Catching Up (Yet Again)

With all the Clemens stuff going on in the news, I’ve missed out on a few bits that relate directly to the Yankees. Here are those bits and pieces that I may have missed recently, including some MLB notes (Erik Bedard?) that may impact the club. Sorry, but there are still some final bits related to the Clemens Saga mixed in below.

• Peter Mackanin was hired by the Yankees to be a scout for the club. At one point, he was an advanced scout for the Reds, and ended up finishing 2007 as their interim manager. He should do a good job in the Bronx.
• Erik Bedard, who was thought to be trade bait at the beginning of the offseason but was somehow taken off the block more recently, is now back on the trading block (from Ken Rosenthal). Apparently, the Mariners are going after him and are willing to give up top prospects in order to get him (no trip the Bronx for this Oriole).
• The Daily News is reporting that Clemens and Pettitte had hired private investigators to speak with Brian McNamee before the Mitchell Report was released. According to the paper, the pi’s actually recorded their talk with McNamee, although it has not yet been released for whatever reason.
• In terms of the new recording, Brian McNamee and his lawyers are demanding it be released, and his lawyers have also declared war against Roger Clemens for his decision to leak an audio-taped conversation (thought to be “private”) with McNamee at Clemens’ press conference.

Enjoy. We’ll have more tomorrow. I may begin to rollback the amount of Clemens’ posts that I’ve been producing, only to focus more on the 2008 version of the Yankees. But, if it’s a slow news day or if something major occurs with the case (worthy of reporting), I’ll definitely have information for all of you guys.

The Product of Miscommunication?

RAB had an interesting post (by Ben K.) in regards to Roger Clemens:

Tellingly enough, Clemens did not really answer the question when someone asked him why he let McNamee inject him, and he said that McNamee provided his injections. So basically, we can see the defense he’s carving out for himself: He thought B12 just meant B12 while McNamee, taking a cue from accepted baseball insider lingo, thought that B12 meant steroids. So there you go. We’re right back where we started, and this pissing contest is just getting started.

I do believe that Clemens did offer some form of an explanation as to why he allowed McNamee to inject him (he reportedly thought McNamee had a medical degree), although, one can debate the nature of the response, especially in terms of its legitimacy and believability. Either way, RAB brings up a good point about B-12 being “insider speak” within the steroid culture that had seemingly consumed much of baseball.

Vitamin B-12, which is not a steroid, had actually become a codeword for steroids, as described by Jose Canseco in his book “Juiced.” Canseco can be credited for bring this insider terminology (in baseball) to the external world. Here’s an excerpt from his first book (p. 211) which speaks on the word and its use in clubhouses.

It was so open, the trainers would jokingly call the steroid injections “B12 shots,” and soon the players had picked up on that little code name, too. You’d hear them saying it out loud in front of each other: “I need to go in and get a B12 shot,” a player would say, and everyone would laugh. (Of course, that was the kind of joke you really only made around other steroid users, because obviously they were in the same boat as you. What were they going to do, tell on you? Not hardly.)

So, according to Canseco, B-12 was coded language for steroids, or a steroid injection. Now, we all know that Roger Clemens has openly stated that Brian McNamee did, in fact, inject him with Vitamin B-12. Could this have been a mix-up or could this eventually be portrayed as a mix-up in the way that RAB predicts? I heard Seth Everret (from MLB.com), discussing the Clemens’ situation directly after the conference, and he made a similar comment. Maybe this whole thing was a misunderstanding between the athlete and his trainer. Maybe Roger Clemens asked for a B-12 shot, thinking he’d get a vitamin supplement, and McNamee gave him what he thought Clemens wanted– steroids.

Well, this still seems unlikely. In his book “Juiced,” Jose Canseco, who is no vision of truth and morality yet has been right in the past, also stated that, not only was B-12 a codeword for steroids and steroid injections, but Roger Clemens actually knew of this association between the phrases.

It was the pitchers that kept the “B12” joke going. For example, I’ve never seen Roger Clemens do steroids, and he never told me that he did. But we’ve talked about what steroids could do for you, in which combinations, and I’ve heard him use the phrase “B12 shot” with respect to others.

A lot of pitchers did steroids to keep up with hitters. If everyone else was getting stronger and faster, then you wanted to get stronger and faster, too. If you were a pitcher, and the hitters were all getting stronger, that made your job that much more difficult. Roger used to talk about that a lot. (Canseco, p. 211-212).

This contradicts the “I didn’t know that B-12 meant steroids” argument that some may think Clemens will pursue. If he does pursue this route, people will constantly challenge him and use these quotes by Canseco to say that he is lying. If he was doing steroids, he can’t really venture down this path because its clearly not foolproof.

Also, this quote from Canseco’s book even questions what Clemens said in his press conference. In the conference, he mentioned that he rarely discussed steroids (to other players) and only talked about when it was in the news or ”in passing.”

Peter Abraham (and his friend) offers another suggestion as to what my occur.

Is it possible McNamee injected Roger Clemens with steroids but told him they were painkillers or B-12? McNamee was a nobody until he started training Clemens. Might he have been so desperate to keep his job that he resorted to steroids to give Clemens a false sense of accomplishment?

This conclusion would allow Clemens to be painted as a victim, providing him with an affordable way out of a tremendously difficult situation, while maintaining some form of dignity and respectability. Of course, the only way this would work for him is if McNamee comes forward and states that this is what actually occurred.

Gossage Headed to the Hall, Pettitte News

Former Yankee reliever, Goose Gossage, is headed to the Hall of Fame. Hopefully Jim Rice will get in next year. Also, here’s some news on Andy Pettitte. Apparently, his decision to meet with the Congressional committee later this month is still up in the air.

Breaking Down Baseball’s Bizarre Day

So, Roger Clemens played an audio-taped phone conversation during his press conference that captured Brian McNamee as he was on the verge of tears. As stated by Steven Goldman in his report for the NY Sun, there were no telltale moments that validated either participant’s claims or denials. Instead, we were left with seeing McNamee as a sort of unhinged and very desperate character, and with that characterization, Roger Clemens’ PR maneuvering is finally starting to pay off.

To tell you the truth, I still don’t see why McNamee would lie. Yes he’s trying to beat out jail-time by offering names, BUT, judging from that phone conversation, he obviously loves Roger Clemens (seriously), so why offer his name if it isn’t legitimate? Plus, he had to tell the truth in order to stay out of prison. He could have avoided this whole mess by simply not saying anything about Clemens if it wasn’t true. Doesn’t that seem like a scenario McNamee would have welcomed? After listening to that phone call, if Clemens didn’t take steroids, it seems as though McNamee would go to bat for him.

Was McNamee coerced into divulging falsified information? It makes more sense for him to tell the truth so he can take care of his sick son (who he spoke of during the phone conversation) and not got to jail. McNamee was simply all over the place in that phone conversation. One minute he was saying he’d go to jail for Roger, the next, he’s saying he needs to stay out to help his kids. The whole thing just doesn’t make much sense. They probably both knew it could be recorded, so they both provided guarded responses.

After the press conference, McNamee’s first ”interview” since the Mitchell Report was released via Sports Illustrated and Jon Heyman. In the reaction-piece (which was completed before the Clemens Conference), McNamee basically states that he still likes Clemens (it’s actually becoming a little creepy) as an athlete and a person. However, he still says that his Mitchell Report allegations were true and have always been factual.

Here’s a bit of the article. The context features McNamee watching Clemens’ 60 Minutes interview and reacting openly to what is said.

He stops to hear Clemens acknowledge that McNamee did, in fact, inject him — only with the anesthetic lidocaine and B-12 vitamins rather than with HGH and anabolic steroids. “That’s news to me,” McNamee says. But the edge is gone now. He explains that such shots are administered through the arm and not the butt and implores Wallace to ask the pitcher where he got such prescription drugs. Wallace does not.

McNamee even goes on to say that he wouldn’t be surprised if Clemens actually did not know that Andy was taking steroids, which actually hurts his credibility, since everyone basically assumed that Andy and Roger were doing these things together. Also, McNamee continues, stating that Roger Clemens should not be denied a spot in the HOF even in light of his supposed steroid use. He essentially says that Clemens is merely a part of the steroid culture that has engulfed the baseball community and was not one an abuser of performance enhancing drugs. Apparently, he was just another member of the community, engaging in normative behavior.

“And Roger was in no way an abuser of steroids. He never took them through our tough winter workouts. And he never took them in spring training, when the days are longest. He took them in late July, August, and never for more than four to six weeks max … it wasn’t that frequent.”

Now this is interesting. I don’t have the Mitchell Report directly in front of me, so I’m not sure if it has these exact dates in the report. Either way, if McNamee injected Clemens around 16 times (combined) during the months of July (late July) and August in 1998, 2000 and 2001, let’s look at some numbers (briefly). The following splits seem to fall within the time-line presented by McNamee (give or take a start).

• In 1998, Roger Clemens’ splits (first and second half) were the following:
• 1st half — 18 GS…9-6 RECORD…119 IP…3.55 ERA…96 H…47 ER…120 K
• 2nd half — 15 GS…11-0 RECORD…115.2 IP…1.71 ERA…73 H…22 ER…151 K
• In 2000, Roger Clemens’ splits (first and second half) were the following:
• 1st half — 16 GS…6-6 RECORD…95.2 IP…4.33 ERA…94 H…46 ER…90 K
• 2nd half — 16 GS…7-2 RECORD…108.2 IP…3.15 ERA…90 H…38 ER…98 K
• In 2001, Roger Clemens’ splits (first and seond half) were the following:
• 1st half — 18 GS…12-1 RECORD…124.1 IP…3.55 ERA…115 H…49 ER…122 K
• 2nd half — 15 GS…8-2 RECORD…96 IP…3.47 ERA…90 H…37 ER…91 K

I’m not sure what to believe as I view the numbers. You can see some better numbers in the second halves, although 1998 seems to present the most extreme case while the disparities between the halves begin to fade over time. However, when compared to 1998, Clemens pitched similarly in 1997 (except his numbers in the 2nd half were slightly lower in terms of quality). In 1999, when Clemens was having his first year in pinstripes, his numbers were pretty low in comparison to these presented here, but this was largely due to his terrible statistics away from Yankees Stadium (his 1st and 2nd half splits are fairly similar). Also, in terms of monthly statistics, according to Baseball Reference, in 1998, Clemens’ best numbers were in July and August. The same can be said for 2000. This is almost the case in 2001, except June was Clemens’ best month (but July and August are 2nd and 3rd).

All of this is rather unconvincing. I mean, we can look at the statistics all day and break them down even further, but none of it provides us with anything conclusive. Maybe we’ll just have to wait for that stupid ”smoking gun” that we’ve all been talking about, or maybe even another weird phone call between two ex-friends. What do you think?

Sending Starters to Seattle

From Nick Cafardo:

Mariners have sprung some leaks
The Mariners are still in desperate need of another front-line starter, even after the Carlos Silva signing. Setup man Brandon Morrow, who could be major trade bait, has been stretched out to 90 pitches in Venezuela and could be in the rotation if he’s not dealt. Another trade bait possibility is catching prospect Jeff Clement, who is still working on his receiving but can really hit. With Kenji Johjima and Jamie Burke, the Mariners are already pretty solid behind the plate.

Front-line starter? Hell, the Mariners need a fifth starter. How about working out a package with the Yankees for Kei Igawa? He can’t be as bad as Horacio Ramirez or Jeff Weaver were for Seattle last season (what were they thinking?). I’m sure we won’t be able to get a great return, but at least it’s worth a shot, even if we do just add some young relief pitchers to the bullpen tryout in spring training.