RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling The official MLB 2007 thread

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) -- Orlando Hernandez left the New York Mets' spring training camp and returned to New York to have his neck examined.

El Duque, slated to be the No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine in the Mets' shaky starting rotation, felt discomfort in his neck last season and the soreness returned this spring training, New York general manager Omar Minaya said before Thursday's workout.

Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. The 41-year-old right-hander missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.

New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Philip Humber and Mike Pelfrey, and veterans Jorge Sosa, Chan Ho Park, Jason Vargas, Juan Padilla and Aaron Sele.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) -- Roger Clemens pitched to his son and two other minor leaguers at the Houston Astros' spring training camp Thursday, and is no closer to deciding whether he'll play a 24th season.

If he comes back, the 44-year-old pitching great said he'll choose between the hometown Astros, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

"Everybody knows where I stand. I don't care to play, but if that decision comes up again, then it's a big decision on me," he said. "It has nothing to do with anybody else. It's a decision on me to go out and perform."

Clemens said he's not "milking" his decision in search of the highest bidder. He also said he'll have no problem walking away when the time comes.

"It's 10 times harder to make the decision to come back and try to do it again," he said. "I love what I do and I have high expectations to perform. When I don't, it's disappointing."

Koby Clemens, a third baseman starting his second full season in the Astros' minor league organization, said his father told him last week he was "80-20" leaning toward not coming back. Then again, after the 2003 season Clemens said there was a 99 percent chance he would retire.

"It's a pretty serious number right now," said Koby, the oldest of Clemens' four sons. "I go, 'Dad, right now, on the spot, if they asked you are you coming back or not, what are your percentages now?' He said, `80-20.' I go, 'Coming back or sitting out the year?' And he goes, 'Probably sitting out the year.' That was it."

Clemens is on an easier workout schedule now and won't increase the load unless he commits to playing again.

Clemens caused a bigger stir at spring training last season, pitching with more purpose to minor leaguers in preparation for the World Baseball Classic.

"I feel very good, I feel strong," he said. "But the intensity is nowhere near close to this point last year when I was getting ready for the world event. I had a lot riding on my shoulders."

Clemens said he'll work himself into shape if one of the teams comes to his agents, Alan and Randy Hendricks, with an offer he can't refuse.

He's also realistic about his age, and that his body may not respond like it once did.

"At one point, it's not going to work out," he said. "These are the questions I have to ask myself, that's why I push myself so hard to find out before I get to that moment.

"I don't know what's going to happen two months from now," Clemens said. "I could get into the middle of a training session and know that I just can't do it. That would be the easiest call for me to make."

On Thursday, he wore a black Astros cap, black Astros T-shirt and white pants. He hit grounders to Koby and shagged balls in the outfield.

Clemens says he is content to hang around the spring training complex and advise younger players. He'll also host some charity events while in Florida.

"What you saw me do today is what I plan on doing for the next month," he said. "Right now, it's going to be a slow, dead period. I'm doing what I love to do. I'm going to be running around here, throwing batting practice. I'll throw BP to the big guys if they need it. There won't be a lot of moss growing under my feet."

Clemens, who signed a $22 million contract with the Astros to pitch half of last season, didn't start in a major league game until June 22. He finished 7-6 with a 2.30 ERA in 19 starts.

If he returns, Clemens said he won't pitch until at least May. He said how the three teams are doing at that time won't affect his decision.

But Clemens said he'll only come back if he feels like he can help one of the teams contend.

"You come back to win, you come back to win it all," he said. "Your goals are set really high. I feel very flattered that those three teams still make an occasional phone call to the Hendricks brothers to ask where I'm at."

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- Manny Ramirez, who received permission from the Red Sox to report late to spring training for family reasons, was scheduled to attend a car auction in New Jersey on Saturday, according to the promoter of the auction.

It wasn't immediately clear if the team was aware of Ramirez's scheduled appearance at the Atlantic City Classic Cars Auction. Boston's first full-squad workout is Thursday. Under the collective bargaining agreement, the deadline for players to report to camp is next Tuesday.

Earlier Wednesday, Boston general manager Theo Epstein said Ramirez has an excused absence and will report on March 1 for the second straight year. On Monday, pitcher Julian Tavarez, Ramirez's close friend, said the slugger's mother recently had surgery and Ramirez was with her in Florida.

But later Wednesday, Ramirez's plans to appear at the car show surfaced in a report posted on The Boston Globe's Web site. It said Ramirez's mother's condition might prevent him from attending -- and it wasn't known when the appearance was initially scheduled.

But Louise Cunningham, who works for G. Potter King, the Berlin, N.J., car dealer promoting the auction, told The Associated Press that Ramirez was still expected at the event.

"All we know, he's coming at noon on Saturday, nothing else," she said.

Ramirez is a collector of classic cars. His 1967 four-door Lincoln Continental Sedan convertible is listed in Saturday's auction as number 1747A. In parentheses on the auction list is a note: Owned by Manny Ramirez.

Earlier Wednesday, after Boston's other position players underwent physicals and did conditioning runs, Epstein said he had spoken Tuesday with Ramirez's agent, Greg Genske. Epstein also said manager Terry Francona had talked with Genske and Ramirez.

"The communication was actually pretty good," Epstein said. "I think the most important thing is just accountability starting March 1 from then on out."

Epstein made no mention of the car show. Neither Epstein nor Genske returned e-mails seeking comment.

"He's got a family situation," Epstein said. "I think the important thing from our perspective at this point is when he does show up on March 1 that he's ready to go, accountable to his teammates, accountable to the organization."

Francona said Wednesday, "it's a family issue."

Ramirez asked to be traded after the last two seasons and was the subject of trade talks at the July 31 deadline in 2005. He also missed most of the final six weeks last season with what the team called right knee tendinitis. There was speculation he was physically able to play.

The car auction is scheduled for Thursday through Sunday at the Atlantic City Convention Center. It includes a 1,200-car auction, a swap meet, a "muscle car" showcase and an antique sale with cars starting at $50,000 minimum bid.

Ramirez is scheduled to make $18 million this season, the seventh of his eight-year, $160 million contract.

"It's a two-way street," Epstein said. "There's a certain amount of accountability that's expected. That's the way it's going to be going forward."

Ramirez has performed well on the field in his six seasons with the Red Sox, with at least 33 homers and 102 RBIs each year.

"Manny's still crazy," teammate David Ortiz said Wednesday with a big smile. "I'm still baby-sitting him.

"Things happen, man. It's not something that you can really control. His mom had surgery a while back. I'd be doing the same thing if I still had my mom alive and she got sick. I'd be trying to be with her."

Associated Press Writer Jesse Harlan Alderman in Boston contributed to this report.

SAN CRISTOBAL, Dominican Republic (AP) -- Accused of shooting a Dominican farmer in October, Chicago White Sox shortstop Juan Uribe has received permission from a judge to attend spring training in Tucson, Ariz.

Under the judge's ruling, Uribe will no longer have to appear in court twice a month for the remainder of the case. Instead, he must put down a $15,400 deposit guaranteeing he will make his next scheduled court appearance, slated for March 17.

"I am going to training tomorrow," Uribe told The Associated Press late Wednesday. "I feel satisfied with the court's decision and I am ready to present myself when it's necessary."

The farmer, Antonio Gonzalez Perez, accused Uribe of shooting him after an argument near the shortstop's hometown. An Italian man who also was shot did not file charges.

Uribe said he was ready to discuss the situation with White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen after reporting to camp. And, he said, he's ready to play.

"I have been training every day and I am in good shape. I am not going to have problems," Uribe said.

The 27-year-old shortstop hit .235 with 21 homers and 71 RBIs last season. He's due to make $4.15 million this year.

LAKELAND, Fla. – The first pitch Wednesday morning was up and in, not necessarily a strike, but the drill was two strikes, man on third, can't strike out, gotta get him home.

Now, Gary Sheffield hadn't swung a bat since October 7, when he struck out twice and was hitless in four at-bats against the Detroit Tigers.

That amounted to the end of the New York Yankees' season and the end of Sheffield's time with them, of two years with 70 home runs and almost 250 RBI and a third in which his wrist gave out.

The four-game loss to the Tigers in the American League Division Series fueled the new Yankee enthusiasm, headed by general manager Brian Cashman, for building a deeper, younger and more athletic organization.

The new plan landed Sheffield, one of the great fastball hitters of the past 15 years, here in a long, narrow clubhouse about 40 minutes east of Legends Field. He reported for his first day with the Tigers, palled around with Jim Leyland, shook hands with Dave Dombrowski, and it's a wonder they didn't get their 1997 World Series rings all tangled up.

His new uniform came in about a half-dozen pieces, packaged in plastic bags. His locker is plugged between Sean Casey's and Magglio Ordonez's, and two bat lengths from those of Al Kaline, Willie Horton and Lou Whitaker, Tigers royalty.

Sheffield has a three-year contract, the last of his Yankees deal and the two-year extension from the Tigers, worth $41 million. He'll bat third or fourth in a park generally considered fair to hitters, for a team that just went to its first World Series in 22 years, for a manager he respects and trusts. True, he'll be a regular designated hitter, which he hadn't intended just yet, but, as he said with a grin, "That'll mean less work."

On this morning, among these people, the occasionally difficult Sheffield looked like the man who once uttered the words, "What could ever be more fun than playing baseball from sunup to sundown?"

This, of all his layers, is Content Sheff. Yes, he would have preferred to stay in New York, where he'd grown comfortable with his teammates and the organization and the regular winning. Yes, he would prefer to play the outfield. Yes, when he looks across those miles of Waffle Houses down Interstate 4, through the daily crises of A-Rod and Jeter, Mussina and Pavano, and a Bernie-less clubhouse, it still looks pretty good.

There's nothing wrong with what's under his feet, either. A hug from Craig Monroe. The first of many laughs with Casey. A loud locker room crowded with pitching and promise. A reliable left wrist.

"I was hoping to stay in New York, but unfortunately it hasn't happened and I looked for the next best thing," he said. "I didn't even think about Detroit. The fact is, I didn't think it was a fit. I never thought [Leyland] would have me as a DH. I never thought of that. And I didn't consider myself a DH, so I really didn't look at that situation. … I looked at the Cubs. I looked at Houston. I looked at teams like that. I looked at Boston, which I knew they weren't going to trade me there. I looked at the Mets. … When Detroit called and said I'd be DH-ing, I said, 'Well, I'll do it.'

"I look forward. I owe that to my teammates I play with now. I can't afford to say, 'I wish I was here as opposed to here.' I'm not going to do that because, other than that, I'm happy."

He played 39 games last season. The middle 3½ months were spent on wrist surgery and recovering from it. He rushed back to try to bail out the Yankees and Jason Giambi, who by then also was ailing, played the first nine games of his life at first base, was benched in Game 3 of the Division Series and was being shopped within hours of Game 4's final out.

"The reason I came back was I felt like I had to," Sheffield said. "I wasn't supposed to come back when I came back. I wasn't ready, to be honest with you. I just came back to show other organizations I could still play. I had a severe injury pretty much the whole year. Just to get back out there, hit a couple home runs during the season and try to get a little momentum going into the playoffs. But, obviously, I wasn't ready. Now, having four months off, I've had time to heal."

All the way around.

So, here he is. Assuming Standard Sheff, the Tigers made one of the great off-season moves. They dealt from a surplus and improved themselves at designated-hitter, where last season they got a .258 batting average, 27 home runs and 90 RBI. Not bad, but not Sheff, either.

They'll put him alongside Leyland – after every World Series appearance for Leyland, it seems, Sheffield is either coming or going ("It's a funny business, how it works," Leyland said.) – and see if they can't win a division title together, then three more games than they did last October.

It begins, of course, with the first pitch in February. And on the first day that really felt like spring in Florida, this one to Sheffield was particularly unfriendly.

"I don't pick up a bat in the offseason," he said. "Never. Not a time in my life. First time I'll have a ball coming at me. I might miss a few, but…"

Not this one. His hands shot through the strike zone, squaring as much of the barrel as he could with the ball, sending a soft line drive into left field.

Can't strike out. Gotta get him home.

Looks a lot like Familiar Sheff.

Tim Brown is a national baseball writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send Tim a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Quote:

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Brad Lee said:
Can someone explain to me why the national media hates Sheffield?

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FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- Manny Ramirez changed plans and will not attend a car auction in New Jersey on Saturday while his Boston Red Sox teammates work out at spring training, the team said Thursday.

The Red Sox gave Ramirez permission to report late to camp on March 1, the day after their first exhibition game, for family reasons. The left fielder's mother recently had surgery.

Boston general manager Theo Epstein said that after learning about Ramirez's scheduled appearance at the auction, he spoke Wednesday night with Greg Genske, the slugger's agent.

"He said (Ramirez) is not going to be there, so it's fine," Epstein said Thursday. "He's dealing with a family issue. We're not going to document his exact whereabouts on an hour-to-hour basis."

Louise Cunningham, who works for G. Potter King, the Berlin, N.J., car dealer promoting the auction, told The Associated Press on Wednesday night that Ramirez was still expected at the event in Atlantic City. On Thursday, the company did not return calls seeking comment.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona said that when he spoke with Genske and Ramirez on Tuesday night, the car auction was not discussed. Francona also said he wasn't concerned that Ramirez would make plans to be at a car show during spring training.

"I don't think I can let it concern me that he might have, or he allegedly, or somebody wrote it. That's not a very productive way for me to manage the club," Francona said.

Epstein said he didn't think the auction would be a distraction, "if we manage it the right way."

"Manny certainly intends to be here as soon as he can and get ready for the season. So I think it's not the biggest deal in the world, provided he's here March 1, or even earlier if his mother's situation resolves itself," the GM said.

Red Sox president Larry Lucchino also showed little concern about Ramirez's previous plans to be at the auction.

"I think it's a stale issue," he told reporters. "You guys are making a tempest in a teapot."

Ramirez collects classic cars. His 1967 four-door Lincoln Continental Sedan convertible is listed in Saturday's auction as number 1747A. In parentheses on the auction list is a note: Owned by Manny Ramirez.

Baseball's collective bargaining agreement gives teams the right to penalize players who report to camp after Feb. 27, but Epstein said the team won't discipline Ramirez.

"We can give a player permission to show up late for certain instances, and family always comes first in this organization and will continue to," Epstein said.

The Red Sox are used to Ramirez's unusual behavior.

The slugger asked to be traded after the last two seasons and was the subject of trade talks at the July 31 deadline in 2005. He also missed most of the final six weeks last season with what the team called right knee tendinitis. There was speculation he was physically able to play.

Ramirez is scheduled to make $18 million this season, the seventh of his eight-year, $160 million contract. In each if his previous six seasons with the Red Sox, he had at least 33 homers and 102 RBIs.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Even if Barry Bonds is not an All-Star this season, Giants owner Peter Magowan expects the slugger to take part in festivities for baseball's summer classic in his home ballpark.

Magowan hopes that Bonds' godfather, Hall of Famer Willie Mays, will be a big part of the July event in San Francisco. Yet Magowan would rather No. 25 is in uniform and playing for the NL roster and World Series-winning manager Tony La Russa.

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"If Willie is going to get honored, as I think he will, Barry will have some role to play there," Magowan said Friday during a wide-ranging interview in the dugout at Scottsdale Stadium. "But what I hope instead will happen is he is chosen to be on the All-Star team, and I feel he will be. I feel he will have earned his spot both by what he's done in the game and by what he will have done this year."

Bonds, a seven-time NL MVP, begins his 22nd major league season -- his 15th with San Francisco -- 22 home runs shy of passing Hank Aaron's career record of 755. Magowan joked how La Russa will surely want Bonds on his All-Star roster, a reference to the slugger and skipper meeting during Bonds' brief appearance at the baseball winter meetings in December.

La Russa's St. Louis Cardinals apparently were a team interested in Bonds.

"We all know from the offseason that Tony would like him," Magowan said with a chuckle.

In the case that Bonds isn't voted into his 14th All-Star game, Magowan said the Giants will incorporate their 42-year-old left fielder and cleanup hitter. Everyone around the Giants is happy to see that Bonds is completely healthy and in great shape this spring training.

Bonds revised $15.8 million, one-year contract was finalized Feb. 13, one week before his first spring training workout. The sides agreed on terms Dec. 7 then spent nearly two months squabbling over complicated language in the deal.

Giants general manager Brian Sabean knows Bonds has a good chance to be an All-Star. The slugger hasn't made it since five straight selections from 2000-04.

"It wouldn't surprise any of us," Sabean said.

Bonds, who had offseason surgery on his left elbow, batted .270 with 26 homers and 77 RBIs and drew 115 walks in 130 games last year after appearing in only 14 contests in 2005 following three operations on his right knee.

Magowan expects more production in 2007. Bruce Bochy has said it is realistic to expect Bonds will play in at least 100 games.

"I think we're very glad to have Barry," Magowan said. "I think he looks better than pretty good. He looks really good. I think he's going to have a better year than he had last year. Last year he couldn't really move at the beginning of the year. His mobility is much better, he looks a little skinnier and I think he's highly motivated. He's always highly motivated, but he's trained hard during the offseason. I think he's going to have a good year and we're counting on him to."

Magowan, with his wife and grandson accompanying him, watched Bonds take his cuts from right behind the batting cage on a cool Arizona morning and they chatted between Bonds' rounds in the cage.

Aside from Bonds, Magowan addressed the futures of Sabean and shortstop Omar Vizquel. Both men are in the final year of their contracts.

Magowan pledged his support for Sabean despite the fact the Giants have missed the playoffs for three straight years. Magowan isn't pointing all the blame at the GM. He told Sabean they will discuss his situation toward the end of the season -- though Magowan also said he fully expects Sabean to stick around.

"I think a lot of Brian," Magowan said. "He's one of the best general managers in the game. We've had two disappointing years. We're all accountable. ... We're all on the hot seat. I'm on the hot seat."

Sabean, who said he would like to stay in San Francisco forever, understands Magowan's need to wait. He would do the same thing in such a situation. Sabean was in the same situation in 2002 and didn't receive an extension until after the team's World Series season.

"It's understandable," Sabean said. "Just look at the last two years. I'm certainly not above going through due process."

Vizquel said upon his arrival that he would like a contract extension, and that he hopes to play through 2009. The 11-time Gold Glove winner turns 40 in April. Magowan said something could get done during spring training.

"I would like to explore it. Pretty unique guy, Omar," Magowan said, noting it might have to be on a year-by-year basis with Vizquel. "At his age to play the position he plays, shortstop, and to play it as well as he's played it and do it at that age that well, I can't remember the last time I've seen it."

Magowan expects the Giants to reach the 3 million mark for attendance for the eighth straight season, every year the Giants' waterfront ballpark has existed.