Main page
« December 10, 2007
December 14, 2007 »

16 current or former Yankee players, 1 former Yankee coach named in Mitchell Report

Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte headed a list of 16 current and former Yankee players who were named as potential users of performance-enhancing drugs in the Mitchell Report.

In addition, Brian McNamee, the team's assistant strength and conditioning coach in 2000 and 2001, cooperated with Mitchell and gave great details into Clemens' alleged steroids use. According to the report, McNamee -- who had been the Yankees' bullpen catcher and batting-practice pitcher from 1993 to '95 -- was the strength and conditioning coach in Toronto in 1998-99. It was there that he met Clemens, who played for the Blue Jays in 1997 and '98, and Mitchell states Clemens was instrumental in McNamee's hiring by the Yankees. McNamee was dismissed by the Yankees after the 2001 season.

Clemens and Pettitte became friends when Clemens joined the Yankees in 1999.

McNamee told Mitchell that he lied to a reporter when he denied giving steroids to Clemens and Pettitte in a 2006 interview.

Other players with ties to the Yankees named in the report, with the years they were with the team listed:

Kevin Brown, pitcher, 2004-05
Jose Canseco, designated hitter, 2000
Jason Grimsley, pitcher, 1999-2000
Glenallen Hill, outfielder, 2000
David Justice, outfielder, 2000-01
Chuck Knoblauch, second baseman/outfielder, 1998-2001
Josias Manzanillo, pitcher, 1995
Denny Neagle, pitcher, 2000
Daniel Naulty, outfielder, 1999
Hal Morris, first baseman/outfielder, 1988-89
Mike Stanton, pitcher, 1997-2002, 2005
Rondell White, outfielder, 2002
Ron Villone, 2006-07
Todd Williams, 2001

Posted by Art Martone  at 2:43 PM | Permalink

Download a copy of the Mitchell Report here

Download a copy of the Mitchell Report (warning; it's 409 pages) at http://files.mlb.com/mitchrpt.pdf

Posted by Art Martone  at 2:30 PM | Permalink

No active members of Red Sox named in Mitchell Report

While 15 players with ties to the Red Sox were identified as potential users of performance-enhancing drugs in the just-released Mitchell Report, no players currently on the team's 40-man roster were named.

Brendan Donnelly, who was not tendered a 2008 contract offer by last night's midnight deadline, was named in the report, as was Eric Gagne, who was obtained by the Sox at the July 31 trading deadline and who recently signed with the Milwaukee Brewers as a free agent. They were the only players on the 2007 team in the report.

Other players with past ties to the Sox named in the report (years they were with the Red Sox listed):

Manny Alexander, utility infielder, 2000
Jose Canseco, designated hitter, 1995-96
Roger Clemens, pitcher, 1984-96
Paxton Crawford, pitcher, 2000-01
Chris Donnels, infielder, 1995
Jeremy Giambi, designated hitter, 2003
Mike Lansing, infielder, 2000-01
Josias Manzanillo, pitcher, 1991
Kent Mercker, pitcher, 1999
Mike Spinelli, minor-league infielder in the 1990s
Mike Stanton, pitcher, 1995-96
Mo Vaughn, first base, 1991-98
Steve Woodard, pitcher, 2003

Posted by Art Martone  at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

Sox sign eight to minor-league contracts

The Red Sox today announced the signings of eight free agents to 2008 minor league contracts. In addition, all eight players have been invited to Boston’s major league spring training camp as non-roster players.

The eight free agents are right-handed pitchers Scott Atchison and Lee Gronkiewicz, catcher Kevin Cash, and infielders Jeff Bailey, Tony Granadillo, Keith Ginter, Joe Thurston, and Gil Velazquez.

Atchison, 31, spent 2007 in the San Francisco organization, going 3-2, 2.01 with four saves in 38 appearances at Triple-A Fresco and posting a 4.11 ERA in 22 outings with the Giants. The righthander is 2-3 with a 4.10 ERA in 53 career major league games with Seattle (2004-05) and San Francisco (2007).

Gronkiewicz, 29, has spent the last four years in the Toronto organization. In 2007, he was 3-2, 1.80 with 11 saves in 24 games at Double-A New Hampshire and 3-1, 2.82 with two saves in 23 contests at Triple-A Syracuse. The righthander also made his major league debut with the Blue Jays, allowing one run in 4.0 innings in his lone outing on June 19 versus the Dodgers. Gronkiewicz posted a 1.23 ERA in a team high six games for the gold-medalists Team USA in the 2007 World Cup.

Cash, 30, returns to the Boston organization after hitting .176 with seven homers and 25 RBI in 59 games at Triple-A Pawtucket this season. He spent the final six weeks of the regular season with the Red Sox with a .111 average and four RBI in 12 games. Cash has a career major league average of .167 in 126 games with Toronto (2002-04), Tampa Bay (2005), and Boston (2007).

Bailey, 29, was re-signed by the Red Sox after batting .245 with 15 homers and 60 RBI in 115 games for Triple-A Pawtucket in 2007. He also made his major league debut, going 1-for-9 with a home run in three games for Boston. This will be the first baseman’s fifth year in the Boston organization. Granadillo, a 23-year-old second baseman, also returns to the Red Sox after hitting .326 with eight homers and 63 RBI in 109 games at Single-A Lancaster and .333 with four RBI in nine games at Double-A Portland in 2007.

Ginter, 31, spent all of 2007 at Triple-A Buffalo in the Cleveland system, batting .247 with 15 homers and 62 RBI in 106 games. The righthanded batter is a career .243 hitter with 38 homers and 140 RBI in 325 major league games with Houston (2000-02), Milwaukee (2002-04), and Oakland (2005) while playing both the infield and outfield.

Thurston, 28, spent most of 2007 at Triple-A Ottawa in the Philadelphia organization, batting .300 with five homers and 59 RBI in 129 games. He also had a .308 mark and two RBI in four games at Double-A Reading. The lefthanded-hitting second baseman/outfielder has a .259 average in 55 major league games with the Dodgers (2002-04) and Phillies (2006).

Velazquez, 28, was in the Minnesota system in 2007, batting .267 with one homer and 13 RBI in 17 games at Double-A New Britain and .240 with one homer and 16 RBI in 69 games at Triple-A Rochester. The righthanded-hitting infielder has also played in the Mets organization.

All of the free agents are on the Pawtucket roster with the exception of Granadillo, who was assigned to the Portland roster.

Posted by Art Martone  at 11:53 AM | Permalink

D-Day is Here

The Mitchell Report is about to be released in another 2 1/2 hours and the anticipation has reached a fever pitch.

ESPN is doing an hour-long ``pre-game'' show prior to Sen. George Mitchell's 2 p.m. press conference.

Mitchell, by the way, could find himself in the crosshairs today. With reports already circulating that a number of Yankees could be named in his report, get ready for charges that Mitchell, a New Englander and a director with ownership ties to the Red Sox, is biased against the Sox' main rival while white-washing any wrong-doing by Sox' players.

It's going to be an interesting afternoon -- to say the least.

Posted by Sean McAdam  at 11:41 AM | Permalink

ESPN source says Clemens, Pettitte will be named

ESPN is reporting that, according to a source close to a former Yankees trainer, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte will be among the major league players named in the Mitchell report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

The report, from ESPN The Magazine's Shaun Assael, says that George Mitchell's source is Brian McNamee, who worked for the Yankees, and as a personal trainer for Clemens and Pettitte. The source told Assael that he supplied Clemens with steroids while Clemens was with the Yankees and prior to his joining the team.

Click here to read the report on ESPN.com.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:33 AM | Permalink

A-Rod finalizes contract with Yankees

NEW YORK (AP) - Alex Rodriguez set another record for baseball's highest contract, finalizing his $275 million, 10-year agreement with the New York Yankees on Thursday.

A-Rod set the previous mark with his $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas in December 2000. Traded to the Yankees in 2004, he opted out of that contract Oct. 28, during the final game of the World Series.

Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said New York would not negotiate further with Rodriguez because his decision eliminated the $21.3 million subsidy the Yankees were to receive from Texas from 2008-10, a figure negotiated at the time of the trade.

But Rodriguez then approached the Yankees through a managing director at Goldman Sachs and negotiated his new deal without agent Scott Boras.

Rodriguez won his third AL Most Valuable Player award last month after hitting .314 with 54 homers and 156 RBIs.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:00 AM | Permalink

Live video coverage of the Mitchell report

You can find live coverage of George Mitchell's press conference, scheduled for 2 p.m. today, to release his findings into performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, on projo.com via AP video. AP is also planning on providing live coverage of Bud Selig's news conference, which is scheduled at 4:30.

For now, you can see AP video reports previewing the release, and predicting what the report will say.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:25 AM | Permalink