held up by the Santana negotiations even though he admitted it was a factor during the Winter Meetings. Theo is still in a bind; if he trades Coco now he is basically telling the Twins and Yankees that the Red Sox are out of the Santana sweepstakes. If he continues to wait on the Twins he may go into the regular season with 2 center fielders. Ellsbury will be the starter and Coco will platoon making it harder to trade him. At this point it would be good if a team like the Mets got Santana soon. This would allow the Sox make the necessary moves even though Theo says they are moving forward.
'07 Season: Julian was 7-11 with a 5.15 ERA for the Red Sox. He was a member of the rotation while the team waited on Lester to return and when other starters were hurt. His first half of the season was better, especially May and June where his ERA was under 4. He started to struggle in the second half and was given as short leash by Tito and would be pulled as soon as he got in a jam. He finished the season out of the pen and was not on the post-season roster but as I posted earlier he was a total team player.
'08 Outlook: The Red Sox picked up the option on Tavarez but he appears to be the odd man out. He will not be in the rotation where the Sox have 6 solid options and Snyder seems to have locked up the long reliever position. Tavarez was not good as the setup guy in '06 so that is not really an option. His stats vs. left and right handed hitters is pretty close so he is not going to be a specialist. He has limited value for Boston with Lester and Buchholz coming up so look for him to be traded before the season starts. If he does remain on the team he will most likely spend some time in AAA and be called up when injuries occur. He has shown he can be handle being that type of pitcher in the past and that might be his asset.
With the success of the outdoor game in Buffalo the Bruins are looking to try an outside game of their own. Bruins execs have ask the NHL to let them play an outdoor game at Fenway Park and the Red Sox are open to the idea, so it may go forward. Red Sox executives have been very active in the past into expanding the brand by joining Roush Racing and by bringing the World Series Trophy to a Pats game. The Bruins are the one Boston franchise that is not doing great so they need a shot in the arm. Maybe a little Fenway Magic could put them back on top; they could put Big Papi between the pipes and no one could score on them.
The Twins are getting a little nervous as the off season progresses and are seeing if they can get the Yankees to tweak their deal by taking Hughes, Cabrera and a player other than Kennedy. The Red Sox are sticking with their two offers. The Yankees may get the deal done if they can find that player to subsititute for Kennedy, giving them a good rotation in '08. The news is not great for Boston, as of tonight it looks like the Yanks are back in the lead of the Santana sweepstakes.
Roger * will get a chance to tell the House Oversight Committee all about his vitamin injections on January 16th if he complies with a request by the Committee to testify. The Committee also asked Andy Pettitte to appear along with their former trainer, Brian McNamee.
On January 15th the Oversight Committee will hear from Bud Selig, Donald Fehr and George Mitchell.
UPDATE: Clemens' lawyer said Roger will accept the invitation and will attend the hearings and testify under oath.
The Red Sox signed 28 year old Jon Switzer and 31 year old Michael Tejera today. Both pitchers will start in AAA but will be invited to Spring Training as non-roster invitees. Switzer went 0-2 with an 8.05 ERA for Tampa Bay last year (with those numbers they might as well have signed Barry Switzer.) Tejera was 8-5 in AAA ball last season with a 3.90 ERA. Not much hope for either pitcher to make the 40 man roster.
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We are getting a 2nd big storm with potential for hurricane force winds today in Northern California so there is a good chance the power will go out. We had 2 inches of rain yesterday and may get 6 more today!! I added a weather station at the end of December so you can check what's going on at the bottom of this page...until the power goes out.
UPDATE: Just as predicted the power went off at 7 am and has just come back on at 1:45 pm. Lots of downed trees and minor flooding but the worst of the storm has passed.
Roger Clemens* told 60 Minutes in a soon to be released interview that trainer Brian McNamee injected him with the vitamin B-12.
I don't know about you, but I tend to think that taking vitamin pills is easier than getting injected with them in the ass.
I've covered the starters so now its time to move on to the bullpen.
'07 Season: Kyle Snyder finished the season with a 2-3 record and a 3.81 ERA. After starting 10 games for the Sox in '06 he became strictly a bullpen pitcher last season. He seemed more comfortable out of the pen than he did in his starts after Boston picked him up when K.C. released him. He was not on the post-season roster for the ALDS or ALCS but was added for the World Series in place of Wake.
'08 Outlook: Synder is a good option to continue as the long reliever for the Sox. He has the stamina to pitch the innings they need and can get hitters out. He does have trouble getting out of jams and can blow up in a hurry but this happens with all long term relief pitchers. (if they were great they'd be in the rotation) His stats against hitters from both sides of the plate are pretty good, making him fit in this role well. He was much improved this last season and should build on it for '08. He needs to limit his walks and have better concentration with runners on. Snyder looked like someone the Sox should have left on the waiver wire at times in '06 but in '07 he was a good option for Boston. Snyder is like an umpire; he is doing a good job if you don't notice him. He is not a high profile guy but does his part for charity is well liked by teammates, and comfortable in Boston which should translate into another good year for the Red Sox.
According to today's Globe the Santana talks have not gained steam after the holidays although both sides are willing to discuss other players. The negotiations into offering Tito a long term deal have not begun. Additionally, the Sox have not offered Youk a long term deal and may continue to negotiate 1 year deals to avoid arbitration until he is a free agent. There is still plenty of time left in the off-season to make the moves and the holidays just ended. Theo just became a dad so it is likely we will not see much activity for a while. If you take away Santana the Sox still need a backup catcher and they need to trade Coco.
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New Hampshire voter Jack Polidoro asked Sen. John McCain to help remove Ted Williams from the Alcor Life Extension Foundation where he has been frozen in 2 pieces in liquid nitrogen since he died in 2002. Polidorao said Williams should be cremated according to his wishes. McCain is a senator from Arizona, the state where Williams is frozen but told the voter he has no power to go against William's son's choice to have him permanently frozen.
'07 Season: Clay Buchholz became a well known name around Major League Baseball when he threw a no-hitter on Sept.1. It was his second career start in a game he did not know he was going to pitch the day before. He pitched one more game out of the bullpen for Boston and loaded the bases before retiring the next 9 batters in a row and not giving up an earned run. He showed some arm problems so the Red Sox decided to end his season early to the disappointment of fans who thought he might be on the post-season roster.
'08 Outlook: The sky is the limit for Buchholz in the coming season. Buchholz is just 23 but has proven he has dominant stuff. He has a curve ball as good as Zito's, a change up like Keith Foulke used to have, and a fastball that can reach 97 MPH. He has ace stuff and could one day be the opening day pitcher for Boston. If he can stay healthy the Sox will have the best rotation in baseball, with or without Santana.
'07 Season: Lester completed his amazing comeback from cancer and arrived at Spring Training almost 100%. He began pitching in the minors in April but his stay there took longer than expected. He went 4-5 with the PawSox with a 3.89 ERA. When he arrived in Boston he pitched fairly well going 4-0 in 11 games with a 4.57 ERA. He got the win in game 4 of the World Series and won the MLB Tony C. Award.
'08 Outlook: Lester has shown he has the stuff to be a dominant power pitcher in the majors. He has a good fastball and can overpower hitters. He had some games where he lost his focus causing bad innings in an otherwise good outing. As he matures and works with pitchers like Curt Schilling he should be able to limit those situations in '08. He needs to have better control next season to be a great pitcher but he has shown signs of improving. Lester could be a 15 game winner next year if he can stay healthy, the cancer is no longer a concern but power pitchers usually have a stay on the DL. The other big issue is Johan Santana; Lester is the main player being mentioned in a trade for the Twins ace. If Lester had pitched a full season in Boston last year his trade value would be much better but he is a very good starting pitcher and the Red Sox could count on him in the rotation for years if he is not traded.
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