George Mitchell and his team of highly paid lawyers continue to work on Major League Baseball’s unprecedented internal investigation into the sport’s steroid use. The report is expected to be released at some point before spring training, and its release almost certainly will be followed by a flurry of 50-game, first-time offense suspensions from Commissioner Bud Selig.
Imagine how crazy the baseball landscape could look next April if the players union is not successful in getting the suspensions thrown out.
The first third of the schedule could be played with some teams missing two or three key players, not to mention those who suffer the usual injuries. The teams that somehow skate the suspensions would be at a tremendous advantage.
Some general managers who invest this winter in players found to be users could have egg on the face before the newcomers even get on the field. It’s the ultimate case of caveat emptor in sports, although in this case it is impossible for the decision-makers to know with any degree of surety who they should beware and who they should welcome with open arms.
“There is no scenario at this point that is farfetched,” White Sox general manager Ken Williams said. “None of us know how this is going to turn out, where it is going. But given the facts that continue to come out, the stories you see all the time, nothing is farfetched. I continue to be surprised by the level of some of the reports that keep coming out. Maybe I’m just naive, but I was a player. I was in the clubhouse not so long ago and I had no idea that it was happening when it was happening.”
Williams says he had at least one former teammate tell him he had been using steroids when they were playing together.
“I was shocked,” he said. “But maybe to another degree, I shouldn’t have been shocked. Maybe it explained a lot of things.”
While Sammy Sosa is widely believed to have turned himself into a record-setting power hitter through some unnatural means, neither the White Sox nor the Cubs have had significant players linked to the use of steroids or human growth hormones through the growing paper trail springing from investigations of pharmacies and other suppliers.
Left-hander Scott Schoeneweis, who pitched for the White Sox in 2003-04, is reported to have received six shipments of steroids during those seasons. But otherwise the Chicago teams mostly have just observed the awkwardness elsewhere after reports linking more than 50 players to the illegal use of steroids and other banned performance-enhancing substances.
Among active players, that list includes Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, Gary Matthews Jr., Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Brian Roberts, Guillermo Mota, Juan Rincon, Jose Guillen, Rafael Betancourt, Rick Ankiel, Troy Glaus, Paul Byrd, Ryan Franklin, Jay Gibbons and Jerry Hairston Jr.
Williams says it is “extremely concerning” the Mitchell report could identify users who previously have not be identified. But his counterpart with the Cubs, Jim Hendry, does not seem to be sweating about the possibility he could unknowingly sign or trade for a player who is later named in an investigation.
“That’s not one of the things I think about a lot,” Hendry said. “I have a lot of faith in our scouts. They’ve given me a lot of information about players we went after in free agency and trades last year, and they’ve hit a lot of bull’s-eyes with that information. They don’t just watch players. They gather information and then we make our decisions. You get the best information you can, and that’s all you’re ever going to be able to do.”
New York Mets GM Omar Minaya a year ago re-signed Mota, a powerful reliever, knowing that he faced a 50-game suspension.
“I knew at the time he was a user, and we signed him,” Minaya said. “He was candid when I talked to him. He admitted to his faults. In general, I’m one of those people who understands that people make mistakes. I believe in giving people second chances.”
Williams has taken his share of chances with players who have had trouble on and off the field. He doesn’t rule out pursuing a player because of his involvement in the steroid scandal.
“Who among us hasn’t made a mistake in life and had to learn from it?” Williams asked. “I’ve given a number of guys a second chance because of one thing or another. That’s just life. The unsettling thing here is what might not be known.”
Selig has said he is keeping open a full range of options in dealing with Bonds and any other player named in the Mitchell Report. Many legal experts believe that MLB could have a difficult time defending the issuing of sanctions for circumstantial violations, many of which pre-date baseball’s comprehensive program of testing and system for discipline.
But those close to the commissioner have said he feels he needs to make a strong statement, and it will be hard to do that without suspensions.
The chaos gets closer with every page that Mitchell’s staff types.
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progers@tribune.com
