The Zo Zone

big deal, this report was all hype.

Uh, the 'roids didn't seem to help Bell all that much.

Let me get this right; Bell cheated and he still stunk? Phillies Phans deserve a refund or at least compensation for watching a cheater, suck.

I think everyone on earth knew Dykstra took roids. Surprised Inky wasn't named,as he always looked more like a linebacker than a football player. Ryan Franklin ? --- just think how bad he would have been without roids?

The Phillies' organization should be ashamed about what it says about them in the report. Forget the names of the players - on page 67 it documents how Jeff Cooper told Lee Thomas that (presumably) Dykstra was doing steroids, Lee Thomas told him to raise the issue directly with Dykstra and the matter went no further. Page 150 - the Commissioner's Office (and presumably the Phillies) knew Dykstra was on steroids and DID NOTHING. After 10,000+ losses, this hurts even more. They knowingly allowed a player to cheat.

This seems like the major Phillies news from the report (from p. 100):

"Perez ... said that he knew of clubhouse employees with other teams who were similarly called upon to obtain drugs for players, including in particular a visiting clubhouse attendant in Philadelphia. ... Based on Perez’s interview, Maguire later interviewed a Phillies clubhouse attendant who denied that he had any involvement in procuring drugs for players."

Seems like it might be worth asking David Montgomery if this person still works for the Phillies organization.

The report is very interesting. Scroll to the bottom to see checks made by various players to certain drug contacts. I can't wait to call out LoDuca by chanting his drug contact - "Kirk Randonski"

The Commish spent a lot of money so that he could say that MLB did everthing in its power to bring out this info. He now can wash his hands of the issue and sleep well knowing no revenue stream has been dammed or damned. I can't believe what a joke he has made of the office....although there seems to be alot of that going on in this country.

The owners must be thrilled.

To bad Barry decided to lie to the Grand Jury. He could have taken his 50 games, got his knees fixed and DH'd for the last 2 years.

no wonder the Phils were so bad for so long ... not enough 'roids!

The Phillies story will be told in the follow-up report on performance degrading drugs.

you're right about that "s" lol. The Phillies took the PDD's from 94-2006 right?

David Bell, was juiced up when Phillies signed him. Then, the steroid issue started. He most likely stopped using steroids. Then, we knew he was a fraud. His numbers dropped signifcantly. These players are embarrassed now,but they made millions by using the ROIDS. In a perfect world, these players should have to give their earnings back. Baseball, should take em all to court, maybe they won't win, but it would put a small hole in their pockets,with legal fees. Ownership, should shoulder some of the blame. But you can't fight city hall..One positive, in this whole mess, is steroid use may lessen, with public awareness .

I DID NOT SEE DAVID BELL LISTED IN THE REPORT BUT I DID SEE MIKE BELL.

Page 292

Page 244 for David Bell.

One thing we know for sure Jared: the front office will never be implicated for taking performance enhancing drugs.

Let's face it, the guy who turned his head while all this was going on is Bud Selig. All he keeps talking about is how basbeall's attendance and overall popularity increased during his tenure...of course it did! Any wonder with homerun totals doubling and half-century old records being broken by guys who went from 160 LB to 225 LB overnite? Selig is a joke. The whole world new something was wrong with baseball, so there is no way he didn't know too.

Let's face it, the guy who turned his head while all this was going on is Bud Selig. All he keeps talking about is how basbeall's attendance and overall popularity increased during his tenure...of course it did! Any wonder with homerun totals doubling and half-century old records being broken by guys who went from 160 LB to 225 LB overnite? Selig is a joke. The whole world new something was wrong with baseball, so there is no way he didn't know too.

I just want to say that Pat Gillick is doing a marvelous job of protecting Dave Montgomery's pocketbook. On the rae occasion when Gillick does spend any money at all, he picks up tremendously talented players like Freddie Garcia, Rod Barajas, and Jose Mesa. I think Wes Helms will be the league MVP in 2008, and Adam Eaton will win the Cy Young Award. I hear Gillick will be signing a hot dog vendor at Corestates Park---he saw the guy toss a few hot dogs into the stands and immediately called Montgomery and said "I think I've found another guy with a good arm to whom we can pay beans."

We need to come to grips with the fact that the Phillies are THE TEAM THAT HAS NO MONEY. They signed Chris Snelling today for $450,000. He is the heir apparent to Pat Burrell. As Shane Victorino's salary escalates to the $700,000 to $800,000 level in a couple of years we will need to look for his replacement. Hopefully Greg Golson will be ready by then and we can pay him major league minimum which is more in tune with THE TEAM THAT HAS NO MONEY.

Why the heck hasnt anything be said about signing Ensberg and Wise who were both non-tendered yesterday. We need to grab these guys quickly before they are gone.

We can't grab anybody because the Phillies are THE TEAM THAT HAS NO MONEY.

What you see is what you get.

Our path to a world championship is already put in place for the 2008 season.

Ensberg may be a good fit. I'm not sold on Wise -- lots of injuries. One scouting report I read summarized him as a "mediocre middle reliever." Plenty of that already in the organization.

The Phillies have no money. They've already spent well over $100 million for this juggernaut. Or is it $100 billion. I keep getting the zeros mixed up.

They don't teach that at Stanford.

Ruben "Little Ed" Amaro, Jr.

The Phillies are two players away from being a powerful contender, yet knowing that fact and even after coming so close last year, Montgomery and company have not gone out and gotten the players necessary to close the gap. That's a disgrace. If ownership truly wants to compete in today's crazy economic environment, it must be prepared to increase its payroll substantially. Yes, the Phillies already have a comparably large payroll---well they should! Philly is the fifth largest baseball market in the country! The Phillies are cheap whenever the opportunity arises to pick up quality players, and yet they give away money to bums like there's no tomorrow. A chunk of the Phillies payroll is wasted on underachievers like Pat Burrell, Adam Eaton and Wes Helms (they also threw another $10 million away last year on a big, sweaty bum named Garcia). Those three guys alone will cost the Phillies $25 million in 2008. Wes Helms on third base? Adam Eaton in the starting rotation? Come on! That's a joke. 3.1 million fans supported the team last year...they deserve better from a terrible ownership and general management that is alternately cheap and stupid as befits each occasion. Gillick, despite his past successes, is a yes man whose job is to protect Montgomery's pocketbook. I don't know what that makes Ruben "empty suit" Amaro. Maybe a yes man's yes man.

The Phillies are two players away from being a powerful contender, yet knowing that fact and even after coming so close last year, Montgomery and company have not gone out and gotten the players necessary to close the gap. That's a disgrace. If ownership truly wants to compete in today's crazy economic environment, it must be prepared to increase its payroll substantially. Yes, the Phillies already have a comparably large payroll---well they should! Philly is the fifth largest baseball market in the country! The Phillies are cheap whenever the opportunity arises to pick up quality players, and yet they give away money to bums like there's no tomorrow. A chunk of the Phillies payroll is wasted on underachievers like Pat Burrell, Adam Eaton and Wes Helms (they also threw another $10 million away last year on a big, sweaty bum named Garcia). Those three guys alone will cost the Phillies $25 million in 2008. Wes Helms on third base? Adam Eaton in the starting rotation? Come on! That's a joke. 3.1 million fans supported the team last year...they deserve better from a terrible ownership and general management that is alternately cheap and stupid as befits each occasion. Gillick, despite his past successes, is a yes man whose job is to protect Montgomery's pocketbook. I don't know what that makes Ruben "empty suit" Amaro. Maybe a yes man's yes man.

Can someone explain to me the continued attraction some Philly fans have to a 32 year old 3B who has hit .230 and .235 the past two seasons?

Bell was garbage before we signed him, he had 1 good year and then was garbage again. Remember, he is a .257 career hitter.

As for non tendered relievers, I would be interested in Kiko Calero. He had a bad year last year, but before that never had an ERA over 3.75 and doesnt give up HRs.

You have a point about Ensberg Anonymous. With pitching you can see the attraction to someone older if they feel like one or two will be up from the minors in 2009. At 3B, I'd rather have someone on the way up. That way you have an entire infield that can grow together. But I haven't seen any great young 3B players out there ... at least not at the Phils' price. They'd have to trade at this point and what do they have to offer? This is where you wish they'd have more position player prospects in the farm system.

Calero's stats are intriguing. Unlike a lot of the other pitchers in the leftover bin, his best years are more recent. Where has he been used in the pen -- middle reliever or back-end? Seems like he could be worth a shot.

Perhaps someone can point out to me any Philly baseball beat reporters who wrote stories exposing steroid use on the Phils, or any other team for that matter.

I defy those reporters to look the public in the eye and state unequivocally that they had no direct knowledge of steroid use by major leaguers.

who do i hope the Phillies sign? Josh Towers why? because he is a 5th starter and he is not named Adam Eaton.

Ed Wade let Placido Polanco go and kept David Bell in his stead. Polanco is a 305 lifetime hitter and flawless fielder. Bell was, is, and always will be a bum. Wade's replacement, Pat Gillick, brought in another bum to play third base, Wes Helms. At least Helms stinks naturally, without the use of steroids. That tells you something about Phillies executive management, past and present. Always looking for the cheapest bargains.

Well, I'm not saying I'm a big Ensberg fan. But in answer to "Can someone explain to me the continued attraction some Philly fans have to a 32 year old 3B who has hit .230 and .235 the past two seasons?", the answer is a .791 OPS last year, an .842 career OPS, and a high OBP even with the low avg, which probably means he's getting less decent pitches to swing at and has a good knowledge of the K zone. So he MIGHT just be that RH behind-Howard-and-Burrell protection everyone here has been screaming for.

So, diss him if you want. In fact, he's showing a fairly standard peak-in-late-20s stat curve that would scare ME away. But there are enough adequate reasons to LIKE him, for those that do, that asking "can anyone explain..." suggests that the writer may have blinders on.

I still think that the Phils almost OWE it to Dobbs to give him a shot at the everyday 3B job, and to Werth the everyday RF job, based on their 2007 performances. And if they do, I believe we all will be very happy with the result.

Dobbs hit .214 off lefties last year. I don't think he is an everyday player. I like the guy a lot, but keep in mind he only hit .277 vs righthanders. I think the reason he was so good for us was because he was put into situations where he could succeed.

The point with Ensberg is that his career peaked at 29 and 30 years old and then it dramatically dropped off. The writing is on the wall that his career is in serious decline. I think Helms will bounce back and be a serviceable player next year. A Dobbs, Helms platoon is preferable to Ensberg

Chris, how easily you forget that Gillick brought in Rowand, Moyer, Lohse, Romero, Dobbs, Werth. Meanwhile the Mets, over the past 5 years, have brought in Glavine, Wagner, Beltran, Lo duca, Delgado, Floyd, Green, Pedro, and others. Neither team has won a WS since, and last time I checked, the Phils won the NL East last year. The Cubs were the offseason spending champs last year, and like the Phils they got swept in the first round, both by teams with payrolls significantly lower then their own.

The phillies are sooo cheap that even their juiced up players buy the cheap steriods...i mean...david bell? Ryan Franklin? these guys couldn't beat the ballgirls in a softball game

That's why they play the games.

Thanks RG

Who cares if player take steriods?
Its entertainment. Baseball exists to entertain. I don't get why people are making such a big deal about it. Would anyone care if the WWF people were on steriods? Its just over the top entertainment as compared to baseball but its still just entertainment. I think all the hype is just free advertising for baseball.
Next year, they'll be selling a "pure" product untainted by drugs. Welcome to the morally correct game of baseball, we've cleaned our act up, pure athletes in the mold of Joe Dimaggio, Willy Mays and Mickey Mantle. Come see America's pastime the way it was meant to be.

So if a player isn't in the Mitchell report, as far as Zolecki is concerned they are "clean"? Give me a break. This was one or two particular dirty laundry bags that were aired out of a truck load.

So if a player isn't in the Mitchell report, as far as Zolecki is concerned they are "clean"? Give me a break. This was one or two particular dirty laundry bags that were aired out of a truck load.

Yes the Phillies are really cheap. Whew, with a paltry $100 million payroll I'm surprised they can even compete. I mean, that's chump change. There are only about 20-plus teams with lower payrolls, that must put us near the bottom right? What a bunch of tightwads. Maybe if they spent more money they could win a division title one of these years. Oh wait, they did that. Well, maybe if they spent more money they'd have MVP caliber players on the team. Oh wait, they have at least three including the last two winners. But, maybe if they spent more money they could bolster their farm system so they'd get good homegrown talent. Oh wait, Rollins, Utley, Howard, Burrell, Hamels, Myers, Kendrick, all from our system. Never mind. Hey guys give it up. I know you're bitter the Eagles suck, but stop ragging on the one team in town that made it to the postseason this year.

I wonder if the Phillies will look at Otsuka. From what I read, he seemed to be pretty good coming out of the pen as a setup man/closer. It seems like hes coming off an injury but what pitcher isnt?

Just saw the article, answers my question.

I'd take a shot at Otsuka. Calero ended up re-signing with the A's.

I'd take a shot at Otsuka. Calero ended up re-signing with the A's.

The Phillies are one 15-win starting pitcher away from being very good again next year and making the playoffs. This is NOT complicated.

The Mitchell report was weak because players and the union closed ranks, stayed silent and Mitchell got squat, except for from a few sources who had to talk (facing criminal sanctions). It's OK; all the heavy users will die by 60. We'll know who they are.

The Phillies should consider themselves lucky. The criminal steroids prosecutions were in New York. Philadelphia has way too many murders to worry about; its prosecutors can't spend time on little stuff like steroids.

So Gillick brought in Rowand, Moyer, Lohse, Romero, Dobbs, Werth? So what? Moyer's ERA was 5.00; the second half of the season it was closer to 6.00. Lohse was a five inning pitcher; Dobbs and Werth are both part-timers (and no one, especially Gillick, thought they'd produce as well as they did). Same goes for Romero. Rowand was here two years: the first year he stunk. The second year he had a career year, one which he'll likely never have again. The three biggest Gillick acquisitions----Garcia, Eaton, and Helms----were jokes. Just because certain teams spent big dollars on stars and didn't win the World Series doesn't mean spending competetive dollars on big name players is wrong. The odds are still with the team that signs a player whose hit 300 or better his whole career than some bum whom the general manager hopes with outhit his own weight. I guess the Phillies should just keep obtaining old, over-the-hill players or players who've stunk their whole careers because its somehow more virtuous to keep the payroll down and hope win with garbage? What logic that is! Hey, lets all hope Gillick picks up a few more 240 hitters and a couple more pitchers with ERAs above 5.00. Give me a break! The Phillies have one one World Series in 125 years---that is as big a disgrace as there is in all of sports. For most of those years the team has been a loser---a big, embarrasing loser---and the fans keep getting hosed. If any fans deserve their baseball team's ownership to go out and grab a couple of big name players, it is the Phillies. The fans have suffered long enough waiting for players like David Bell and Wes Helms to hit their weight and over-the-hill pitchers to give up less than six runs per game. The Phils are cheap...always have been. Montgomery and his gang, with Gillcik and Amaro as their patsies, may be the worst of all time. "No one is available," according to Gillick. Santana isn't available. Willis wasn't available. Cabrera wasn't available. They were just apparitions. No one is available unless, of course, he is a cast-off from a half-dozen other clubs and/or will sign for peanuts and or is approaching Social Security age. In the past thirty years the Phils went out of their way only twice to sign big name players---Pete Rose and Jim Thome. Other that those two anamolies, we've had to endure less than mediocrity far too often.