MLB To Begin Testing For HGH
Est. 1869
Major League Baseball plans to implement blood testing for human-growth hormone (HGH) later this year on minor league players.Human growth hormone is already banned under the Joint Drug Program but do not test currently for HGH, because no scientifically validated test exists. The program calls for immediate and automatic implementation of testing for HGH once a scientifically validated test is available.
The Minor League Drug and Treatment Program is far more stringent than its MLB counterpart due to negotiations that need to take place with the union for the players. Just this week, new tests for additional PEDs and stimulants were added to the MLB program that makes it far closer to a WADA-based program than MLB’s.
Bud Selig plans to use the same blueprint with HGH and move to get the union’s approval to test on the major league level. Michael Young of the Texas Rangers, Bronson Arroyo of the Cincinnati Reds and Derrek Lee and Ryan Dempster of the Chicago Cubs said they welcome the policy.
The disclosure that Major League Baseball will begin testing in the minor leagues this year prompted the player unions for the NFL to issue a statement that they remained skeptical about the efficacy of current testing. The NFL Players Association said it looked forward to discussing with the league its proposed blood-testing program.
The plans to move forward on the testing comes one day after a British rugby player Terry Newton was suspended for two years after testing positive for HGH.
Vladimir Guerrero Signs With Texas Rangers
Don't Expect Him To Be Using That Glove Anymore
The Texas Rangers have signed Vladimir Guerrero to a one year contract worth $5.5 million with a mutual option for 2011. Guerrero is expected to give all his time as a designated hitter and hopes to help the Rangers improve their run production which took a dip after leading the MLB in 2008. Guerrero battled through the 2009 season to hit .295 with 15 home runs. Despite landing on the disabled list twice.
Despite never calling Arlington home Vlad always batted like he owned the place in 193 career at-bats in Rangers Ballpark, Guerrero has hit .394 with a .471 on-base percentage and 14 home runs which the Rangers are banking he will continue to do at the Rangers Ballpark.
Guerrero, 35, will not provide any luxury to the outfielders in need of a day off and his body has shown it is in the process of breaking down. No longer is he expected to play 162 but with hope of just making it the 100 game plateau so I understand for the need of the bat but wouldn’t have Jermaine Dye be a more valuable option and if bargain hunting was what the Rangers where after then maybe they could have made a real offer to former Ranger Andruw Jones.
Being a Guerrero Stan since he began his career with the Montreal Expos, it’s hard for me to say what I said about Vlad but it needed to be said.
In related Ranger news they have botched another signing by agreeing to a one year contract with former St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Khalil Greene worth 750,000 dollars. Greene struggled in 77 games for the Cardinals last season, hitting .200 with just 6 home runs and spent time on the disabled list with social anxiety disorder.
Don’t ever expect to find him competing for a spot in the everyday lineup and set the bar low if looking if using Greene as platooner.
Darren Oliver Signs With Texas Rangers
Diamond Stud
The Texas Rangers have signed left-handed reliever Darren Oliver a $3.5 million one year deal, the deal includes a 2011 option. Oliver has had four consecutive successful seasons pitching rather well out of the pen, the last three of which in Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim posting a 5-1 record with an ERA of 2.71 in 73 innings.
After failing as a starter in the beginning of his career, to the point that he spent all of 2005 in the minors, Oliver has re-invented himself as a very good reliever. Not only his ERA but his component rate states are significantly better in shorter stints out of the pen. Texas gains by both adding an effective reliever as well as taking an effective player from the Angels who continue to see parts of their division winning squad depart for their rivals.
Nolan Ryan & Chuck Greenberg Group Picked For Texas Rangers Sale
Est. 1972
The people of the Dallas-Forth Worth metroplex and Texas Rangers fans maybe getting their wish of owner Tom Hicks getting rid of the Rangers very soon. Earlier today Rangers owner Hicks announced the Greenberg/Ryan group as the exclusive bidders in the sale of the Rangers.
Hicks will ask Major League Baseball to approve his decision to grant exclusive rights to negotiate the sale of the Texas Rangers to an investment group that includes legendary pitcher and current Rangers president Nolan Ryan and renowned Pittsburgh sports attorney Chuck Greenberg. The announcement means the two sideswill now have the next thirty days to complete the sale for then MLB ownership approval.
Greenberg’s group consists of Dallas-Fort Worth investors and has plans to have the Hicks family retain a significant investment in the club and that Ryan will remain President of the Club.
Hicks purchased the Rangers in 1998 in an ownership group that was headed by George W. Bush, Tom Schieffer and Rusty Rose. The Rangers won two division titles in Hicks’ first two years, but have had just two winning seasons this decade. The Rangers were 87-75 this past season.
Rich Harden Signs With Texas Rangers
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The Texas Rangers have signed Rich Harden to a one year deal with a base salary of $6.5 million contract for 2010, he could add as much as $2.5 million in incentives. Harden gets $500,000 more if he pitches 155 innings and another $500,000 each at 165, 175, 185 and 195 innings. There is a mutual option for 2011 worth $11 million with a $1 million buyout.
Harden has battled injuries as of recent, being on the disabled list seven times in the past five season, and hopes to pitch at least 200 innings this year, if he does he could be the dominating starter and replace recently traded ace Kevin Millwood, who they gave up for cash and to help them cut cost. Since 2003, Harden has struck out 9.35 batters per nine innings, the most by any Major League pitcher with at least 125 starts.
Harden was 9-9 with a 4.09 ERA in 26 games and 141 innings for the Cubs in 2009 and 10-2 with a 2.07 ERA in 25 games and 148 innings for the Athletics and Cubs in 2008. He has not pitched more than 150 innings since his second season in the Majors in 2004, when he was 11-7 with a 3.99 ERA in a career-high 31 starts and 189 2/3 innings with the Athletics.
If Harden touches the 200 inning plateau, he will be a steal but anything less 165 innings it will be the same Rich Harden we have become accustomed to.
Kevin Millwood Traded For Chris Ray & 3 Milli
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The Texas Rangers have traded their 2009 ace and All-Star Kevin Milwood to the Baltimore Orioles for $3 million and pitcher Chris Ray.
Ray has a power arm, but he isn’t going to make the Rangers that much better.going to wasn’t going to make the Rangers better than the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and is just an after thought. Millwood, 36 saw his ERA plummeted from 5.07 in 2008 to 3.67 in 2009 but his 5.57 strikeout rate and 1.73 K/BB ratio are the worst of his career. His home run were at their highest point since 2001 but he played in a home run hitter ballpark. Rangers where in this just to pull of a cash heist.
The Orioles get a veteran ace and expunge themselves of Ray as well as showing their fans that even though it’s Millwood that the club is back to willing to spend money on pitching
Rangers: Losers/Orioles: Winners
Pudge Rodriguez Signs With The Washington Nationals
Best I've Ever Seen
The Washington Nationals came to terms with free agent Ivan Rodriguez on a two year deal worth 6 million dollars. Rodriguez will be a leader in the clubhouse and mentor to the leagues youngest pitching staff.
The potential Hall of Famer also will serve every-day duties for the first month or two of the season, until Jesus Flores is fully recovered from shoulder surgery, and then will mentor Flores.
Rodriguez, 38, last year passed Carlton Fisk for the career record in games caught. He has won 13 Gold Gloves, been to 14 All-Star Games and is a career .299 hitter. Rodriguez, the 1999 AL MVP, is also the all-time leader in games started at catcher and total chances and putouts at the position and is tied with Gary Carter for sixth all-time in home runs as a catcher with 298.
Rodriguez served as a backup for the Rangers after being acquired from the Astros in August. He played in a combined 121 games and hit .249 with 10 home runs and 47 RBIs.
Washington catchers last year hit .250 with a .310 on-base percentage and 121 strikeouts.
Andruw Jones Signs With Chicago White Sox
Still Can Play Just Not Everday
Last off season in Major League Baseball the Texas Rangers pulled off the best free agent signing in all of baseball by acquiring outfielder Andruw Jones. The former Gold Glover signed for a little over $100 K while losing 25 pounds and it showed in his performance hitting 17 homers and putting up a .782 OPS in 82 games despite his .214 batting average. That’s not a great line, but it’s a huge improvement over his .158/.256/.249 disaster with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008.
If Jones is asked to take on a platooning role then this is a very good signing by the White Sox but if Kenny Williams hopes that Jones will provide a regular outfield spot at a cheaper cost than Jermaine Dye then the decision goes a whole different direction.
Minnesota Twins Joe Mauer Wins American League Most Valuable Player Award
MVP
Joe Mauer catcher of the Minnesota Twins has been named the American League Most Valuable Player in a near unanimous vote,receiving 27 of the 28 first-place votes to easily beat out the Yankees’ duo of Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter, conducted by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Mauer also joined an elite group of players when he won his third American League batting title this season.
The 26-year-old Mauer finished with 327 points, well ahead of Teixeira, who had 225, and Jeter, who had 193. Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who received the only other first-place vote, was fourth with 171 points.
Mauer became the fifth player in Twins history to win the MVP Award. He joined teammate Justin Morneau, who took home the honor in 2006, as well as Zoilo Versalles (1965) Harmon Killebrew (1969) and Rod Carew (1977).
He also became just the second catcher in the past 33 years to be named MVP. Texas Rangers Ivan Rodriguez (1999) is the only backstop besides Mauer to take home the honor since Yankees catcher Thurman Munson won it in 1976. The last catcher to win National League MVP honors was Cincinnati’s Johnny Bench in 1972.
Mauer put together the best season of his already impressive young career in 2009. He batted .365 to earn his second straight AL batting title. It was his third batting title in four seasons, making the 26-year-old the only catcher in Major League history to accomplish the feat. He is the 10th player in AL history with three or more batting titles.
In addition to leading the league in batting average, Mauer also was the leader in on-base percentage (.444) and slugging percentage (.587), giving him what some stat gurus have deemed the modern Triple Crown. The last AL player to lead in all three of those categories was George Brett of the Royals in 1980. Mauer set career highs in home runs (28) and RBIs (96). And it was that unexpected power surge that was the biggest change for Mauer in 2009, as he more than doubled his previous high in homers (13 in 2006).
This award season had already been kind to Mauer. He was named the AL’s Outstanding Player in the Player’s Choice Awards as well as being named the top player in the AL by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. He also earned his third Silver Slugger Award and his second straight Gold Glove.
Check back to read about Albert Pujols’ NL MVP award, which will be announced Tuesday.
Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim Mike Scioscia Wins American League Manager Of The Year
34 Would Be Proud
Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels of Anhiem had to endure the most emotionally season of his 10 seasons as leader of the Angels and that culminated in him selected as the 2009 American League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
It was Scioscia’s second Manager of the Year award. He was named by the BBWAA in 2002, when the Angels claimed their first World Series title under his direction after entering the postseason as a Wild Card. Scioscia, who is the first manager in Major League history to pilot six postseason teams in his first 10 seasons, received 15 of a possible 28 first-place votes for 106 points.
The Twins’ Ron Gardenhire finished second with six first-place votes and 72 points. Joe Girardi of the Yankees (four first-place votes) was third, followed by the Mariners’ Don Wakamatsu (two), the Rangers’ Ron Washington (one) and the Tigers’ Jim Leyland.
Coping with the death of young pitcher Nick Adenhart in a car wreck on April 9, Scioscia and the Angels emerged from early struggles — they were 29-29 on June 11 — to take flight en route to a third consecutive AL West title, their fifth in six seasons.
In the AL Division Series, the Angels swept their October nemesis, Boston, in three games before falling in six games in the AL Championship Series to the Yankees, who went on to subdue the Phillies in the World Series.
With 97 wins, the Angels continued a run of excellence under Scioscia, whose teams have won 900 regular-season games in 10 seasons. His 567 victories over the past six seasons represent a Major League best — one more than Joe Torre has achieved with the Yankees and Dodgers and two more than Terry Francona with the Red Sox.
Rudy J. Is Leaving
Best Batting Eyes In The Game
That’s Rudy Jaramillo of the Texas Rangers who is leaving, the Rangers are one of the best offenses in baseball year in year out and routinely finishing among the league leaders in runs scored and home runs. While the players have come and gone through the door, the one constant has always been hitting coach Rudy J.
Jaramillo has spent the last 15 seasons with the Rangers and helped mold young players into batting champions and MVPs, but after a down season for the Rangers offensively, Jaramillo has decided he’s going to end his time in Arlington and test the open market.
During his tenure, Jaramillo has produced four MVPs (Juan Gonzalez twice, Ivan Rodriguez and Alex Rodriguez), a batting champ (Michael Young) and three home run champions (Alex Rodriguez, 2001-03).
Rangers officials met with Jaramillo shortly after the season to extend the one-year offer but to also stipulate that the offense needed to improve. The Rangers ranked seventh in runs scored in the AL in 2009, but ranked 11th of 14 teams in batting average (.260) and 12th in on-base percentage (.320). There have been concerns about the team’s approach, particularly how often the Rangers swung at first pitches and put themselves in unfavorable hitting counts, they had the highest percentage of first-pitch swings in the AL (31.1) last season.
Jaramillo has been in hot demand every year but he has always chosen to stay with the Rangers. I’m not in favor of this departure, in fact I feel as if the Rangers low balled Jaramillo and hid behind a year in which the number might have backed it but the bigger picture shows they finished their best since 2004 and they lost significant time All-Stars hitters like Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler, and Michael Young. The Rangers saw no player play over a 146 games and guys like Marlon Byrd, and Elvis Andrus, who played the 146 and 145 games, could use another few years under Jaramillo.
It’s very in early in the Rangers off-season but this is two steps back from this years second place finish in the American League West. Furthermore, for those that want to pin the Rangers three playoff appearances and one playoff win in his 15 years, seriously must have been watching a different ball club when the Rangers where in the outfield the past nine years.
Bad move.
Ichiro & MLB Records Go Hand In Hand
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Ichiro Suzuki is great at his craft. His craft is hitting a baseball and he’s so good at it that world simply refers to him by one name, Ichiro.
Last night in Arlington there to play the Texas Rangers, Ichiro reached his ninth consecutive 200-hit season, just a week after becoming the second fastest player in Major League Baseball to reach 2,000 hits. No one in the history of baseball has ever had that many 200-hit seasons in a row, now that the Seattle Mariners right fielder has passed up the legendary Wee Willie Keeler, who enjoyed eight consecutive 200-hit seasons from 1894-1901. That record was 108 years old.
Ichiro reached first on what has become his trademark, an infield single. He reached first for his 453rd career infield hit without a throw. Without a throw!
Ichiro plays with the weight of his country on his back, his fellow countrymen still awake at four in the morning to watch him play stateside nine years after he made his MLB debut. He even explain that breaking the record was more satisfying to his country than it was to himself.
“When I break a record, I never feel satisfaction,” he said. “I strongly feel expectation from Japan and my records are things that I feel Japan [believes] they must have. “I always want to feel satisfaction, but when I accomplish a record, I only feel relief.”
This is the second time Ichiro has replaced a Hall of Famer in the Major League record book. The first occurred in 2004, when he accumulated 262 hits, five more than George Sisler had in 1920 for the single season hit mark.
If your fan of MLB, your a fan of Ichiro.
