FanHouse KevinBrown

Major League Baseball is in the early stages of investigating player agents who may be connected to the sport's steroid scandal.

"It's a whole new territory we're looking into," a person with direct knowledge of the investigation told FanHouse. "Our information has led us to believe there are some [agents] worth going after."

The 50-game suspension of Manny Ramirez last week proves MLB's intention to rid the game of performance-enhancing drugs is expansive in its scope and aggressive in its tactics.

Now that nearly 30 players have been suspended for using PEDs since the penalty phase of testing began in 2004, the natural progression, say people familiar with baseball's Department of Investigations, is to target the suppliers, as well as users.

The Daily Jolt is a dose of baseball reality every weekday morning.

For a second there in the winter of 2007, it looked like the Yankees were truly reformed. They told Alex Rodriguez to get lost after he shamefully opted out of his mega-contract during the final moments of that year's World Series.

And though Hank Steinbrenner couldn't resist reversing course and welcoming Rodriguez back into the fold a month later for a jaw-dropping $275 million, they went to the Winter Meetings in Nashville and resolutely refused to deal any of their prized arms for very much available two-time Cy Young-winner Johan Santana.

NEW YORK -- Joe Torre's name is on the book, but it's a fair estimate not even one-fourth of the words are actually his. He says he's read it six times, perusing line for line, scanning chapters for quotes or anecdotes that have caused so much fuss. It is clear the New York Yankees, Torre's former employer, aren't pleased with the book -- Torre's book -- and there is a decent chance their relationship is forever stained.

And yet, here is Torre, calmly navigating another hot-stove controversy the way he did for 12 always memorable, sometimes controversial seasons as manager of the Yankees. Taking refuge from a snowstorm building steam outside, Torre brushes a few icy flakes from his shoulder and tells me he "wouldn't change a thing."

The injuries seemed like they were maybe, possibly, kind of taking a turn for the better for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Then they got the brutal news early Thursday that leadoff hitter and sparkplug of the offense Rafael Furcal will miss another eight weeks after undergoing back surgery.

Manager Joe Torre would not concede that Furcal will be lost for the rest of the season, but neither did he say he's holding his breath awaiting Furcal's return.

"From all the numbers I've heard, he'll probably miss a minimum of eight weeks," said Torre, meaning a return of September at the earliest.

That's probably overly optimistic. Watkins performed a similar procedure in 2002 on Dodgers pitcher Kevin Brown, whose disc was badly ruptured. Brown rushed back after two months, but quickly had to shut it down because he was not fully healed. Reliever Eric Gagne underwent a similar operation by Watkins at St. Vincent's Hospital on July 8, 2006. Like Brown, Gagne was also trying to return from elbow woes at the time and did not pitch again that season.

Like I mentioned the other day (link above), I'll believe it when I see it regarding recovery. Eight weeks is still a looooong time anyway and the odds that Furcal will be completely healthy by the beginning of September is possible but as soon as KB and EG's names get tossed around, I get a little skeptical.

And no, the "would not concede" line does not help anything either.

Fantasy Spin: I'm heading to drop him in a 12 team league right now (non-keeper) and grab someone that can help me now. Bear in mind though, that this is a head-to-head league, so not only will I be able to grab him later, but the loss of steals isn't permanent, so to speak. Still, I think he's done.

There are teams in Major League Baseball that are open and active about their distrust of Scott Boras. The White Sox, for one, have a standing policy: no Boras clients. (This policy should be lifted just long enough this offseason to nab Andruw Jones for a two- or three-year deal, but I digress.) The point is, everyone assumes that Boras gets above value for his clients, thereby fleecing helpless GMs the league over and scaring everyone off.

But how accurate is that assumption? Are Boras clients a value or not? ESPN's Rob Neyer examined the clients and breaks down the results, as is his custom. The answers are, perhaps predictably, mixed.

For example: Alex Rodriguez's deal? A little bloated, sure, but it's impossible to say A-Rod's performance has been disappointing, unless you're a believer in the fickle god of clutchness. Carlos Beltran's? Pretty positive, given Beltran's performance. Et al. The bad contracts are not so forgiving: Kevin Brown's 1998 deal with the Dodgers? Brutal. Barry Zito's move to San Fransisco? Even worse.

Which brings us back to a relatively self-evident point: Boras' clients are not all that different from other agents', in that some of them are good and some of them are bad. Teams afraid to deal with Boras need only the courage of their convictions, intelligent baseball management, and the ability to get up from the table when the time is right. These are qualities you would think any GM would possess, but when it comes to Boras, something else kicks in, something very weird and compelling. Or maybe he's just smarter than everyone else.