MLB has "started interviewing big leaguers" linked to the PED investigation involving the Miami-area Biogeneis clinic, and people who have spoken to league investigators are "convinced there will be at least some suspensions handed down in the explosive case," according to Jon Heyman of CBSSPORTS.com. MLB is "said not to have interviewed the two biggest names connected by allegation to the clinic," Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez and Brewers LF Ryan Braun, but it is "apparent baseball powers simply want to make sure they have gathered enough evidence before confronting the two biggest stars named in the probe." There is "some suggestion that MLB officials believe the league's Joint Drug Agreement may allow it to announce suspensions before any appeal process in this case since the names have already surfaced publicly." The MLBPA's position is that any suspension, as well as the announcement of suspensions, "should be stayed until the appeal process is complete." In light of the fact neither Rodriguez nor Braun has been called, "no resolution involving the two big names should be expected in coming days" (CBSSPORTS.com, 6/19).
RADICAL CHANGE: ESPN.com's Lester Munson wrote San Jose's lawsuit against MLB could "easily become commissioner Bud Selig's worst nightmare." Unless the "Lords of Baseball voluntarily pave the way to San Jose for the Oakland A's, they could find themselves facing MLB's most radical restructuring since the late" MLBPA Exec Dir Marvin Miller "destroyed the owners' revered reserve clause." The league's antitrust exemption is "unlikely to survive the San Jose attack if the lawsuit is not settled and proceeds to a trial." MLB will "find itself facing a new form of free agency" if that happens. Any owner of any franchise will be "able to move the team anywhere the owner wishes" (ESPN.com, 6/19). FOXSPORTS.com's Jon Paul Morosi wrote while Selig has "served the game admirably and effectively in more than two decades as commissioner," the A's' "dilapidated O.co Coliseum is an embarrassment to the sport." As long as the A's are "stuck at the Coliseum -- and the Rays at Tropicana Field -- Selig’s description of this as the Golden Era of baseball will come with an asterisk." Morosi: "And for what? So the Giants can keep their territorial rights to San Jose, even though they play in the majors’ best stadium -- 45 miles away in San Francisco?" (FOXSPORTS.com, 6/19).
LONE STAR LONGING: In Houston, Brian Smith noted nearly nine years "have passed" since the Astros hosted an All-Star Game. Selig yesterday said that he "doesn’t foresee the Mid-Summer Classic returning to Minute Maid Park anytime soon." He said, "We have 30 teams with a long line of people that want it. And, look, the All-Star Game was great here, but I’m having trouble enough with clubs who haven’t had it for 40 and 50 years. And if I keep going back to the same places we’ve been, I’ll have more trouble" (CHRON.com, 6/19).
