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CORRECTION: While one of the parties to the bid was, indeed, unsuccessful in the first round of the bidding, I was mistaken in assuming that it had to be either Crane of Gilbert. The first round of bidding was actually a letter-bid submission round from last September, which included as many as six interested parties. …

I have head-full of other Mark McGwire thoughts driving me insane this morning, but those will come later. At the moment let’s address a sentiment I’ve heard over and over since yesterday afternoon, and that’s that now McGwire has offered up his mea culpa, it’s time for Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens to…

Though he’s probably a better option than some of the guys the Royals and Mets will trot out to the mound this season, Greg Maddux has apparently decided that his retirement is going to stick.  Instead, he’s going to go work for the Cubs as a special assistant to Jim Hendry. Maddux has long been…

Omar Minaya and Theo Epstein spoke at a round table discussion over the weekend and the subject of Latin American player development came up.  This was fun: While many big-name players have emerged from the Dominican Republic, the highly touted athletes often are kept out of baseball games and kept in training facilities, thus explaining…

Keith Law is dead-on with his take about what the Aroldis Chapman means for the allegedly necessary international draft: Returning to Chapman, this deal puts yet another lie to the claim pushed by MLB, among others, that making the draft a worldwide one is about maintaining competitive balance. The Reds, playing in one of MLB’s…

Jon Heyman reports that the Twins have not started talking to Joe Mauer yet, though they probably will soon. Heyman says that the “word is that Mauer plans to be reasonable for a superstar” in his demands, which Heyman says is seven years and north of $20 million, but not near $30 million. I’d be…

Anyone who is shocked by Mark McGwire’s statement admitting his steroid use is either painfully naive or belongs to that class of professionally outraged people who implore you to think of the children every time something mildly bothersome comes up.  Anyone with a lick of sense knew years ago, or at least should have, that…

We knew this was coming eventually, but now it has finally come. McGwire was taking steroids in 1998 when he broke the home run record.  Excerpts from his statement, which have been leaked: “I wish I had never touched steroids.  It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish…

Rosenthal tweets that Nick Green has signed with the Dodgers.  He’d be Rafael Furcal’s backup. Green had 309 plate appearances as he became the 2,406th (approximately) dead end in the Red Sox’ Murphy-Brown-secretaryish, Spinal-Tap-drummerish search for a permanent solution at shortstop.

The New York Post reports today on a lawsuit filed against the Mets by a woman named Ellen Massey who, in 2007 was more or less crushed by a fat guy who came hurtling out of his seat in her direction, breaking her vertebrae. Massey says the fat guy was drunk. The fat guy said…

The general consensus among the Twitterati yesterday and this morning was that the Reds may have Chapman in the 2011 rotation, but seeing how raw he is, it’s not a given. Reds GM Walt Jocketty scoffs at your conservatism: As far as when he’ll be on the mound at Great American Ball Park, Jocketty said…

1:24 P.M.:  OK, I sort of laid off the Cubs on this earlier today because the story below seemed to be more a failure of reporting than of the Cubs decision on the matter (i.e. it seemed entirely possible that the Cubs had every intention of retiring Dawson’s number regardless of what cap he wore) …

We must begin by asking it:  “What is losing?” Losing is a disease. As contagious as polio. Losing is a disease.  As contagious as syphilis. Losing is a disease as contagious as bubonic plague; attacking one, but infecting all. But curable. Now, I want you to imagine you are on a ship at sea on…

Jarrod Washburn doesn’t want to take $5 million to pitch for the Twins. I can’t decide if this is like a pledging frat boy inviting an ugly chick to the big hazing mixer and having her turn him down or more like a guy intentionally jumping out of a plane sans parachute only to land…

The Astros blog Crawfish boxes raises an interesting question regarding the Astros’ signing of Brett Myers, who as most of you know, has a domestic violence history: Considering the Astros once designated a player for assignment before the story of his domestic violence charges even broke, this seems very hypocritical . . . you can’t…

The Brewers are quite excited by the season their young shortstop Alcides Escobar had down in Venezuela this winter. He hit .393 and won the batting title.  But it’s not just the hitting that impresses them: Club officials were particularly impressed that Escobar – a noted free-swinger – drew 14 walks in 45 games to…

MLB.com’s Ian Browne makes a good point: Vlad to the Rangers as DH would seem to signify no chance of Lowell to Texas ever being rekindled. Hmm. Hadn’t thought of that.  If the Rangers are out of the running — and why wouldn’t they be –  what on Earth is Boston gonna do with Lowell?…

I’m hearing word that the whole Derek-Jeter-getting-married thing is baloney. The story: it’s Derek Jeter’s sister Sharlee Jeter.  Not sure if that’s true or not, but (a) the person saying it is in a position to probably know; and (b) is Derek Jeter, the king of p.r. and personal stage management really going to be…

There’s nothing quite like the ocean-sized parking lot outside of Miller Park. Beer. Brats. Happy Midwesterners.  It’s about as close to heaven a boring, baseball loving guy like me has ever been. But there’s a dark underbelly lurking: Team officials say scalpers are using increasingly aggressive tactics, stalking potential buyers, pestering families as they enter…

One followup thought to Bob’s post on the Huff signing:  How dumb does Adam LaRoche feel right now for turning down a two-year, $17 million from the Giants to be their first baseman? At this point I’m seeing a one-year, $6 million deal in Baltimore in his future. Maybe an option if he’s lucky.

Dejan Kovacevic says that the Pirates have had “extensive conversations” with Ryan Church about coming to Pittsburgh. The idea would be for him to start a bit, but move quietly to a bench role if and when Jose Tabata can take over the position on a full time basis. If I’m Church I’d probably feel…

Everyone was reporting yesterday that the Reds got Chapman for $30 million yesterday, but it’s apparently a bit more nuanced than that. According to John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer, it’s a $25 million deal that locks him up for over five years with a player option for a sixth, which would bump the total…

One reader’s response to my take on the Derek Jeter-is-getting-married story: Who is this a*shole calcattera. he is very annoying and very stupid . . . Anyway, Derek Jeter has hos faults, believe it or not. I know a few of them. But Derek Jeter is the greatest athlete with the most class,generosity and kindness…

Jon Heyman tweets his initial reaction to the Cincinnati Reds’ unexpected signing of Aroldis Chapman: I think the Reds are cracked giving Aroldis Chapman $30 mil. There, I said it. I disagree. In fact, I think that reaction — and many others like it you’ll see in the next 24 hours — is borne more…

Whatever that means. It’s Phil Rogers’ phrase. Maybe they’re talking to the Padres about him, maybe they’re just talking about talking. Either way, if the Cubs snagged Bell off the Padres, they’d go into their second straight season with someone who will likely push Carlos Marmol into a setup roll.  Granted, Bell (42 saves; 79Ks…