'S' Is For Steroids Santana

Nothing to make you yearn for a solid week of Johan Santana trade speculation than three straight days of steroid discussion.

After a brief, Mitchell-related hiatus, the Hot Stove League is in full swing again, with the A's trading Dan Haren to the Diamondbacks -- who had quite the day -- for six prospects.

The question is, If a Haren switches teams in one part of the world, does it cause a Santana in another? I think it goes something like that. Anyway, Haren is the first of the three big-name pitchers to go. Bedard and Santana remain.

Does this trade make the Yankees more desperate to acquire Santana? The Red Sox? Does it make the Twins more set in their belief that they should get more than the three- and four-player deals the Sox and Yanks have reportedly offered?

We understand Bud Selig has asked former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to lead an investigation into these very important questions. Since Richardson is both a Red Sox fan and a Yankees fan, he should easily be able to ward off allegations of bias as he compiles his 400-page analysis into where exactly Johan Santana will end up in 2008.

Comments

[Dionysus]

Honestly, I think what it does is drive [i]The Mets[/i] to include Jose Reyes in their offer for Santana netting them a man who turns the Mets from finishing second to the Phils to being the favorites of the entire National League. It's been mentioned before here that the NAtional League would be like candy for Johan.

Honestly, I dont think the Sox amend their offer at all. Nor will the Yanks. Frankly, at this point, I dont even WANT Santana for anythign more than the Lester Package. Pull the Jacoby one or state flat out that there will be no fourth player.

Why?

The Sox can dominate without Johan.

The Yankees can contend (possibly dominate if Hughes lives up to the promise) without Johan.

The Mets have no pitching without Johan.

[yankeemonkey]

Well said, Dio.

Frankly, the Twins will probably ask for Lester AND Ellsbury AND Buchholz...or for Hughes + the rest of the farm, and both teams should just say no. No way in hell.

Of course, knowing certain people in the Yankee mafia, that means Hughes and Joba and Kennedy should start shopping for housing in the Twin Cities....

[YF]

Those DBacks now have a super impressive pitching staff, by any standard. Easy to see them making a deep playoff run.

Haren is cost controlled for several years, so the calculus is vastly different cf Santana. With the market so cool, why bother giving up the farm; he'll just hit the market next year.

[Brad]

Or the Angels scoop him up for nothing at the last second, thus making both the Yankees and the Red Sox season much more difficult.

[AndrewYF]

Actually Brad, I think that would make things easier for both. Theo and Cashman get to stick by their plans without conceding anything.

[Dj_@Yf]

Wfan- Breaking News Andy Pettite has admitted using Hgh during 2002 when He had elbow Injury

[SF]

I wonder if Pettitte's admission has any impact on the perception of Clemens' denial, considering the source of the information (and the PEDs).

well, that gives the man behind the needle a little more credit anyhow. Not that I think he lied anyhow, but this admission gives credence to the idea that he has been truthful in his statements about Clemens and Pettitte.
Also, kudos to Pettitte for doing what absolutely nobody else has the sack to do: Admit it, say sorry, offer some kind of explanation and move one.

[Brad.]

me^

yes, sf.. I believe it does just that. And again, bravo Pettitte for making the admission knowing that it would do just that - that clearly was not an easy decision to make.

[SF]

Can't link to the statement from AP, but it is one of the worst non-apology apologies ever. Lame.

[rootbeerfloat]

This kinda ticks me off. I have really enjoyed hating Pettitte for years now. It's a little hard to sustain that in light of this. I dont' want to be on record hating the only person so far that has manned up on the subject of PEDs. Crap.

[AndrewYF]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3156305

Here's the link. Not really an apology, because it doesn't sound like he's sorry for it. I wonder if players can get suspended retroactively? If so, well, the Yankees have been without many of their starting pitchers in April before.

[sam-YF]

whats the problem with the statement SF? Sounds like he was just speaking from the heart.

[AndrewYF]

It was probably mentioned before, but this is a lot like the Rodney Harrison dilemma.

[sam-YF]

Andrew, I dont think at the time in question HGH was even banned by the MLB.

Sam, the guy took a shortcut he knew was wrong. Don't defend him.

[sam-YF]

Im not defending him Im just saying I dont think he can be retroactively suspended for something that wasnt illegal at the time. My comment was in reference to that alone. I dont believe he should have done it.

[Jewish Jackhammer]

I give Pettitte a total pass. If he had the flu would we condemn him for taking a shot of penicillin without a prescription. What if he took a cortisone shot when his doctor said he shouldn't. How does helping a person recover quicker turn him into a cheater. Pettitte never got bigger or stronger and his stats were never better than they were in the '90s.

I think their is a difference between guys like bonds and mcguire who took stuff to make them better than they ever were, as opposed to guys like pettite and clemens who took drugs to make them pitch like they did when they were 25.

If their was a drug out there that turned a 40 year old into a 25 year old, I think it would be pretty popular. Oh yea, I guess viagara is the ultimate performance enhancing drug.