Roger Clemens Hires Bill Clinton’s Lawyer

Remember when Roger Clemens said that he would end up wasting a lot of money attempting to prove his innocence to the American people?

Well, let the spending spree continue.

From Duff Wilson (NY Times):

Roger Clemens has bolstered his legal team, hiring a powerhouse Washington lawyer, Lanny A. Breuer, who represented former President Bill Clinton during his impeachment hearings as well as numerous corporations that were the subject of Congressional investigations.

Clemens isn’t playing around. His lead attorney, Rusty Hardin, stated that Breuer would serve as “local counsel” while Clemens is in Washington (dealing with Congress). Breuer is truly the real deal, representing organizations like Halliburton/KBR, specificially in Congressional investigations. Clemens better get his money’s worth.

Joe Torre’s Take on Clemens, Pettitte and PED’s

From the Associated Press:

Joe Torre had no suspicions about Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte using performance-enhancing drugs when they were playing for him with the New York Yankees.

“I didn’t see anything that made me suspicious,” Torre said Thursday. “But I don’t investigate players. I get to know them. If they want to talk, then you’re available for them and stuff like that.”

Torre has his say on the specific allegations pertaining to Pettitte to Clemens (and restrains himself of course), as well as the general situation of PED’s in baseball.

Thursday’s (Poor) Bits: Slow Days in Baseball

A couple of random items for the day:

• Bronson Sardinha has signed a minor league deal with the Seattle Mariners.
• Phil Hughes has hit the blogging circuit. If you haven’t read his stuff (it’s pretty bare right now), make sure to check in during the season (regardless of whether or not he’s a Yankee by then).
• For those of us interested in Huston Street (I was too), he has reached an agreement with the A’s (one-year deal).
• Melky Cabrera and A-Rod will be honored at the Thurman Munson Awards.
• Also, forget rapists, killers, thieves, and pirates (ha!), Miguel Tejada is being investigated by the FBI (preliminary investigation).

Bud Selig is Here to Stay

His contract has been extended until 2012. He’s done a lot for the league, but you have to question his handling of the PED culture that has blossomed and created what some have called “an epidemic” amongst baseball players (young and old).

More Stuff on Santana

Well, we all know that Hank Steinbrenner sort of wants Johan Santana. Well, by sort of, I mean he really wants him. But, he also knows that his brother Hal and the GM Brian Cashman have conflicting feelings on the subject.

Here’s an interesting bit of text, located in Minnesota’s Star Tribune, from Hank Steinbrenner (who else?) on the current situation.

Brian Cashman, the Yankees general manager, and Hank’s brother, Hal, also are not willing to give away a lot of young talent to get Santana.

“Just strictly because of the money, they are advising not to,” Hank said. “But … nobody would ever say ‘don’t do it’ as far as getting Santana because nobody could say that. He’s one of the two best pitchers in baseball, but I’m running into resistance.

“I think we could get him, but it’s just a matter [of what] to give up. Certainly we don’t want to give up [righthander] Phil Hughes and [center fielder] Melky Cabrera, but you know, look what you’re getting.

“… It really comes down to if I want to do it, I can do it, but I want to try and keep everybody happy. I think the situation’s probably the same in Boston. I think John Henry, the owner there, wants to do it. He wants to get him, too, but others don’t. So he’s just trying to keep everybody happy.

“I don’t want to say what I would give, because Minnesota will claim I’m tampering. Yes, the door definitely isn’t completely closed.”

Hank said he believes the Mets are serious about trying to trade for Santana. “I think they may need him worse than we do or the Red Sox do,” he said. “It’s just a matter of do they have what it takes to trade for him.”

Hank seems totally ready to do this deal. Good thing Cashman and Hal have stepped in there, acting as a mini-blockade between the Twins and Hank. Again, he even articulates that he has the power here, stating that “it really comes down to if I want to do it,” although he’s still trying to keep his officials happy.

I do find it to be sort of funny when he says that he doesn’t want to engage in tampering by letting us know who he’s willing to give up for Santana when, prior to that, he said “we don’t want to give up Phil Hughes or Melky, but look at what you’re getting.” Nice move Hank, really.

I also love the “yes, the door definitely isn’t completely closed” quote. I guess, saying “yes, the door is definitely still open” would change up the inherent meaning though and would probably scare a lot of bloggers and fans, alike.

Canseco’s Credibility

From the NY Times:

A little more than two months before he expects to have his second book in stores, Jose Canseco is switching publishers for “Vindicated,” his promised sequel to the incendiary best seller “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big.” Canseco has also switched collaborators. He is now working with Pablo F. Fenjves, a former National Enquirer writer who was the ghost writer of “If I Did It,” the book in which O. J. Simpson hypothesized about how he would have murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Berkley Books, an imprint of Penguin Group USA, was scheduled to publish “Vindicated” on opening day this spring but withdrew from the project Tuesday.

Any stock Canseco had in this thing is simply plummeting, day by day.