Griffey and Joe

I never made much of a statement regarding the situation involving "Joe" and Ken Griffey's 600th home run ball. I myself wanted to be out there to try to catch it, but like I said, Miami sports fans are unsupportive but aren't dumb when it comes to money-making opportunities. The outfield was sold out for the entire series so I couldn't make it. (Some hypocrite I am, seeing as how I too, would only go to catch the ball. But I digress...)

The fan who caught Griffey's ball hasn't given it back, despite pressure to do so from the star outfielder. Is it his right to ask for compensation? Or should he just give it back, which seems like the right thing to do?

Honestly, I would have to say Griffey will need to pay up to get that ball back. It's just way too much money to turn down in an honest situation. It's not like the guy stumbled into an open bank vault and would be breaking the law, or would have the guilt of finding a wallet loaded with cash. He paid money to see a game and he caught a baseball that 99 times out of 100, nobody cares about.

For that ball, he could get 5 figures, easily. Maybe up to 100k if someone were desperate enough. I'm sorry, but I would seriously consider just holding on to it before just handing it back to Ken for free. People work too hard and make too little to turn down overtures of tens of thousands of dollars. I'm sure most people would feel the same way. The self-righteous would say Joe should give it back, but they aren't in his position.

And this is coming from someone who idolized Griffey as a kid. He was my favorite ballplayer. I'm sure many of you felt the same way about The Kid. I feel bad that he is put in this situation, but he makes millions of dollars and could easily afford to give what probably amounts to a year's pay to a guy named Joe for the ball. My heart says Joe should give it back, but the reality of the situation is that he would really be dumb to do it. That or wealthy enough that he can afford to do so.

Marcus Vick In Trouble Again

Some people you just can't save. After a short career at VT mired by run-ins with the law, Marcus Vick seemingly blew a future in the NFL before the Dolphins gave him a shot as a WR. I actually thought he did pretty well for himself, but things didn't work out. It was unfortunate, but he did his job while he was a Dolphin.

However, Vick has continued following his brother's footsteps by getting himself into trouble. Any chance he had of returning the NFL probably got washed away now with the news of his recent arrest. Marcus was caught driving drunk and evading officers who tried to pull him over. It's just a sad story because both of the Vick brothers had immense physical talents, but could never pull things together in the head.

NFL teams will forever think they can take a chance on a bad apple and hope he turns the corner. Look at what's happening for the Rangers and Milton Bradley. He's been tearing it up. However, for every success story like that, there is a catastrophe laying in wait. Often times it is the success stories themselves that end up falling apart. Bradley has been on his best behavior, but the recent incident where he almost stormed up a flight of steps to confront an announcer who was less than flattering to Bradley shows that he hasn't fixed all his issues quite just yet.

It goes to show some people never change. Then again, some do. Ricky Williams has been given umpteen chances, but he finally seems like he's got it. You really are rolling the dice when you take chances on guys like that, because it is the ultimate boom or bust scenario.

Evaluating the Urbina Trade

During the 2003 season, the Florida Marlins felt they had a chance to win a championship and pulled the trigger on a very risky trade. In exchange for closer Ugueth Urbina, the Marlins sent a trio of players to the Texas Rangers. Among the three was former #1 overall pick 1B Adrian Gonzalez.

Many Marlins fans may not have known that Gonzalez was a product of the Marlins farm system. A wrist injury early in his career heightened concerns that he would not regain his hitting form, so the trade was made. At first glance, it looked like a success. Though Urbina could be shaky at times, he was a key component of a 2003 championship run. That alone suggests the move was a good one.

However, the wrist injury did not hamper Gonzalez's ability to hit the ball. On the contrary, he has excelled for the Padres. Last year he smashed 30 home runs and drove in 100 RBIs. This year he is on pace for even more of each, while still batting nearly 300. That's pretty impressive for a guy the Marlins pretty much gave up on. It looks like he has lived up to his billing as a #1 overall pick.

Seeing how well he is doing, I thought about whether or not the trade was a good one. It's a lot like the Shaquille O'Neal trade back in 2004. I think if you win a title after making a deal, then the deal has been justified no matter what. In the long run, yes I think the Marlins might have been hurt. It's uncharacteristic of their front office to make a long term mistake, but you have to appreciate the fact they won a title. It's not easy to win a championship in any sports, so if you have to forsake the future in order to win now, sometimes you have to make the move.

It would have been nice to see him in this lineup though. Jacobs is a good player, but isn't at the level that Gonzalez is either offensively or defensively. Adrian would be a key piece to a successful playoff caliber squad. Still, I'll take that title from 2003 and be happy with the move that was made. There's no guarantee that keeping Gonzalez would have worked out or resulted in a World Series championship for this franchise.

Three Canes Drafted in 1st

I have to admit, I was pretty disappointed that the Marlins didn't draft Yonder Alonso with the 6th pick in yesterday's draft. We do have Mike Jacobs, but Alonso presents an upgrade in my opinion. Jacobs has experience at catcher so I thought that possibility might be intriguing enough for the Marlins to consider. Instead they decided to draft high school catcher Kyle Skipworth. Instead, Alonso went to the Reds with the next pick and can join young guys like Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce in what looks like a bright future for Cincinnati.

After Alonso came Jemile Weeks, who I had seen go as early as 12th or as late as the 3rd round. Indeed he went to the A's at 12th, who apparently don't have a whole lot of faith in Mark Ellis. Weeks projects to be a pretty solid player at the next level, but a lot of scouts aren't sold on him as a hitter. Regardless, he should make Oakland and fantasy players alike happy with his stolen bases.

The surprise 1st rounder was Carlos Gutierrez at 27 to the Twins. Carlos is coming off an injury and doesn't have a 2nd pitch, but Minnesota saw his dominance this year and felt he was worth the risk. I'm not entirely sure why they would draft him since they have Joe Nathan, but whatever. It was surprise because the other guy I thought would go in the 1st, Dennis Raben, did not.

Instead, Raben slipped to the mid-2nd to Seattle, which is still pretty good. He and Blake Tekotte (who ended up with the Padres in the 3rd), were projected by some as late 1st round picks. Regardless, both outfielders were drafted pretty high and it goes to show just how much talent is on this Hurricanes roster.

Another draftee of note was Mark Sobolewski who went in the 4th.

Cabrera Gets Paid

The inevitable contract extension between the Detroit Tigers and Miguel Cabrera was signed yesterday. Miguelito will be making 19M a year for the Tigers.

Relatively fair price for a guy who is about to explode this season. If you thought Miguel was good down here in Florida, imagine him in shape surrounded by talented hitters. I would bet my life savings that barring injury or pastelito-overdose, Miguel will finish in the Top 5 in the MVP voting this season.

The contract extension is another reminder that our ownership is full of it. Or that we as fans are full of it. Either way, something stinks down here in Miami when you let a Hall of Fame bound player go for some prospects just because you can't afford to pay him.

The Steroid Mess

I've tried for the most part to keep away from national issues on this blog. You guys already have more than enough talking heads telling you what to think, and it's easier to focus solely on stuff that affects South Florida directly.

However, it's impossible to ignore the gravity of the Congressional hearings on the Clemens-McNamee Saga. It's easily the biggest story in sports.

My take? I honestly could not care less. I respect baseball purists' desire to keep the game clean and the stats legitimate. There's something to be said about having records to break, knowing that those records were achieved fairly. But times change and records really don't have the meanings they once did.

If someone were to have hit in 57 straight games 30 years ago, it would be the headline of every newspaper in the country. Now, it would probably still be on page 1, but I get the feeling people aren't as impressed by broken records as they once were. They are too busy fiddling with their iPhones.

I also respect the opinions of those who feel steroids are setting bad examples for their children. I agree, because a young mind is a very malleable thing. However, it's a parent's job to separate right from wrong, not a baseball player's. Nobody should let TV teach their children. Good parents will sit their young boy down and tell him that cheating is wrong and drugs are bad for you. What these fools on TV do to ruin their lives should not affect the general public.

That leads me to my last point: the general public's best interest is not being served by wasting tax dollars on this stuff. Why is Congress involved? Who cares what a professional entity is doing within it's own walls? If they are breaking their own rules, let them clean it up in house. If they are breaking laws created by the government, then punish them accordingly through the courts. I would hope that Congress has bigger issues to deal with. Like the deficit maybe? Education anyone? Bringing our troops back home safely?

All this hoopla is just a colossal waste of time and it annoys me to no end that I flip on the TV and I see it all over the place. Everyone knows Roger Clemens is a liar by now. The evidence is stacked against him pretty high. He should just give up and spare us the drama. His reputation is beyond repair now, so what's the point of all this? Go home to your family and stay off my TV screen.

Cabrera Gets 11M

An update for Miguel Cabrera fans: Miguelito signed a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers for about 11 million and avoided arbitration.

Hearing that sort of stuff is just rubbing salt in the wounds. I still can't believe they traded away their franchise, again. Miguel will be in the Hall of Fame in about 20 years, and he won't be wearing a Marlins hat like he should. At this rate, we'll never see a Marlin make it to the Hall of Fame because they keep shipping off their good players.

Once the stadium is built, these guys better sell the team (which by then would be worth far more with a new stadium) or stick to their promises to field an actual major league roster.

Marlins Stadium Saga

To continue with the recent line of depressing baseball news, the Marlins are approaching a deal that might finally get them a stadium in Miami. Rather than paying a small portion of their final 155 million dollar contribution up front, now they would be required to pay it in full and cover all cost overruns. The plan is for the stadium to open at the Orange Bowl site by 2010.

The idea of giving the Marlins a dime after their recent fire sale disgusts me. As a taxpayer, I don't want any of my money going towards a failing franchise that milks every cent it can out of shared revenue profit. All that money is basically coming from the Yankees since NOBODY goes to Marlins games, and frankly nobody will. I don't care how nice the stadium is, I won't tolerate the hassle to get to the OB site for a minor league baseball team. The Hurricanes had a long standing following and only had 5 or 6 home games a year and even then drew 20k for the typical game. Does anyone really see people traveling to Little Havana 81 times a year to see this pitiful excuse for a major league team? I don't.

Lastly, I refuse to watch the Marlins in the wake of their recent trade, but I'll be damned if I ever attend a game at the Orange Bowl site with the current ownership in charge. My precious OB is to be demolished for this sorry excuse for a franchise? That's just rubbing salt into the wound. No thanks.

List of Steroid Offenders

UPDATE: the full Mitchell report is available here and full list of players actually on the list here.

Apparently there was some disparity between this leaked list and the real list. Pujols is NOT in the report. The leaked version was given to me through someone at a NY law firm and is available at several sites now, including Deadspin. However, the REAL version is what counts here.

The leaked list posted earlier today:

Brady Anderson, Manny Alexander, Rick Ankiel, Jeff Bagwell, Barry Bonds, Aaron Boone, Rafaeil Bettancourt, Bret Boone, Milton Bradley, David Bell, Dante Bichette, Albert Belle, Paul Byrd, Wil Cordero, Ken Caminiti, Mike Cameron, Ramon Castro, Jose and Ozzie Canseco, Roger Clemens, Paxton Crawford, Wilson Delgado, Lenny Dykstra, Johnny Damon, Carl Everett, Kyle Farnsoworth, Ryan Franklin, Troy Glaus, Rich Garces, Jason Grimsley, Troy Glaus, Juan Gonzalez, Eric Gagne, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi, Jose Guillen, Jay Gibbons, Juan Gonzalez, Clay Hensley, Jerry Hairston, Felix Heredia, Jr., Darren Holmes, Wally Joyner, Darryl Kile, Matt Lawton, Raul Mondesi, Mark McGwire, Guillermo Mota, Robert Machado, Damian Moss, Abraham Nunez, Trot Nixon, Jose Offerman, Andy Pettitte, Mark Prior, Neifi Perez, Rafael Palmiero, Albert Pujols, Brian Roberts, Juan Rincon, John Rocker, Pudge Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Scott Schoenweiis, David Segui, Alex Sanchez, Gary Sheffield, Miguel Tejada, Julian Tavarez,Fernando Tatis, Maurice Vaughn, Jason Varitek, Ismael Valdez, Matt Williams and Kerry Wood.

Big surprises: Pujols, Damon, Varitek. Most of the other guys aren't that big a deal, they are power hitters like Glaus and Juan Gon that really don't surprise me, or are injury prone players such as Prior or Wood. Thankfully no A-Rod. Lots of former Marlins on steroids it seems...

Speaking of A-Rod

In a move similar to that of the announcement made during Game 4 of the World Series that he was opting out of his contract, A-Rod has again coincidentally made headlining news, temporarily stealing the spotlight from another impending news story. Just hours before the release of the Mitchell Report, Rodriguez's record breaking 275 million dollars contract has been finalized and he will be a New York Yankee.

The Day that Baseball Died

Thats what today will be in about 2 or 3 hours if certain players (cough A-Rod) get named in the Mitchell Report. After all the bs related to the Steroid Saga, we have had a couple of years to try to mend. However, constant reports kept surfacing about players taking steroids, primarily those involving BALCO and Barry Bonds. So A-Rod has basically been our last hope of a naturally gifted player who can break all kinds of records. Clemens just tainted his legacy as the best pitcher of the modern era, but honestly only a fool could think he was pitching at 45 at such a high level without some help.

But if A-Rod is implicated, the sport is dead. At least to me. What's the point if everyone is juiced up? Baseball is the biggest stat driven sport. If everyone I knew in football did 'roids I really wouldn't care cause its a bunch of huge guys knocking the crap out of each other. If they are 10% larger than they were 10 years ago, whatever. Maybe that's a flawed statement, but there are lots of baseball purists out there (I frankly couldn't care less anymore about the cheating and such) who will be devastated if our best players turn out to be frauds. We'll see soon.