McGwire Admits Steroid Use

Today, coming as a surprise to literally no one, Mark McGwire announced to the world that he used steroids during his magical 1998 season and off and on for the majority of his career. As, I said before, this isn't new information to anyone, but as a kid who fell in love with baseball during that '98 season, it hurts me a little bit.

Steroids are such a touchy subject in sports overall, but especially in baseball. As a fan, I love the idea of players who I have never liked (AROD, Bonds) not making it into the Hall of Fame. When it comes to the players that I rooted for, like Clemens and McGwire, I find myself wishing for more leniency. While I understand not including players like Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire, all I hope for is consistency from the voters. If you're not going to include them, then you have to immediately eliminate any player linked with performance enhancing drugs. There can't be a situation along the lines of, "Yeah, he cheated...but he was just REALLY good." However this mess turns out, here's to keeping our fingers crossed that Ken Griffey Jr.'s name stays clean.

Vlad Guerrero Signs With Rangers

Vladimir Guerrero has signed on to become the DH for the Texas Rangers. The deal is for 1 year and worth $5 million. Despite having an injury filled year last season, Guerrero still hit .295 with 15 HR and 50 RBI in only 100 games. Not numbers that we used to see from Vlad in his prime, but still quite passable for a DH.

The Rangers got quite the deal here. Yes, it is no secret that Guerrero's body is breaking down and he is not the same all world talent that he used to be. Gone are the days when fans would gasp at the strength of Vlad's arm in right field and the mammoth upper deck home runs. But make no mistake, Guerrero still has the talent to excel in this league when healthy, especially in the launching pad that is The Ballpark at Arlington. As long as he can stay healthy, I expect him to have a very nice year in Texas. While Texas has done a great job with this signing, it's still tough to see anyone beating the Mariners in the AL West.

Aroldis Chapman Set To Sign With Cincinnati Reds

If you want to make it to the Major Leagues, one of the easiest ways is being a left-handed pitcher. If you want to make a boat load of cash in the Major Leagues, you may want to try being an extraordinarily talented left-handed pitcher. This is the exact path that Cuban defect Aroldis Chapman is going to take within the next few days when he is expected to sign a 5 year, $30 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds.

Chapman’s story is very intriguing. If you haven’t heard, he was blessed with the ability to throw a baseball around 100 MPH from the left side. Unfortunately he was cursed to have been born in Cuba with this phenomenal skill. As a member of the Cuban national team, Chapman fled from his teammates and authorities and went into hiding during a tournament in the Netherlands. Chapman then established residency (a must to become a MLB free agent) in Andorra while trying to negotiate a big league contract.

Chapman represents a big risk for the Cincinnati Reds organization and most in the business are surprised that the Reds won out. Many expected him to wind up with a larger organization like the Red Sox or Angels. Playing for a smaller market club may be a huge benefit for Chapman, however. While possessing all the talent in the world, the knock on the 22 year old fireballer is that he lacks maturity and perhaps coachability. Whether true or not, the bottom line is Cincinnati needs Chapman to make them look good here. Chapman is far from polished and will likely need at least a season in the Minor Leagues before becoming a fixture of the Reds’ rotation. In many ways this links the Reds with the Washington Nationals, and Chapman with Nationals’ first round selection Stephen Strasburg.

Both Chapman and Strasburg commanded huge paydays because of their electric arms. Strasburg is a lanky righty with a 100+ MPH fastball who signed for $15.1 million over 4 years after being selected with the first pick in the draft last June. And both the Reds and Nationals are hoping their young studs can be worth every penny before those players become too expensive for them to keep.