Cleveland Sports Forum

Orioles claim Canzler off waivers from Yankees

By Brittany Ghiroli / MLB.com | 2/5/2013 5:00 P.M. ET

BALTIMORE --

he Orioles claimed infielder Russ Canzler off waivers from the Yankees on Tuesday afternoon and designated catcher Luis Martinez for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Canzler was designated for assignment by New York last week to clear a roster spot for Travis Hafner, and the expectation was that the Yanks would probably lose the 26-year-old, who was claimed by three other teams this winter, to another club.

The Blue Jays claimed Canzler on Dec. 21, the Indians claimed him on Jan. 2 and the Yankees claimed Canzler on Jan. 4. For the O's, Canzler will add more infield depth, specifically at first base and left field.

Canzler is a career .278/.347/.472 hitter in nine Minor League seasons with the Cubs, Rays and Tribe. He has hit .271/.304/.396 in 29 Major League games in 2011 (Tampa Bay) and 2012 (Cleveland). In 31 Major League plate appearances against left-handed pitching, Canzler has hit .400/.419/.667.

Martinez, 27, is a career .272/.362/.364 hitter in six Minor League seasons in the San Diego (2007-11) and Texas (2012) systems. In 2012, Martinez batted .270/.350/.386 in 65 games with Triple-A Round Rock and also appeared in 10 games for the Rangers, going 2-for-18. He was originally drafted by San Diego in the 12th round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.

The Orioles still have three catchers on the 40-man roster in Matt Wieters, Taylor Teagarden and Luis Exposito.

Ryan Braun listed in records of alleged PED clinic; says he used Anthony Bosch as consultant

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ryan-braun ... 50670.html

seagull wrote:I think the Tribe is going to regret trading Wright....especially for that stiff, Lars Anderson. I see Anderson was just DFA by the Diamondbacks.

I once drove cross country in a car with no radio, but with a working 8-track player.

We had one 8-track to play.

I can't remember what it was.......

Well, according to Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman in their book "Good Omens," no matter what that tape started out as, it eventually mutated into "Queen's Greatest Hits."

"Canzler will add more infield depth, specifically at first base and left field."

Uh Brittany I think you're discussing a different game.

VT'er wrote:Well, according to Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman in their book "Good Omens," no matter what that tape started out as, it eventually mutated into "Queen's Greatest Hits."

"I want it all...I want it now...."

I heard that Queen lyric for the first time while in attendance for all three games at "The Jake" for the 1997 post season series against The Yankees, and at the time of hearing did not even realize it was Queen.

Damn, now I have to google Pratchett and Gaiman......as I have no idea who they are, but it sounds like a good thing to know.......

edit...

Just googled....

Maybe I need to read the book to appreciate.

Maybe when I get done reading the recently published "Reflections on The Pacific War, A Marine Interpretor Remembers," written recently by one of of my former professors and mentors who passed away a few days ago.

Detroit Tigers' Jhonny Peralta says he never used PEDs

Kirkland Crawford, USA TODAY Sports11:33p.m. EST February 6, 2013


Detroit Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta's name is in the records of Anthony Bosch, director of the Biogenesis clinic in Florida, which is under investigation by MLB for performance-enhancing drugs, reports SI.com's Tom Verducci.

Peralta does not appear to be tied to PEDs. He released a statement through his attorney, Barry Boss, saying: "I have never used performance enhancing drugs. Period. Anybody who says otherwise is lying."

The Tigers also made a statement late Wednesday.

"The Detroit Tigers fully support Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. We are aware of this report, however since this matter is currently part of an investigation by Major League Baseball, the Club is not at liberty to comment."

Last week, the Miami New Times published a report that seven baseball players -- including Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera (who was suspended last season for testing positive for a banned substance), Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz and Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez -- were linked to Bosch's clinic and had specific substances or cycle schedules.

Tigers pitching prospect Cesar Carrillo was recently found to be in Bosch's records, too.

Verducci writes that the Miami New Times contacted Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski about Peralta, but Dombrowski said, "I won't get into that."

On Tuesday, it was reported that the name of Brewers superstar Ryan Braun was also found in Bosch's records. But Braun, who tested positive for a PED after his MVP season in 2011 but had his suspension overturned because the samples were handled improperly, said he consulted with Bosch for Braun's suspension appeal.

Last season, Peralta hit just .239, his lowest batting average since his rookie season in 2003, with 13 home runs and 63 RBIs (lowest total since 2006).

Maybe I need to read the book to appreciate.

My guess is it's not your kind of book. But I must say that I absolutely adore Pratchett's Discworld series.

Sorry, I'm probably not supposed to talk about books in a sports forum ...

Curt Schilling Says Red Sox Officials Encouraged Him to Use PEDs in 2008

By Adam Wells

(Featured Columnist) on February 7, 2013 32,407

CNN

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling said in an interview on ESPN Radio (via WEEI.com) that he was encouraged by people within the Red Sox organization to use performance-enhancing drugs in 2008 to recover from injuries.

At the end of my career, in 2008 when I had gotten hurt, there was a conversation that I was involved in in which it was brought to my attention that this is a potential path I might want to pursue.

Schilling also said that this conversation happened in the locker room and that he was asked "at my age and in my situation, why not? What did I have to lose?"

After spending all of 2008 out with shoulder problems, Schilling announced his retirement in March 2009. He won three World Series in his career, one with Arizona in 2001 and two with Boston in 2004 and 2007.

During his career, Schilling spent 20 years playing with five teams (Baltimore, Houston, Philadelphia, Arizona and Boston). He was never connected to anything involving steroids or performance-enhancing drugs during his career, though that hasn't stopped him from calling out others around him.

Last year, during an appearance on a Philadelphia radio station (via The Sporting News), Schilling said that no team that has won a championship in the last 20 years has done it clean.

Of course, that would also include the three teams that had Schilling on their roster.

There are times in which it's hard to take Schilling seriously, but the former All-Star pitcher certainly has no reason to lie, although he could have hidden motives.

He has always been an outspoken advocate against performance-enhancing drugs, so why talk now?

The Red Sox were willing to part ways with Kelly Shoppach in part because of his attitude.

Read more at http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/#FMmpc6E6oezUUlZZ.99

Jhonny Peralta offers a quite formal statement about being in the Biogenesis records
Craig Calcaterra Feb 13, 2013, 1:30 PM EST
24 Comments
Jhonny Peralta must have been asked by Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez to give a far more impersonal and crappy public statement about the Biogenesis stuff than they gave, thereby making them look better:




I’m curious to see how this is received. In the past, such statements were panned by baseball writers as not being forthcoming. Players were asked to try to explain things, not hide behind legal statements. Then, when they started to explain more, they were panned for sounding like they were lying and — even if they did provide details — for still not being forthcoming. Peralta is going old school with this. Interesting.

Probably doesn’t matter though. Anyone who follows this stuff knows that the real predictor of how much scorn a ballplayer is going to get over this kind of thing has nothing to do with his actions or statements. It has everything to do with how famous he is. And Peralta isn’t nearly as famous as Alex Rodriguez or Ryan Braun.

Skip to Comments (24)

Did the statement get cut out?

Yes, here is the statement.

Jason Beck @beckjason

Jhonny Peralta on Bosch report: "I don't have any comment about that. I talked about that with my lawyer." Statement from last month stands.

6:15 PM - 13 Feb 13

Sorry about that.

Dodgers' Greinke a 'baseball junkie'

UPDATED FEB 14, 2013 1:15 AM ET

GLENDALE, ARIZ.
Only Zack Greinke would ask me this question.


“If Lohse doesn’t sign before the draft, will a team still lose a pick for signing him?” he said Wednesday.

Greinke was referring, of course, to right-hander Kyle Lohse, the last prominent remaining free agent, and baseball’s amateur draft, which begins June 6.

And I was stumped.

I told Greinke I would check with the players union to see if draft-pick compensation no longer would apply to Lohse if he signed after the draft.

Sure enough, the compensation would disappear — not that it ultimately will matter. Lohse, sources say, is almost certain to sign with a team soon.

But leave it to Grienke, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ new, $147 million man, to come up with his own angle on the Lohse saga.

Greinke, 29, views baseball like no other player. You see it in the way he pitches. You hear it in the way he talks.

“He’s always thinking,” said his former general manager with the Milwaukee Brewers, Doug Melvin. “He’s a baseball junkie.”





The Brewers knew that Greinke would be a goner as a free agent. But before trading him to the Los Angeles Angels last July, Melvin and his special assistant, Craig Counsell, jokingly made the pitcher a unique offer:

“Re-sign with us, and we’ll let you make our second- and third-round picks in next year’s draft.”

Inside that pitcher’s body, you see, is a scout’s mind.

Greinke went on scouting trips with Counsell last spring, checking out amateur games in Arizona. For about a month before the draft, he watched video of some of the top projected picks, Melvin said.



On draft day, Greinke was ready.

“He came in with a big piece of paper,” Melvin said. “He was sitting on the floor (in the war room) or a chair against the wall. I said, ‘Who do you like? Who do you think we should get?’ He said, ‘I really like Seager.’”

Specifically, Corey Seager of Northwest Cabarrus High in Concord, N.C., the younger brother of Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager.

Melvin continued the conversation.

“I asked, “Which pitcher do you like the best?’ ” Melvin recalled. “He said, ‘Pitching is too hard to figure out.’

“He said he liked Seager’s swing. That’s a pitcher’s mentality — looking at swings, trying to determine if they have holes, where their hands are.”

Alas, Greinke’s future team, the Dodgers, nabbed Seager with the 18th overall selection, well before the Brewers were to pick at No. 27.

“Where Milwaukee was drafting, if they had somehow gotten Seager, that would have been the steal of the draft,” Greinke said. “That’s how good I thought he was. I thought he was a top 10 talent. Not top five, but top 10.”

Greinke doesn’t claim to be a scouting expert — he recalled thinking that Prince Fielder was too big to succeed and Dustin Pedroia too small. Yet, even on his own transactions, Greinke sees the big picture.

Almost immediately after Melvin informed Greinke of his trade to the Angels, Greinke asked him, “Who did you get?” Melvin replied: Shortstop Jean Segura and right-handers John Hellweg and Ariel Pena.

Greinke said he didn’t know who those players were, but liked the deal for the Brewers after he heard more about them. He earlier had told Melvin that the team’s farm system was short on power arms, “guys who could throw 100 out of the bullpen.” And shortstops, he said, are the “hardest guys to get.”



Now Greinke is bringing his acumen to the Dodgers.

As a free agent, he took the unusual step of visiting team president Stan Kasten, general manager Ned Colletti and manager Don Mattingly without bringing his agent, Casey Close.

“The conversation went three hours and could easily have gone longer,” Colletti said. “We talked about our draft — he knew Seager. We asked him to go through our lineup, and he went through all of our hitters’ strengths and weaknesses.

“I looked at Donnie, he looked at me. Zack was dead on.”

So, might Greinke scout amateurs for his new club?

“If he wants to go out, we’ll let him,” Colletti said. “And he’s welcome to watch the draft take shape.”





Dodgers bench coach Trey Hillman was Greinke’s manager with the Kansas City Royals in 2008, ’09 and the first part of ’10. Prior to that, Hillman spent five years managing in Japan.

When Hillman joined the Royals, he had never seen Greinke throw in person. He knew of the pitcher’s battles with depression and social anxiety disorder. And he wanted their relationship to get off to a good start.

Rather than call Greinke into a meeting, Hillman bent down next to him as the team stretched for the first time in spring training. He said he told Greinke that he wanted to be a positive for him, not a negative, and added: “If you need something from me, I’ll leave that up to you.”


According to Hillman, Greinke immediately responded, “I won’t need anything.”

“It was a little surprising for a player to say they’re not going to need anything at all from a manager,” Hillman said. “But actually after I thought about it, I thought: ‘Well, you know what, if he needs something about his area of expertise, he’s certainly not going to go to me. He’s going to go to the pitching coach.’ His reaction, although not what you would expect as a manager, was dead on.

“I could never come up with anything Zack said that didn’t make sense. It’s just not the typical way of looking at it.”

Which makes Greinke all the more refreshing.

Once uncomfortable with reporters, he now is a terrific interview, and he was typically honest Wednesday while speaking after the first workout for the Dodgers’ pitchers and catchers.

Greinke lamented that he no longer plays much basketball after suffering a hairline fracture in one of his ribs while going for a rebound two years ago in his first spring with the Brewers.

He said he initially thought the Dodgers’ monster trade with the Boston Red Sox last August was “stupid” before correcting himself and calling it “crazy” because of the amount of salary the Dodgers absorbed.

Finally, he said that the Dodgers’ first workout — conducted by Hillman — “seemed like a lot of work ... reminds me of the Royals’ days when it’s a bunch of 20-year-olds working out.”

Later, I asked Greinke about moving back to the National League from the American and the common perception that pitching in the NL is easier because of the lack of a DH.

Greinke, true to form, did not buy into that view.

He said that in the AL, pitchers focus only on pitching between innings, while in the NL, they often need to be ready to hit.

“Hitting, however little, it takes your attention away ... it has to,” Greinke said.

OK, but isn’t it more difficult facing AL lineups?

“Ninety-five percent of the guys are pitchable. If you make your pitches, you’re going to be fine,” Greinke said.

“There are some guys where, honestly, it’s like stopping Kobe Bryant. You can’t completely stop ’em. You can try to limit a little bit of what they do. But they’re still going to get on.

“In the American League, facing the Tigers, facing Miguel Cabera and Prince Fielder — those guys are so good. But they’re probably the only team with two guys where you have no way of stopping both of them. If you stop both of them, you’re lucky.”

How many pitchers would admit to such a thing?





Some of the Dodgers’ starting pitchers threw bullpen sessions on Wednesday, while others did not. Greinke was in the group that did not throw. Once the bullpen sessions began, his day was over.

Only it wasn’t.

“He went, plopped down, sat and watched bullpens from the pitcher’s perspective, back behind the mound,” Hillman said.


“He wanted to watch something specific. What it was, I don’t know. But it wasn’t idle time. He might have been watching a catcher, how a guy receives. He might have been just getting his visual on where he’s going to do his ’pen tomorrow. He may already have picked out his mound.

“He’s going to invest every ounce of his energy preparing to be as good as he can possibly be, mentally and physically. That’s just the way he’s wired.”

Greinke, who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2009, is 91-78 lifetime with a 3.77 ERA. He is just now beginning a six-year contract, and obviously not anywhere close to the end of his career.

Still, I was curious: What did he think he would do when his playing days were over?

Well, Greinke said, it would depend upon his family; he is married to Emily Kuchar, a former high-school classmate and Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. But quickly, he came up with an answer.

“If I were to guess now, the only two things I could possibly do would be to get a front-office type thing or wherever I lived, get everyone involved with AAU or a development-type thing and be in the community with baseball,” Greinke said. “So much stuff can change, but those are pretty much the only two things I would be passionate about.”

Spoken like a man who loves his sport.

Spoken like a baseball junkie.