When Juan Gonzalez started his comeback earlier this spring with the St. Louis Cardinals, how did you think it was going to end? If your guess was, "with injury," well, unsurprisingly, you would've been right on. As the Cardinals are whittling their roster down for Opening Day, Gonzalez has gone home to Puerto Rico to rehab an abdominal strain, though the Cardinals want him to know he's always welcome back. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
"When he feels he's ready to play, if he so desires, then we'll revisit maybe having him back," general manager John Mozeliak said. "That list allows for an open-door policy. ... He still has an attraction as a power righthanded bat."
The list that Mozeliak is referring to is the "temporarily inactive list," which the Cardinals have put Gonzalez on. Basically, it means they've still got the rights to him if he decides he wants to come back anytime soon. It's a move that makes sense for the Cards as they're pretty thin in the outfield right now and Gonzalez actually hit pretty well in the spring, even homering off of Johan Santana. Still, if he does come back, I can't imagine him staying healthy for long.
Yesterday Matt Watson told us all that Tony LaRussa wanted the Cardinals to consider signing Barry Bonds for this season. I wasn't exactly surprised by the news, because given LaRussa's past, he's not exactly scared by the prospect of steroids or other performance enhancing drugs.
After all, this is the man that oversaw the dawn of the steroid era while managing both Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire in Oakland, while the two were just discovering their fondness for needles. He's also currently the manager of a team that has five players named in The Mitchell Report, and already signed Juan Gonzalez to a minor-league deal earlier this month.
So how does LaRussa cope with the enhanced scrutiny he's come under thanks to our country's new found obsession with steroids? Easy. It's called denial, and Tony's deep in it.
As we continued to talk, we moved on to McGwire and his tainted legacy. La Russa compared McGwire's work ethic to that of another man caught in the steroids swirl, Clemens. In spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, La Russa maintained that both of them deserve a pass. "There's a certain amount of credit that should be given to a guy who's worked hours and hours to get stronger and bigger," he said.
I reminded him that the whole point of using many performance-enhancing drugs is to increase the ability to work and train harder. "So working hard doesn't give you an alibi that you didn't use drugs," I told him.
"Well, that's what you believe and you're probably right according to testimony, but that's not what I believe," La Russa said. "I watched Mark McGwire work."
What seemed like a semi-improbable rumor a month ago is a rumor no more: Juan Gonzalez has signed a minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. Yes, THAT Juan Gonzalez. The 1996/1998 AL MVP that's had his name linked to steroids several times in the last couple years and hasn't played a big league game since 2005 and hasn't been relevant since 2001 Juan Gonzalez.
Anyways, it's a minor league contract, as mentioned above, and I know this seems kind of crazy to say, but I think Gonzo might have a shot at making the Cardinals' roster this spring. Their starting outfield is currently (from left to right) Chris Duncan, Rick Ankiel, and Skip Schumaker with Ryan Ludwick and Rule 5 pick Brian Barton on the bench. Since Barton's a Rule 5 pick that just had knee surgery, it's likely that he'll start the season either on the DL or back in the Indians' system. That means all Gonzo has to do to make the club is beat out Schumaker or Ludwick. Crazier things have happened.
Speaking of crazier things, imagine back to the 2001 playoffs. If someone told you when those playoffs kicked off that in seven years, the Cardinals exciting young ace and the Indians aging star outfielder would be playing next to each other in St. Louis' outfield in seven years, you'd think that person was crazy, right?
There was a stretch back in the 90's where Juan Gonzalez seemed like a perennial threat to Hack Wilson's record of 190 RBIs in a single season (random trivia alert: Wilson picked up his 191st RBI in 1999 when an official scorer found an extra RBI on the books that belonged to Hack). He was a one-man wrecking crew in Texas from '96-'99 and had a big 2001 season in Cleveland.
After that, Juan Gone fell off the face of the planet, playing bits and pieces of the next three seasons back in Texas and Kansas City. He tried a comeback with Cleveland in 2005 and tore his hamstring in his only at-bat that year, ending his career for good. At least that's what we all assumed. His named popped up in some independent leagues, but never with a Major League club. Never until now, that is. Apparently, the Cardinals are thinking about giving Gonzo a shot at spring training this year.
I don't know exactly what it was that sparked the Cards' interest. His mention in the Mitchell Report, maybe? I mean I know Jim Edmonds is gone now, but I don't think that a guy that's had as many torn hammies as at-bats in the past three seasons is really going to solve anything.
This news is, quite frankly, saddening. When I need my baseball fix in November and December, where will I turn? Unfortunately, it won't be to the Puerto Rican Winter Ball League -- their upcoming season has been canceled.
The Puerto Rican winter baseball league, where the likes of Roberto Clemente, Ivan Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez once starred, canceled its upcoming season Thursday because of financial problems.
The league was supposed to start its 70th season in three months. Instead, it suspended operations and planned to spend the next year trying to reorganize. ... Puerto Rico's league runs from October through January. This year's season was expected to feature Yadier Molina and his brother, Jose.
Well, the bright side is that it's only one season and it has a chance to be back in '08-'09. I'm just wondering why none of the Puerto Rican players have stepped up to revive the league. Sigh. If only Juan-Gone had signed on the dotted line ... the league might have been able to live on.
"I have no knowledge that Juan used steroids. His number of injuries and early retirement just makes me suspicious," Hicks wrote in an e-mail to the Associated Press yesterday. "In any event, we paid him $24 million for very few games."
Since when is missing games with injury a sign of steroids? Usually people point to a sudden drop-off in production as a sign that someone has come off the juice, but that didn't happen with Gonzalez. Although he was only able to play in 70 games in 2002 and 82 games in 2003, he was very productive when he was on the field, combining to hit .288 with 32 home runs and 105 RBI in 604 at-bats.
Maybe his injuries were the result of years of steroid abuse, but does anyone know for sure? A lot of players have spent a lot of time on the DL, and I don't think that's reason enough to point fingers. Gonzalez was always injury prone: he appeared in at least 145 games just twice over his entire career. The fact he suddenly broke down late in his career wasn't all that surprising considering he struggled to stay on the field even during his prime.
When it comes to talking about steroids, the fans and media have no problem throwing names around. When it comes to those inside of baseball, no one, with the exception of a few notable ex-players, wants to talk. (And with good reason -- Jason Giambi merely alluded to being sorry about "stuff" and was dragged into Bud Selig's office and threatened with a suspension.)
With that in mind, it's a bit surprising that Tom Hicks spoke so candidly about some of his biggest mistakes as the owner of the Rangers in a recent television interview. While discussion bad contracts (not surprisingly, Chan Ho Park's $65 million albatross was the first one he mentioned), he casually threw one of his former franchise players under the bus:
"Juan Gonzalez, for $24 million, after he came off steroids probably... we just gave that money away."
Assuming what he's saying is true, did Hicks know about prior steroid use before giving Gonzalez that two-year deal? And if so, was he hoping that Juan Gone would stay on the juice just a little bit longer? At least when Giambi made his comments, he was showing remorse for the whole era -- Hicks just sounds upset about throwing money down the drain. If it hasn't happened already, I expect Hicks will be getting a call from the commissioners office before the end of the day.
When Juan Gonzalez started his comeback earlier this spring with the St. Louis Cardinals, how did you think it was going to end? If your guess was, "with injury," well, unsurprisingly, you would've been right on. As the Cardinals are whittling their roster down for Opening Day, Gonzalez has gone home to Puerto Rico to rehab an abdominal strain, though the Cardinals want him to know he's always welcome back. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 
Yesterday 
What seemed like 
There was a stretch back in the 90's where 
International Pastime
Not surprisingly, Rangers owner 
When it comes to talking about steroids, the fans and media have no problem throwing names around. When it comes to those inside of baseball, no one, with the exception of a few notable ex-players, wants to talk. (And with good reason -- 
