Says he did it for two days in 2002 while in the DL in order to heal from an injury.  I hope this is true, because honestly, that doesn't sound like such a big deal to me.  Andy is a rare bird for an athlete - quiet, honorable, loyal and completely devoid of personal drama.  If there's anybody out there I'm inclined to believe, it's Andy Pettitte.

Andy Pettitte used human growth hormone to recover from an elbow injury in 2002, the New York Yankees pitcher admitted two days after he was cited in the Mitchell Report.

Pettitte said he tried HGH on two occasions, stressing he did it to heal faster and not enhance his performance. He emphasized he never used steroids.

"If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize," Pettitte said Saturday in a statement released by his agent. "I accept responsibility for those two days."

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-pettitte-hghadmission&prov=ap&type=lgns

For what it's worth...

After being implicated of steroids use in the report former Senator George Mitchell released this afternoon, Roger Clemens has enlisted the services of powerful Houston attorney Rusty Hardin to defend him from the accusations.

"Roger Clemens vehemently denies allegations in the Mitchell report that he used performance-enhancing steroids, and is outraged that his name is included in the report based on the uncorroborated allegations of a troubled man threatened with federal criminal prosecution. Roger has been repeatedly tested for these substances and he has never tested positive. There has never been one shred of tangible evidence that he ever used these substances and yet he is being slandered today," Hardin said in a release sent to the media.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5376995.html

First off, let me state that I am fully aware that I'll be crucified mercilessly for offering the following suggestion.  However, it's been slow here at PA the past couple days - nothing like a good old fashioned pissing match to make things lively again.

That said, I found on MLBTR that Neal Cotts is eligible for arbitration.  With the non-tender deadline looming, Cotts may become an FA if the Cubs don't offer him a contract, which is possible considering they sent him to AAA last year.  

Now, I know Cotts has basically sucked the past couple years, but he was phenomenal in 2005.  He's young, has proven that he can pitch in big games and would be a cheap lefty option out of the pen. Barring an injury or psychological problem that has contributed to him sucking in '06 and '07, I think he'd be a good, very low-risk pickup, if he becomes available.

I eagerly await the onslaught.

[editor's note, by jscape2000] frontpaged

According to Yammering Hank, who said the Twins were asking too much.  Meanwhile, the Red Sox are still in the hunt and will probably get away with giving up less than the Yankees would have, of course.

Best case scenario is Santana stays in MIN one more season, then the Yankees outbid everybody when he hits the FA market.  Worst case scenario, of course, would be him winding up in BOS for the next 5-7 years.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AlKIFtFAmgkm_riZ7BYC7I0RvLYF?slug=ap-wintermeetings&prov=a p&type=lgns

Twin Cities is reporting that the Sox are now the leading contenders to get Santana.  Of course, there's no indication whether or not Johan wants to go to BOS, but if true, this would truly suck.

http://www.twincities.com/ci_7584709?source=most_viewed

A little birdie says the Boston Red Sox have become the favorite in the Johan Santana trade sweepstakes.

The Twins would receive four players for the Twins' two-time Cy Young Award winner, including center fielder Coco Crisp, 28.

Others would be shortstop prospect Jed Lowry, 23; left-handed pitcher Jon Lester, 23; and right-handed pitcher Justin Masterson, 22.

Before a deal could be made, the Red Sox would have to have time to negotiate a contract extension with Santana, 28, who can become a free agent after next season and could have a market value as high as $150 million over six years.

Lowry did not play in the major leagues this year but is considered ready and is a good-fielding shortstop who also can hit. Lowry had a slugging percentage of .500 at Class AA and Class AAA this year.

Lester made a comeback from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma a year ago and is said to be cancer-free.

Masterson, 6 feet 6, 245 pounds, had 59 strikeouts in 58 innings at Class AA Portland.

The New York Yankees don't have the prospects available who the Twins figure have a reasonable chance to play in the major leagues by the end of 2008.

A few items of note:

Loretta Drawing Interest From Padres, Yankees
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/07/loretta-drawing.html

Yankees In On Dotel
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/07/yankees-in-on-d.html

Scouts Monitoring Yanks/Blue Jays Yesterday
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/07/scouts-monitori.html

Discuss.

Multiple scouts said Wednesday the New York Yankees are interested in Rockies first baseman Todd Helton and closer Brian Fuentes, though nothing is brewing.

If the Rockies don't rebound, many teams will be calling to see if they want to unload salaries. Helton has rebounded nicely this season to rank second in the big leagues in on-base percentage and first with 21 multihit games.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/rumors/post/Yankees-show-interest-in-Helton;_ylt=AvOeqzn6qCWrsx101eqj0iG pu7YF?urn=mlb,34222

Let the infighting begin...

New York reliever Kyle Farnsworth thinks no one on the Yankees, not even Roger Clemens, should be allowed to leave the team when they aren't pitching.

Farnsworth was on Chicago's 670 AM The Score on Thursday morning when he first criticized the so-called "family plan" clause in Clemens' one-year, $28 million contract that allows the right-hander to leave the team for personal matters when he's not pitching.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AmhDMPY1nyHiycIr40SFPW8RvLYF?slug=ap-yankees-farnsworth&pr ov=ap&type=lgns

Should be interesting to watch this development...:

It appears Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz is not sure if he has taken steroids.

Ortiz told the Boston Herald that he could not say definitively if he had ever used performance-enhancing drugs in the past. The burly designated hitter also said that if he did, it happened when he was much younger.

"I tell you, I don't know too much about steroids, but I started listening about steroids when they started to bring that (expletive) up," Ortiz told the paper. "I started realizing and getting to know a little bit about it. You've got to be careful.

[editor's note, by John Amato] I find this interesting coming from Big Papi after he just said that steroids might not have helped Barry Bonds:

Count David Ortiz among those who isn't convinced Barry Bonds used illegal performance-enhancing drugs -- or if they really helped the San Francisco Giants outfielder make his run at Hank Aaron's home run record. "To hit the ball, the guy makes it look easy, but it ain't. I don't know how you can have that swing, consistently. I don't know how steroids can do that," Ortiz told the Boston Herald. "There are supposed to be guys using steroids in the game, and there's nobody close to Barry Bonds. What's that mean? He was using the best [stuff]? Know what I'm saying?"

In case nobody saw this...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Yankees manager Joe Torre raised the possibility that Carl Pavano would need surgery, and general manager Brian Cashman admitted the oft-injured pitcher has been a bust with New York since signing a $39.95 million, four-year contract.

"It clearly hasn't worked out. There's no doubt about that," Cashman said Friday. "We signed a player that we expected to be a horse in our rotation and it hasn't worked out. He physically hasn't held up. Period."

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AsnxoIew_ztWhNKiR5gt3Ig5nYcB?slug=ap-yankees-pavano&prov=a p&type=lgns

The Rangers have been told that Barry Zito is signing elsewhere. One source said that the Rangers expect Zito to sign with the San Francisco Giants. The Rangers offered Zito a six-year deal worth approximately $80 million. But apparently it wasn't enough to lure him to Texas.

Zito -- who resides in San Francisco -- has pitched for the Oakland Athletics his entire career and apparently has chosen to remain on the West Coast. The Mets, Mariners, Angels and the Yankees were all interested in Zito.
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061228&content_id=1768001&vkey=hotstove 2006&fext=.jsp

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=cubslilly&prov=st&type=lgns

Ted Lilly is the latest free agent to head to the "Windy City."

The Chicago Cubs on Friday agreed to a four-year deal with the free-agent lefthander.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but sources told PA SportsTicker at last week's winter meetings that Lilly will receive $40 million over the duration of the contract.

NEW YORK -- Bernie Williams filed for free agency on Tuesday, and the veteran outfielder must decide whether he wants to play in 2007 or retire after a 16-year career.

Williams, who is the longest-tenured player on the Yankees, hit .281 with 12 home runs and 61 RBIs last season. He signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal last December, returning in what was supposed to be a part-time DH and bench role. Instead he played in 131 games, starting 109 of them, as he helped fill the void left by injuries to Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui.

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061031&content_id=1728739&v key=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

I think Bernie should retire.  He might get a starting spot on the Devil Rays or something, but does he really want to go out like that?  He should exit the stage with some dignity intact.

Sorry, Cairo fans...

NEW YORK -- Three members of the 2006 Yankees filed for free agency over the weekend, while three more are expected to do so in the coming days.

Miguel Cairo, Octavio Dotel and Craig Wilson all filed on Saturday, the first day that players were eligible to do so. The first day free agents can sign with new teams is Nov. 12, giving clubs a two-week window to negotiate new contracts with their own free agents.

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061030&content_id=1727423&v key=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

NEW YORK (AP) -- Washington's Alfonso Soriano filed for free agency Sunday along with San Francisco pitcher Jason Schmidt.

Oft-injured Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood also was among 24 players who filed on the second possible day, as was St. Louis Cardinals backup catcher Gary Bennett, the first member of the World Series champions to leave.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AufWZJt_SHJvmFOdD04p3usRvLYF?slug=ap-freeagents&prov=ap&am p;type=lgns

I think Schmidt would be a good pick-up for us.  The article also mentions Zito will explore FA as well.   He might be a better option than Unit, but we're hampered by the old man's contract.

Thought everyone could use a laugh...

NEW YORK--Immediately following the Yankees' first-round playoff elimination last Saturday, George Steinbrenner released a statement announcing his intention to fire the Detroit Tigers, whose "inexcusable postseason performance stunned and saddened" the 76-year-old Yankees owner.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/53979