TSN Baseball Analyst Steve Phillips answers several questions surrounding the
game each week.
Adriano Jersey . This weeks topics include
the Jays treatment of Brett Lawrie, Nationals manager Matt Williams two
differing responses on Bryce Harper, the challenges that lie ahead for baseballs
new commissioner and what to do about ballplayers who use PEDs. 1) After only
three innings of action on Tuesday, the Toronto Blue Jays were forced to place
third baseman Brett Lawrie back on the 15-day DL. Was he rushed back into
action, or is this injury another one of those things that happens over the
course of a baseball season? Is it possible the Jays felt pressure with their
lack of deadline moves and the team discontent that stemmed from that situation
to get Lawrie back into the lineup as soon as possible? Lawrie lasting only
three innings does not scream of bad decision-making in the medical department.
He was on the DL with a broken finger and is now back on the DL with a strained
oblique. I guess you can wonder whether the trainers did enough to replicate
baseball activities and the rotation necessary to play the game while he was
injured, but it isnt completely fair. Sometimes, stuff happens. I think this
situation screams even more loudly what a lost opportunity the trade deadline
was for the Jays. Ownership has let Jays fans down with their decision-making.
If the season were to end today, the Jays would not make the playoffs. They have
slid back to the pack so substantially, that the pack is now passing them. The
Yankees may or may not make the playoffs, but they just won three of four from
the Detroit Tigers. Guys like Chase Headley, Stephen Drew, Martin Prado, Brandon
McCarthy and Chris Capuano are making major contributions. GM Brian Cashman
anticipated a need for depth, so he acquired more players than were obviously
needed. I know what you are thinking - they are the Yankees and they have money
to spend. But all of their acquisitions were of second and third tier players.
They didnt break the bank. This was the year to go for it for the Jays. Instead,
they stood pat while others improved. Dont blame John Gibbons and dont blame
Alex Anthopoulos. This is strictly an ownership issue. I feel bad for the Jays
fans. Teams often come up with slogans for the season. It can be a rallying cry
for the fans, players and media. The slogan this year in Toronto is - Sometimes,
stuff happens. 2) There has been some talk of the possibility that the
Washington Nationals could send struggling star Bryce Harper down to the minors.
Manager Matt Williams has since squashed the rumours by saying its something
they are not considering as a possibility. But should they? Would a short stint
in the minors help Harper get his head right and turn around his season, or
would it stunt his growth and/or make him bitter and angry at the team? Matt
Wiliams attacked the media in Washington before their game against the Mets on
Wednesday for asking the question posed above. What was bizarre about it is that
on his weekly radio show in the morning, Williams answered the exact same
question in a very reasonable way. He said, Generally, if you have young
players, thats what you do. But this guy is a special young player. Something
must have happened between the morning interview and Williams meeting with the
media before the game. Maybe Harpers agent Scott Boras caught wind of the
speculation and called GM Mike Rizzo to complain. Maybe Harper heard it and had
a panicked conversation with his manager. Whatever happened, it sent Williams
into a rage when asked the same question about the possibility of sending Harper
to the minors. I would caution everybody in this room, he started. The minute
you think you can read my freaking mind, youre sorely mistaken. It (ticks) me
off to even think about, that somebody would take a comment I made on the radio
and infer I am thinking one way or another. Ive had it. Dont do it anymore.
Bryce Harper is one of the guys on our team, hes a very important part of our
team. Just like everybody else is. Do we understand each other? Its not fair to
the kid, its not fair to the rest of the guys in that clubhouse to even think
about sending Bryce Harper to the minor leagues, or to cause a stir. Its
unacceptable. It wont happen. That seemed pretty angry and pretty definitive. A
pretty defensive response for a manager whose team is in first place by five
games. Williams needs to take a deep breath. The question is a reasonable one
for a struggling young player. Now heres a question for you: Is Bryce Harper a
great player? I know theres a ton of potential in him considering his exploits
as an amateur. I know hes only 21-years-old. But hes a career .284 hitter. The
most home runs he hit in a season is 22 and the most runs he has driven in is
59. He hit .228 with two homers and three RBI in July and was hitting .158 in
August when Williams was asked the question. Harper has been significantly less
than great. There is no shame in sending a player to the minor leagues to clear
his mind and work on his game. It allows him to get out of the spotlight. At AAA
he wouldnt have dozens of microphones in his face asking him what is wrong and
why are you struggling. Sometimes it helps to take one step back to take two
steps forward. There are no scholarships in the big leagues. Its about
production. If Bryce Harper is going to be a superstar, theres nothing about
being sent to the minors that would change that. In fact, it might get him going
more quickly. I know Harper hit a game-winning homer in Thursdays game against
the Mets. Everyone is now saying, See, I told you so. He doesnt need to go to
the minors. Before the homer, however, he was 1-for-5 with two strikeouts. If
you believe the saying that, youre only as good as your last at bat, then Harper
starts this day as a stud. But there are no guarantees in baseball. Harper may
or may not have his confidence back. He may or may not be fixed. If Harper
continues his struggles, someone will have to work up the courage to ask Matt
Williams the question about the minors again. It just wont be me - because Matt
Williams scares me. 3) Next week, owners of the 30 Major League teams are going
to elect a new commissioner. Who should get the job? Bud Selig will be stepping
down in January and his replacement will be one of three men: Rob Manfred - MLBs
chief operating officer; MLBs executive vice president of business Tim Brosnan
and Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner. All three of the candidates, which were
selected by a seven-person search committee, are from within baseball and it
will take 23-of-30 votes to earn approval for selection as commissioner. Each of
the three candidates brings experience in their own substantial way. Rob Manfred
has been the point person for Bud Selig in communications with the players
association. Hes been part of the most successful runs of labour peace in modern
sports history. He also has a keen understanding of internal baseball and
business operations. He helped craft the strongest drug policy in professional
sports. Brosnan has helped foster and spread the exponential financial growth of
the industry and negotiated their impressive national television rights deals.
Tom Werner is the chairman of the Boston Red Sox and formerly owned the San
Diego Padres. Hes also a member of the Television Hall of Fame as served as
executive producer of a number of very successful television shows. Its a bit
surprising that the search committee is not presenting a candidate from outside
of the game. Certainly an understanding of the game is critical to running the
leagues, but baseball is in need of outside of the box thinking in a desperate
way. The game is losing its fan base at a record pace. Theres a disconnect
between the fans and the players. Kids find it far easier to relate to the NFL
and NBA. The pace of the game needs to change. Baseball needs to market its
stars in a much more substantial way. I thought for sure that Bob Bowman, CEO of
MLBAM, would be a candidate to consider. MLBAM includes MLB.com, MLB.tv, MLB
Radio, BaseballChannel.TV and MiLB.com. It generates close to a billion dollars
a year in revenue. And MLBAM is known for its creative and innovative
technological developments including the MLB At Bat app. Bowman is a businessman
and a visionary who gets things done. The only problem is that he is a
no-nonsense, brash and abrasive personality that has rubbed owners the wrong
way. So it shall be. The new commissioner will come from the three nominees
mentioned above. The voting will take place next Thursday at the owners meetings
and will continue until one of the candidates gets the required 23 votes. The
speculation was that Rob Manfred would get the votes necessary to win but
recently a number of anti-Manfred owners have been pushing for Tom Werner. Tim
Brosnan doesnt seem to have the support that the other two have but he could
emerge as a compromise option between the factions of owners. It will certainly
be fascinating. For the record, I would vote for Rob Manfred. I believe that his
working knowledge of the office and his relationship with the players
association will be very important. Baseball must reframe itself in the eyes of
its fans and yes, Manfred feels a bit connected to Bud Selig so he will have to
surround himself with creative, forward thinkers who understand the 18-35 male
demographic. I dont think that just because he worked for Selig - who is old
school in his thinking - limits Manfreds ability to grow the game in the right
direction. When I was an assistant GM for the Mets, I worked for a very good
baseball man in Joe McIlvaine. Joe was an old school guy and when I succeeded
him, I wasnt limited by his thinking. I completely restructured our scouting
department, computerized the entire baseball department and used stats and
sabermetrics in a way never considered before by the Mets organization. That all
said, Manfred can be his own man. No matter who gets the job, there will be
challenges ahead. Play Ball! The most recent developments in the Biogenesis
scandal in baseball reminds us that we will never be rid of PEDs. As long as
theres money to be made, the chemists will stay ahead of the testers. Players
will always look for an edge, especially with millions of dollars as a payoff.
Sure, the players have agreed to increase the first-time penalties to 80 games -
up from 50 games. Second-time offenders now lose an entire season and third-time
offenders are banned for life. This is a nice gesture by the players, but it
will not stop everyone from cheating. The DEA rounded up Tony Bosch and his
co-workers from Biogenesis. This investigation will certainly drum up more
evidence and information than the MLB one previously. The Feds have subpoena
power that baseball didnt have. We are hearing that more names will be exposed
than the 14 major leaguers suspended a year ago. Certainly baseball will want
those names and may very likely discipline the additional offenders. From the
investigation will come helpful information as to the production and
distribution chain of the drugs. We will learn, in detail, how professional and
youth players were recruited by Biogenesis and like companies. The prosecution
of these drug dealers will certainly put a scare in others doing the same. Give
baseball credit. Previously, it was the government that pushed baseball or more
accurately its union into stricter drug policies. This time around, it was
baseball that was the aggressor. The commissioner spent millions of dollars on
the investigation of Biogenesis. Baseball brought evidence and information from
some of the scoundrels arrested on Wednesday. And this time, it pushed the Feds
into pursuing this issue. But baseball needs the justice system to help them out
again. The Feds have never been interested in pursuing the users of PEDS - they
seemingly only want to stop the production and distribution. Back when Barry
Bonds, Jason Giambi and others were implicated in the investigation of BALCO
Labs, it was only BALCO founder Victor Conte who was a target for prosecution.
Bonds found himself in trouble not for drug use, but rather for hindering the
investigation. Its time for ballplayers who use illegal PEDs to be arrested and
to serve time for their crime. The drugs they are using are illegal and they are
illegally obtained. Some players share them with other players and thats illegal
as well. The Feds need to prosecute players just as they do the labs. Nothing
has been a deterrent for the players. They use PEDs and serve 50-game (now
80-game) suspensions and then signed multi-year, mega-million dollar deals.
Melky Cabrera signed a two-year, $16 million deal with Toronto a couple of years
ago after his suspension. Jhonny Peralta was punished for his steroid use with a
four-year $53 million deal from the Cardinals last off-season. Please punish me
like that! I am begging you! If players have to spend 60 days in jail for using
PEDs, Ill bet they start making different decisions about what they put in their
bodies. Lock them all up.
Jorge Valdivia Chile Jersey . Fisher, one
ahead overnight, carded a 5-under-par 67, including seven birdies and two
bogeys, at Copperleaf to lie at 18 under after three rounds. His fourth and last
tour win was the Irish Open in 2010, when he also played in the Ryder Cup.
Nicolas Castillo Jersey . 2 Juan Ignacio
Chela both overcame one-set deficits to win their quarter-finals at the Vina Del
Mar VTR Open on Friday, giving Argentine players three of the four semifinal
berths.BALTIMORE -- The Orioles have obtained outfielder David Lough from the
Kansas City Royals for infielder Danny Valencia. As a rookie this year, the
27-year-old Lough batted .286 with five homers and 33 RBIs in 96 games. He
played all three outfield positions. He was originally selected by the Royals in
the 11th round of the 2007 amateur draft. He made his major league debut in
2012,, playing 20 games and batting .
Ivan Rakitic Barcelona Jersey. 237. Valencia
hit .304 in 170 plate appearances for Baltimore. He bounced between the big
league team and the minor leagues for much of the season. Valencias .553
slugging percentage was the fifth-highest in the AL among players with at least
150 at-bats. He batted .371 with 14 doubles and four homers against
left-handers.
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