FanHouse Larry Bigbie

There wasn't anything terribly interesting or new to come out of Roger Clemens' interview with Mike Wallace last night, but there was this:

"I understand that as a public person, you're gonna take some shots," Clemens said. "The higher you get up on the flagpole, the more your butt shows. And I understand all that. But I'm tired of answering to 'em. That's why I will not ever play again. I don't want to answer to it. I want to slide off and be just a citizen."

Wallace replied, "You're retiring? Period."

Clemens said, "Probably. I would say, yeah. If I sit here and tell you right now, I would say yes."

Wallace said, "You're not going to pitch again?"

"You'll never see me pitch again," said Clemens, who has retired before several times only to return.

I must not climb enough flagpoles because I don't really understand why your butt has to show, but the sentiment behind the metaphor is pretty clear. Clemens thinks he's getting all of this attention because he's a big shot famous star, kind of like all of the other big shot famous stars the Mitchell Report singled out, like Miguel Tejada and ... Larry Bigbie and F.P. Santangelo. Wait, what? Nevermind.

In any case, forgive me for not being too convinced that Clemens is really, finally and truly hanging them up. Maybe he's telling the truth, maybe not, but I'm guessing even he doesn't know yet. If anything, I'm guessing he'll bide his time, see if the Salem-witch-trial-attitude surrounding those named in the Mitchell Report dissipates and if any team out there hates its P.R. department enough to consider signing him before ultimately making up his mind for good a couple of months into the season.

David Segui's name appears in the Mitchell Report quite a few times. It's not something Segui minds though because he fully admits he's used steroids in the past. There is one part of the report though that Segui is very unhappy with, and that's the fact that it implicates Brian Roberts as a cheater as well.

Segui says that former teammate Larry Bigbie has no idea what he's talking about when it comes to Brian Roberts and steroids.

"By far that's the thing that's bothered me the most about the whole entire thing," Segui said today. "[Bigbie] threw Brian Roberts' name out on complete hearsay. Calling it hearsay would be giving it more credibility than it deserves. I'm at a loss as to why Brian Roberts' name would come out of his mouth.

"Brian Roberts has never met Kirk Radomski, at least not in my presence," said Segui, who has admitted to taking steroids and to providing Radomski's contact information to several players who wanted to know more about performance-enhancers. "And I don't know wherever else he would have met him.

"I'm not worried about damage control on my part, I don't care about that," Segui said. "What I care about is Brian Roberts. He is the kind of guy you want your daughter to marry. He is the kind of guy you want your son to grow up to be. Leave him out of this [stuff]. He has nothing to do with this."

Segui seems sincere in his defense of Roberts, but what he says doesn't explain why another former Oriole, Jason Grimsley, named Roberts along with Jay Gibbons and Miguel Tejada as steroid users in a federal affidavit. Some other players Grimsley included in that affidavit?

Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite.

So excuse me if I think David Segui is mistaken in this case.

Sorry, No Photos

Here's a look around the NL West and what final roster moves your team made to prepare for Opening Day:

Diamondbacks: Infielder Brian Barden and utility man Robby Hammock made the squad. Hammock showed promise in '03 and '04, but missed all of '05 because of shoulder surgery. Right handers Dustin Nippert and J.D. Durbin won the final spots in the bullpen. (via East Valley Tribune)

Dodgers: Matt Kemp made the club as the final outfielder, beating out Larry Bigbie and James Loney (who hit .414 in Spring and didn't take the news well), presumably because Kemp's a right-handed hitter while Bigbie and Loney are lefties. Wilson Valdez will replace Rafael Furcal on the opening day roster. Furcal will start the season on the DL retroactive to March 23rd. Rudy Seanez is the final pitcher on the 11 man staff. (via LA Times)

Giants: They're going with a 12 man pitching staff, the seven men in the bullpen will be Armando Benitez, Vinnie Chulk, Kevin Correia, Brad Hennessey, Steve Kline, Jonathan Sanchez, and Jack Taschner. Scott Munter and candidate for the closer job, Brian Wilson, were optioned to Triple A amongst others. Todd Linden made the team as a bench player, Mark Sweeney was placed on the DL to start the year, and Jason Ellison was traded to the Mariners. (via Giants official site and Contra Costa Times)

Padres: Mike Thompson and Kevin Cameron made the final two spots in the bullpen. Cameron is a Rule 5 draft pick from Minnesota. Paul McAnulty will be the final bench player. (via San Diego Union-Tribune)

Rockies: Veteran John Mabry (pictured) beat out Ryan Spilborghs and Alexis Gomez for the final bench spot. Mabry is a left-handed pinch hitter who can fill holes as a corner outfielder and corner infield. Jeff Baker and Steve Finley are the other bench players in the outfield. Manny Corpas and Ramon Ramirez were awarded the final spots in the bullpen as well. (via Denver Post and Rockies.com)