Source: MLB Will Not Depend On Newspaper To Release PED Docs

MLB’s investigation into the alleged purchase of PEDs by several players from a “now-defunct anti-aging clinic in South Florida will not hinge on the release of documents” by the Miami New Times, the newspaper that first reported the story, according to a source cited by Steven Marcus of NEWSDAY. The league yesterday declined to comment on the status of the investigation. Miami New Times Editor Chuck Strouse said that MLB “has asked for more information.” Strouse said, "They want our documents. We put up lots of the documents redacted online; they want more than that. Exactly what, I'm not quite sure. The downside (to releasing the information) is that we're reporters. And moreover, Major League Baseball is a business and I'm not in the habit of handing the product of reporters' work over to a business. That's sort of where the conundrum is here." He added that his newspaper “stands by the story.” Strouse: "A lot of the baseball players have denied, a number have already said they've seen the guy, acknowledged that they've seen the guy, so I think the story is fine one way or the other. The question is whether there is action to follow the story" (NEWSDAY, 2/12). ESPN.com’s Buster Olney noted as the “dollars invested in salaries grow, and they become more precious in the draft system, teams have become more and more careful about reviewing players' medical records -- and, in the eyes of some agents, becoming more apt to throw up red flags.” Agents and team officials note that the “phrase ‘pending a physical’ has never had deeper meaning than it does now.” But there is a concern among agents that some teams are “increasingly adding leverage in negotiations by red-flagging the medical reports of players -- usually because of legitimate concerns” (ESPN.com, 2/11).

CLOSING THE CAP: MLB Senior VP & General Counsel/Labor Dan Halem said that the league begins Spring Training “without an approved choice of protective headgear for pitchers, and it's uncertain whether any product will receive approval in time for the regular season.” Halem said that MLB officials “have spent the offseason considering and testing padded linings for caps, with the hope that by spring training, MLB would be able to approve and present to the players association multiple options for pitchers to try out on a voluntary basis.” But he said that thus far “no new cap design satisfies requirements MLB set for providing head protection against high-speed batted balls” (ESPN.com, 2/11).