This is a strange story.
In a bizarre attempt to avoid a 50-game drug suspension, San Francisco Giants star Melky Cabrera created a fictitious website and a nonexistent product designed to prove he inadvertently took the banned substance that caused a positive test under Major League Baseball’s drug program.
The other day I was considering writing a post about Cabrera's honesty following his positive test and 50-game suspension. It's rare that a player caught doping admits it. The public demands it and pretends they'll hold it against him in a different way, but they don't. Still, I appreciated the honest statement.
My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used. I accept my suspension under the Joint Drug Program and will try to move on with my life. I am deeply sorry for my mistake and I apologize to my teammates, to the San Francisco Giants organization and to the fans for letting them down.
Although I wasn't surprised at the reports of the cover-up, I was disappointed. Here was a guy who got caught, admitted it, accepted the suspension even though it greatly hurts the Giants chances of reaching the playoffs and wants to looks forward to moving on. It's not often I find myself caring about what these athletes say or do, but I found his comments regarding this more sincere and honest than any other by a long margin.
This new report sheds an entirely different light on what happened. Cabrera, like most athletes, wasn't sincere in apologizing. He was, perhaps, sorry he got caught, but probably only because it's likely to cost him money down the road. Then again, maybe it already made him more money than he deserved.
But instead of exonerating Cabrera of steroid use, the Internet stunt trapped him in a web of lies. Amid the information-gathering phase of his doping case last month, his cover story unraveled quickly, and what might have been a simple suspension has attracted further attention from federal investigators and MLB, the Daily News has learned.
Famed steroid cop Jeff Novitzky, a criminal investigative agent for the Food & Drug Administration, and agents from MLB’s Department of Investigation have begun looking into Cabrera’s associates and his entourage, including trainers, handlers and agents, as they search for the source of the synthetic testosterone that appeared in a sample of the All-Star Game MVP’s urine.
Rather than admit it, accept the punishment and move on, Cabrera, it seems, was willing to go to great lengths to cover this up. He has reportedly gone to such lengths that might result in further punishment. Maybe even legal issues.
Maybe not.
Sam and I absolutely had no knowledge or dealings with anyone at anytime associated with the website,” Seth Levinson said in an email to The News. “I will state unequivocally and irrefutably that any payment made to the website does not come from ACES (their New York-based sports agency, Athletes’ Career Enhanced and Secured Inc.)
I was the only one who had dealings with the website,” Nunez said. “Neither Seth nor Sam had any dealings with the website, nor did anyone else in the firm.
All I know right now is that this is the strangest case yet that MLB has had to deal with. Whether or not Cabrera was involved in the cover-up, he's going to pay a price for it. Perhaps not legally, but financially he will.
I can’t wait until the Royals overpay for him next year anyway (dying laughing)
(dying laughing), Valbuena hitting third today
@ Berselius:
Better than hitting him 2nd.
Getaway day game after doubleheader ftl
Bud caught in the act of giving his daily prayer, “Lord, please don’t let any PED stories arise today.”
Must have missed a week or so, cuz he’s gonna have a bundle of stories on this one.
Jeff Nowitzky is as big a crook as the people he pursues. That corrupted asshat should be in jail.
David DeJesus is having a hot week or two, though I’m sure Josh thinks it’s not that hot.
It appears Volstad will still be looking for that first win in forever.
@ mb21:
He’s refused to waive the no-win clause in his contract. Rumor is the Cubs aren’t happy about it.
No-win clause (dying laughing) (dying laughing)
Brett Jackson made contact against Aroldis Chapman (and got a double). That’s far more interesting than a win, I think.
Of course, he promptly ended the threat by getting caught stealing third.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Cub players successfully negotiated 10-5 no-win rights with management. After 10 days and 5 innings with the team, they don’t have to ever be pressured to win a game, and in exchange they have to promise not to call out the Wrigley fans for being assholes.
@ GBTS:
Ah, yes the Sullivan-ManOLantern Clause
TWO TOOTBLANS in two innings…..ugh.
@ Jed Jam Band:
They may have to amend that part of the Cubs player manual.
@ Rice Cube:
That’ll have to wait for the 3rd Edition. The 2nd Edition is already in a rush to incorporate the bunting game.
Looks like Mike Trout has learned all there is to learn at the MLB level. He should be promoted to the next level any day now.
@ Rizzo the Rat:
AAAAAA player.
So…what happened here?
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=24037373&c_id=mlb
Cubs sign Alex Hinshaw https://twitter.com/ESPNChiCubs/status/237291895175405568
@ mb21:
WORLD SERIES
Wandy Rodriguez walks Adam Wainwright, pinch hitting for RP Salas, in the bottom of the 18th. That’s a line you don’t see very often.
Poor David Freese, 0-8. Holliday is 0-7.
Pedro Alvarez hit a home run. Pirates lead in the top of the 19th.
Joe Kelly threw 87 pitches in relief.
2 R single from McClutcheon. Bucs up 3 in the 19th. Can Wandy hold against the Cards’ collection of former Supreme Ct Justices and poets?
@ SVB:
Yes, he can. Wow.
I just noticed the Advertising tab at the top and gave it a read. Who wrote that? (dying laughing)s to you.
@ SVB:
AC did.
@ mb21:
Has it worked? If you were uninitiated here, it sounds good, but I couldn’t help but read it with some assumption of dry humor, especially the page reload part since you have to hit refresh to get new comments. And of course the Aisley part…
Butt cheese
@ Suburban kid:
Hose washer
@ SVB:
It’s ThisClose to sincerity.
@ Suburban kid:
He hasn’t been around lately, if you’re asking.
@ SVB:
Yeah, it has. It’s not written for people who frequent the site but rather those who are just interested in advertising. The page reload part was written when we still used joomla sone need to update that.
@ Rice Cube:
The Cubs Way.
@ GBTS:
@ alf:
(dying laughing)
The cubs balls suck like shit sandwich aprons
For b: reports suggest that Carl Crawford will undergo surgery on Tuesday.
I feel more dumb than usual. I had to look at that Pena thing 5 times before I got it.
Bumgarner v. Kershaw tonight is must-see-TV.
Couldn’t pay me to attend though, as there will probably be a multitude of assaults/stabbings.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/19/sports/baseball/cubs-darwin-barney-provides-historically-good-defense-at-second.html?_r=1&smid=tw-share
@ Mish:
We should probably, at some point, consider moving him to the rotation.
I’m sure this has been beaten to death already, but since I was gone all weekend…
I think Starlin was blindsided by the news of the contract extension. He wanted to wait and see if better offers were out there.
@ Mish:
That guy stole my idea for next Thursday’s post.
@ jtsunami:
I hear he really wanted to be extended by the Dodgers
@ Mish:
I like how the author talks uncritically about a couple of defensive metrics before discussing how important shifts and positioning are, as if the latter might have no skewing effect on the former.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
According to the great work Colin has done, shifts have little to no affect. Barney’s DRS is as much an outlier as Soriano’s UZR was in 2007.
@ mb21:
If the shift maximizes a player’s range, how could it not? I haven’t had time to read Colin’s stuff, so I ask honestly.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Maybe there isn’t sufficient data to employ shifts effectively enough to change the numbers. Just a guess, though.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
It is affecting DRS, but overall it doesn’t have much impact if I recall correctly: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=17183
But I don’t think we can say Barney’s DRS is what it is because of the shift. Why did Soriano have an absurdly high 33 UZR in 2007 while fielding significantly fewer balls than Barney? Sometimes one of these is just so far off on a player that it’s best to ignore it. If someone wants to quote it, that’s fine because the statistic exists. I don’t believe Barney has saved 30 runs defensively and I don’t know too many people who would think that.
That said, I’m glad Barney is getting the press that he’s getting for his defense. It’s been outstanding this year and he deserves it. I don’t think I’ve seen a middle infielder in a Cubs uniform with the defensive potential he has since Ryne Sandberg. Most of the time fielders get praised by national sportswriters because they’re also good hitters. Barney isn’t an especially good hitter so I kind of like seeing him getting this much attention. He’s also an excellent baserunner (ranks 8th in BP’s BRR). I’d prefer people look at UZR and FRAA, which both show him well above average defensively and above average in terms of WAR, but this just isn’t something I feel strongly about. Barney deserves the attention he’s getting.
@ mb21:
Agreed. I’d just like to see sportswriters be a bit more critical in their use of numbers. BUt I guess I can save that rant for my “shit sportswriters say” piece (dying laughing)
Here’s something that’s interesting: in 2300 defensive innings and 1100 PA, Barney’s fWAR is 5.0. In 3500 defensive innings and 1800 PA, Castro’s is 7.9. if you look at this at the per game level Barney has been equal to Castro in fWAR. If we did the same thing with rWAR (even adjusting his 30 DRS down to 5) we get a similar result. Castro a bit better if we make that DRS adjustment down to 5, but not much.
obviously Castro is the superior player. He’s younger and has a brighter future, but Barney has been just as productive as Castro per game to this point in their careers. They’ve just done it differently. That won’t be true in a year or two, but for now it is and I don’t think most people realize that.
@ mb21:
When does Barney hit arb?
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
Oh I agree with that. I’m just willing to overlook it since I’m glad Barney is getting the recognition as a great fielder. The scouts said so all through the minor leagues (even at SS) and you’ve got to tip your hat to them too. They nailed it. This guy won’t be much more an 8-hitter in his career, but he’s got a few more productive years in him because of his defense and baserunning, both of which he is damn good at. If you’re not that good at hitting, you better be good at fielding and baserunning and that’s Darwin Barney. He’s found a way to succeed in a game while not being much of a hitter. Even when he begins to slip, he’s going to stick around this game for awhile as a defensive specialist.
You think back to 2007, 2008 and 2009 when Ryan Theriot was getting all this love from the fans and media. He barely deserved it. He had one good year at the plate and wasn’t much of a fielder either. And he talked nonfuckingstop. Barney isn’t annoying as far as I know and he just about his business like I wish Theriot would have.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
He’s got another year of league minimum and then will be arbitration eligible in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
I’d be interested to see what kind of a contract the Cubs could get for Barney over the next 4 years. I’d consider locking him up, but I’d obviously not be willing to pay him too much ($10 million or less).
@ mb21:
4/32?
@ mb21:
Yeah, he’s a nice piece. Better than Theriot or Fontenot ever were.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I wouldn’t touch that. Keep in mind that arbitration seems to base much of its monetary award on offense. Or so it seems anyway. How much did Theriot get in arbitration?
@ mb21:
I don’t think they lock Barney up with infielders like Baez, Candelario, that guy from the Dempster trade, and maybe Logan Watkins coming up the pipeline, though I guess they could always trade him.
theriot got $2.6 million in his first year and then $3.3 million the next. He sucked after that and I think he agreed to a huge pay cut. So figure $5 million in year 3. That’s about $11 million. I guess I’d probably not bother. That’s not going to be so much money that it’s worth the risk for the Cubs.
@ Berselius:
You’re right. I’m interested to see if Baez can stick at SS at this point. That would be awesome if he could. If he’s a guy who can stick at SS he’s a top 10 prospect IMO.
@ mb21:
I saw something earlier today (maybe on BN?) speculating that he would move to 2b instead of 3b since there’s a logjam there with Vitters, Candelario, and Third Guy Whose Name I Can’t Remember. Barney’s glove is great, but Baez would be good defensively there too and have some power to go with it.
@ mb21:
I thought you meant 10/yr. (dying laughing) I thought that seemed really high.
@ Berselius:
I think the talk of a logjam at 3rd is way too early. It reminds me of the talks Ryno and I first had when we started ACB. We were talking about their awesome lineup and a rotation full of guys similar to Wood, Prior and Zambrano. Basically, we were having the same discussions that bubbles still has.
I think you put the player where he’ll be most productive and not give a damn about what might be coming up behind you or in front of you. If at some point you have two valuable players who would be most productive at the same position then you figure something out. Until then, it’s just hopes and dreams.
FWIW, I don’t think the Cubs are that impressed with Josh Vitters. I expect him to be traded this offseason. They haven’t been the least bit impressed with other 1st rounders Hendry made. The money pick was Baez and that’s when the Cubs finally opened the wallet in the draft.
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
(dying laughing) that would be a bit crazy. (dying laughing)
dj’s minor shit is up.
http://www.obstructedview.net/minor-leagues/the-children-are-the-future-cubs-minor-league-update-sponsored-by-the-ab-wheel.html#comment-111375