Spring training really begins for the Twins tonight with their first actual game against their cross town rivals [at least in Ft. Meyers, Florida] the Boston Red Sox.   There isn’t any sound like a bat hitting a ball which I associate more closely with summer.  Suffice it to say: I am extremely excited that baseball is back.  Its really quite an irrational feeling, but I refuse to do anything to temper it.

I can only imagine what it must feel like to be a young player at Training Camp, working on your skills alongside of some of the greatest baseball players in the world.  Many of these rookies are actually learning from their childhood idols and heroes.  How cool would that be?  So for the next couple of weeks we have a mini baseball season consisting of 35 games.  Its always exciting to see who makes the team by playing well enough to impress the coaches in those games.  Baseball’s back.

The only downside, is that Boof Bonser, one of my favorite Twins pitcher, underwent surgery this morning, and the found injuries they never dreamed would have been there.  So it looks like Boof will be out for the majority of the 2009 season if not more.  At least he has one of the coolest names around; I wish all the best to Boof, and hope for a speedy recovery.

The game is at 7:05 pm EST on both MLB Network and MLB.tv.

The Red Sox will be starting: 1. Ellsbury, CF. 2. MVP, 2B. 3. Youkilis, 3B. 4. Jason Bay, LF. 5. Wilkerson, RF. 6. Lowrie, SS. 7. Bailey, DH. . 8. Bard, C. 9. Gil Velazquez, 5. Pitching: Wakefield. [Source]

The Twins have said that Carlos Gomez will not play while Justin Morneau, Nick Punto, Alexi Casilla, Brian Buscher, Mike Redmond, Wilson Ramos, and Chris Butera will see time in the field for the Twins.  Glen Perkins, Joe Nathan, Jesse Crain and Bobby Keppel are on the list to pitch. [Source]

Enjoy the game!

The Twin really could use a pitcher with more than two years service time, and in my opinion Fogg seems to be the best available option. Let’s glance at Fogg’s statistics:

Looking at Fogg’s stats, two main things stand out. First, he doesn’t miss time due to injury. Some commentators have stated that Fogg’s greatest attribute is that he is good for around 30 starts each year. (Forgive me, but I can’t remember where I read that, if someone comes across it email me or leave a comment and I’ll make sure to cite the source.) Fogg has made at least 26 starts since 2002. A proven injury free starter would be a great addition to the Twins. Second, he is a fourth or fifth starter. Fogg does not strike out many batters and has a career era of 4.90 which further relegate him to the bottom of the rotation. But while his statistics are by no means spectacular, they are not terrible, and are certainly consistent.

The Twins are not looking for a staff Ace in Josh Fogg. They are looking for someone with experience in the Bigs, and Fogg certainly has that. His statistics while not great are good enough for him to step right into the Twins rotation. In fact, Fogg’s statistics remind me of Carlos Silva’s line. Take a look at the similarities. If the Twins are looking to approximately replace Silva’s innings with a veteran starter, Fogg seems like the perfect match. Granted, Silva’s career era of 4.31 is somewhat lower, but he is also being paid $12 million dollars a year by the Seattle Mariners. So how much would Josh Fogg cost the Twins? Fogg’s salary history is as follows:

• 2002 – $203,000
  
• 2003 – $322,000
  
• 2004 – $342,000
  
• 2005 – $2,150,000
  
• 2006 – $850,000
  
• 2007 – $3,625,000
  

Fogg is probably due a pay increase. But because there has been little to no interest in him outside of Colorado (note: unsubstantiated claim), I can’t imagine that pay increase being large. A deal in the range of 4.5-6.5 million dollars seems about right (After taking into this year’s free agent signings). Whether Fogg would accept a one year deal might be a deal breaker for the Twins, but they are desperate for experience and could sign Fogg for two years as a stopgap, giving their young starters as much time as possible to mature.

The Twins should pull the trigger on this deal if Fogg will sign for under 6.5 Million Dollars per year. The Twins have money to spend. They lack consistency in their rotation. They lack a true veteran presence in their rotation. Their main goal is to be competitive in 2010. Josh Fogg seems to fit this situation perfectly. He’s cheap. He’s consistent. He’s a veteran. He probably won’t be around Minnesota all that long. Plus the other options on the free agent aren’t much better anyway; the only ‘better’ option would be Kyle Lohse and it would have to be a cold day in hell for the Twins offer Lohse a deal. (For those of you who don’t know, read this story about Lohse’s history with the Twins)

Fogg, himself, could also benefit from this signing; from Rick Anderson’s coaching; and a league switch. Rich Anderson is a great coach who is credited with helping Santana, Silva and many of the other Twins pitchers develop. Maybe Anderson would have some adjustments for Fogg to make that would improve his game. Also Fogg spent the majority of his career in the National League, and maybe a change of venues would help him as well. IF Fogg is successful in the American League, or is able to improve his statistics, he could be in line for a deal of Silva’s type (4 years, $48 million dollars). Both sides have the incentive to get this deal done, but what do you think? Should the Twins go after Josh Fogg? If so, for how long and for how much money should the Twins sign him for? Comment with your opinions and Vote in the Left Sidebar Poll.

1. The commissioner’s office (C Office) should place a higher priority on investigating non-testing evidence of use. In other words, when allegations pop up, the commissioner should not look at testing for banned substances as the only way to investigate. For example, much like Mitchell, they can follow the money trail to dig up checks used to buy steroids.
2. Baseball needs a better education program focusing on career implications and also the player’s roles as role models.
3. Maintain Drug testing and try to work with the Player Association to enhance the program.
4. To aid in non-testing investigations the commissioner’s office should:
   1. Implement an Department of Investigations which would essentially act as the law enforcement arm of Major League Baseball.
   2. Issue a policy clearly describing who should receive evidence of misconduct and also what they should do when they receive evidence.
5. The C Office should cooperate with law enforcement agencies. i.e. the C Office should turn over their evidence over to a better equipped investigative force, the police.
6. Use the clubs’ powers as employers to investigate violations. Here Mitchell is stating that clubs acting as employers can force their player or other employees (players are employees of the club) to attend and truthfully respond to interviews designed to find the truth of allegations.
7. The Clubs should have clear, written, and public policies for reporting violations.
   1. Obviously because of confidentiality laws, physicians and most trainers would have to be exempt from this recommendation.
8. Logging of packages sent to players at MLB Ballparks.
9. Background investigations of clubhouse personnel.
10. Random drug tests all year long for all players and other clubhouse personnel.
11. Establish a hot line for reporting anonymous tips. I would assume Mitchell means a hot line for those in the MLB realm rather than the public at large.
12. Top draft picks should be tested for banned substances before the draft. (Why not just test all draft picks?)
13. Teach players about alternatives to steroid use as a training tool designed to achieve the same effects. (See hard work…)
14. The testing program should be as transparent as possible. Meaning that within reason the public should know how the testing is run and who is failing (or at least a number or percentage of people who are failing) the random tests.
15. Drug tests should not be announced. (Duh. I guess no more Whizzinator Sales).
16. Respect legitimate rights of players. Read: “do not be overzealous”, “this is not a witch hunt”, or “we don’t want to create martyrs.”
17. These aren’t really recommendations but rather Mitchell’s closing remarks”
    1. Steroids were widespread in baseball.
    2. The minority of players who used steroids were wrong. (What they did something wrong?! Also whats a widespread minority…)
    3. The C Office and the Player’s Association are just as much to blame for the use of steroids in baseball as the players themselves. (This is actually a very good point)
    4. Move beyond the past. Mitchell doesn’t want baseball to get bogged down in a witch hunt, where they try to discover every player who ever used steroids.
    5. Every one should join in a sustained effort to eliminate steroids and HGH from the game.

Holy, that a lot of hot air. Well I think many of the recommendations were good, but most were basically common sense notions (or in some cases asinine: See Clubs should work with law enforcement agencies to report crimes or the cheating is bad argument or the widespread minority argument). As much as I absolutely hate bureaucracy, a Department of Investigations probably does need to be created. Not solely for substance abuse, but for any illegal activities that employees of the MLB and its respective clubs might engage in, as well as cheating by players. (The Black Sox are turning in their graves: Kenny Rogers better wash his hands.) That added to written club policies concerning investigations and punishments for cheating are the best (maybe only) way to deal with substance abuse in baseball.

A final thought, many of the players listed in the report are listed because they refused to be interviewed by Mitchell. Granted, someone alleged that they had used banned substances but is that really enough information to include a player in a report that is certain to tarnish their image/career. I don’t think so. Many players were shafted by the report. I’m not saying they are necessarily innocent, but if Mitchell couldn’t dig up concrete evidence as to their supposed use of steroids why are they included in the report. Apparently these players are guilty until they prove themselves innocent; I’m not okay with that, are you?

Feel free to comment with anything I missed.

1. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and Steroids are very dangerous and pose health risks to the people who use them.
2. Players using these illegal drugs influence younger amateur athletes to use the same substances.
3. These illegal substances pose a threat to the integrity of the game of baseball.
4. Finally, it is unfair to let some players break the rules of the sport at the expense of honest players (Mitchell Report 4-5).

Whatever the reasons for the report, here are highlights from the rest of the report that lead me to my conclusions:

• There is no table of contents. Definitely the biggest short coming of the report. You really have to flip through the report in order to find anything.
• There is a discussion in the report covering the various health problems that steroids and HGH cause, but there is also a discussion about the supposed benefits of each. Everyone knows the benefits of steroids; what was interesting was the contention that HGH doesn’t really build muscle like steroids does. In fact the reports states that HGH doesn’t really help at all in training except for recovering from injuries. So why are players cheating to use it? Perhaps this is why you hear of players who were hurt, (see Andy Pettitte) how are accused of using HGH.
• On page twelve, Mitchell quotes former Commissioner Bart Giamatti:
  • “…acts of cheating are intended to alter the very conditions of play to favor one person. They are secretive, covert acts that strike at and seek to undermine the basic foundation of any contest declaring the winner — that all participants play under identical rules and conditions. Acts of cheating destroy that necessary foundation and thus strike at the essence of a contest. They destroy faith in the games’ integrity and fairness; if participants and spectators alike cannot assume the integrity and fairness, and proceed from there, the contest cannot in its essence exist.”

  What a great description of what cheating does to a sport. Mitchell goes on to point out that using prohibited substances fill all the requirements of that quotation.

• There is a long history of legislative and legal history describing when and how steroids and like substances became illegal.
• There is a long history of the attempts that the MLB tried to institute a drug policy against all of its employees (players, manager, and all other MLB employees). The first policies were against cocaine and other drugs of that sort, but eventually included steroids, HGH and more recently Greenies.
• There is also a very long discussion about the BALCO case and descriptions of named players and the descriptions of their alleged cheating.
• The report ends with a number of recommendations that Mitchell made to the MLB.

Because this post has gotten longer than I thought it would, I’m going to end it here and save the recommendations and my opinions for a third post, hopefully which will be posted then. Until then I’d just like to note that the report is just starting to be scrutinized with a few players making statements contradicting what the report stated. Remember that the players named have usually only allegedly used prohibited substances, so reserve your judgment until all of the chips fall into place