If not, read on! Apparently Clemens is now claiming that Lidocaine and [vitamin] B-12 are what McNamee injected into him, not HGH or steriods.

Does he really think people are gonna believe him? If this was true, why wouldn't he have first told Mitchell that when he gave him the chance to defend himself way before the report ever came out? Why were these being injected into his butt, when that's not how they are normally administered (especially B-12 which is normally taken in pill form)? Why is McNamee's lawyer ready to sue Clemens for defamation?

Also, B-12? Is it just a coicedence that the drug they chose to claim he was being injected with is the same drug Palmerio used as a defense when he claimed that a tainted B-12 supply from Tejada was what caused him to test positive? Is B-12 becoming the scapegoat drug? Like maybe it is well know to trigger positive results when tainted so people are claiming it was that, a legal drug, that they infact took?

Wasting my whole day reading about the whole Santana issue everywhere in hopes of catching new news I got sick of so many Yankee fans overrating Melky and claiming is a better bargaining chip then Ellsbury, let alone Coco, so I decided to finally put this issue to rest:

Easiest way to do this, compare Coco (who RSN considers expendible and too weak of a hitter) to Melky. Let me start off by noting that Coco had 526 AB and Melky had 545 AB, so their numbers are comparable. Also, Melky had 450 ABs in the previous year and if his numbers got multiplied to equal 540 ABs again, both years are pretty identical.

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This seems to be spread across multiple various posts so thought I would try to compile the options and thoughts. I had a comment about the Cabrera option and couldn't figure out where to post it, so I thought an updated universal diary might be helpful (go ahead and delete it Randy or Allen if it's not at all helpful):

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Bear with me, I'm a business guy so I like to look at teh business implications on baseball. As within all businesses, the market not only reacts to supply and demand (i.e. last year there was high demand for SP, low supply, hench ridiculous contract to mediocure SP), but also the market reacts to the market itself, and I wonder if the market reacts to the fact that outrageous contracts were given last year did not provide a good return, making them less willing to throw money at FA in another weak FA market (example, no one has even come close to Boras's demands for A-Rod)

It has happened before in baseball history (I think it was Kirk Gibson after winning ALCS MVP 1984 couldn't get anyone to sign him and ended up resigning with Detriot for a pay cut. Obviously this is an extreme example as it was ruled the owners were guilty of collusion that year)

Now there are some speculating that there was collusion again. Looks like the GMs and owners took the right course to make sure it was not collusion, but still, them meeting and taking about goals could easily mean that infact the owners are reacting to last year's FA signings and are backing away from a repeat.

How does this effect Red Sox? Well maybe Lowell won't get the crazy offers we feared (he's been on the market a couple days and already the only reported 4 year offers have all been denied and disproved so far), and though he is sure to get a 4 year offer from someone, maybe it won't be big enough to convince him to say goodbye to Fenway

Apparently Dan Duquette is the front runner candidate to become the new Pirates GM next year.

He always seemed to be a GM that needed a big payroll, so I really don't see him working out with the Pirates, but I guess you never know

Seems like there is a good possibility that Clay will get his fenway debut this weekend

Personally, this is one I can't wait to see

On a side note (but Clay related), Clay has been one of 5 nominated for the USA TODAY top minor leaguer

[editor's note, by Allen Chace]I'm hoping two things with this: One, Clay will absolutely dominate on Friday for 6 and then be pulled. Two, that unless he stays up in a relief role, he's sent back down for the duration. He's almost at his IP total from last season, and anyone (no one here has said this, just saying) who is looking at the possibility of him replacing Lester (especially if he has a bad start tonight), should remember to think of Clay's long-term health. Get his total IP up to maybe 135-140 this season and then shut him down. Then he'll be prepared for a near-full workload of 160-165 IP next season.

I don't know what this guys problem is but out of no where he attacks Wakefield, who has been nothing but a class act who does his thing with out seeking out media attention or the big dollars. He's been nothing but a perfect example of what all baseball players should aspire to be, both on and off the field (with his contributions to the community). I don't know if Wakefield wronged this guy some how in the past, but the whole article is riddled with unwarrented attacks:

"the commissioner of baseball .... [needs to] start looking into how Tim Wakefield has managed to get away with his act for the past 15 years."

Get away with what?? I can't point to one thing that Wake has been doing wrong.

"...how in the world has Wakefield been able to draw a major-league paycheck since 1992 with the kind of stuff you generally see at a family barbecue?"

Are you kidding me? You honestly would take anyone else in the majors then Wake? Really?? Is this a sick joke? If anything he's getting much less then what his set of skills should be making thanks to his love for Boston and for simply playing the game. He has probably one of the greatest hometown discounts in history.

"His knuckleball, or whatever you want to call it, is a bigger menace to the game than steroids, growth hormone or Clomid will ever be."

...what?? you can't be serious

"Wakefield may very well be the least entertaining player ever to appear in a major-league uniform"

I honestly don't get where this hatred is coming from. The way he makes the ball dance with his knuckle ball is probably one of the most interesting and enjoyable things to watch

"And the only thing slower than Wakefield's knuckler is the time he wastes in between throwing it."

If you head over to firejoemorgan.com and see their commentary on this article, you'll see they prove this to be dead wrong, as games that Wake pitches actually go quicker then the average MLB game

"A sweep would still leave the Yankees 7 1/2 games out, and to reach 90 wins, the minimum number any team could expect to need to eke out a playoff spot, they would have to go 70-49 the rest of the way. Under any circumstances, it is a lot to ask. Unless, of course, they get to face Wakefield 70 more times."

The guy had ONE bad game, beyond that he's been pretty damn good this season, I don't get this warped assumption that one game represents a pitchers skills

Honestly, this entire article was completely un-called for to unneccarily and unfoundly rip apart one of the few class acts in baseball...I just don't get it

Random interesting tidbit. Amoung all the drug tests in the past couple years the Red Sox and Houston can boast to have the fewest failed drug test, with just one a piece. The Yankees? Tied for 4th most. Seems pretty in line with what we already know about both teams. You can find the whole article here

Something we all already knew, but for once he finally isn't dodging the question or whether he did steriods. Technically he has admitted it before, but never directly. While talking about steriods he mentioned:

"I was wrong for doing that stuff," Giambi told the newspaper Wednesday

USA Today

Which is funny because he still is dodgy about it even when admitting:

"That stuff didn't help me hit home runs. I don't care what people say, nothing is going to give you that gift of hitting a baseball."

When asked, "So why did you take steroids?" Giambi said: "Maybe one day I'll talk about it, but not now."

...umm, I'm pretty sure he took it becasue it DOES help you hit home runs. I'm sure it doesn't help someone make contact with the ball better, but pushing a regular flyball a couple feet further into the stands with more power...pretty sure that helps

You may have noticed a headline like this in a paper today making it seem like they have come across evidence to suggest Ortiz did steriods

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