Deadline Deals: 2010 Edition

Not much to add to the title. This is exactly what it says it is. The deals:

• Cardinals acquire RHP Jake Westbrook from Indians, Padres acquire OF Ryan Ludwick from the Cardinals, and Indians acquire RHP Corey Kluber and RHP Nick Greenwood from the Padres - Nice to see a three-way deal at the deadline. Westbrook is what he is, a dependable, pitch-to-contact kind of starter. Hardly flashy, but solid. Maybe Dave Duncan sees something in him, but I don't see much that can be tweaked. As for San Diego, Ludwick instantly becomes the second best bat in their lineup behind Adrian Gonzalez. His addition could propel them to a division title, given how low-powered their offense is. However, the Indians are the real winners in this deal. Greenwood doesn't look like much to me, but Kluber knows how to strike out batters at prodigious rates. His numbers suggest a classic power pitcher, both with the Ks, and lots of fly balls. He might give up more than his fair share of home runs as a big-leaguer, but he will replace Westbrook for a fraction of the price when the Indians are relevant again. Good move for Cleveland, solid for San Diego, and disappointing for St. Louis. They have apparently been impressed by rookie Jon Jay, so Ludwick was expendable, but I think they could have got more for Ryan if that was the case.
• Dodgers acquire LHP Ted Lilly and INF Ryan Theriot from Cubs for INF Blake DeWitt, RHP Kyle Smit, and RHP Brett Wallach - The Dodgers needed to make a move to expect to stay in the NL West race, and this is that move. They needed a starting pitcher, and Lilly upgrades their rotation, though he is only solid at best. Presumably Theriot is insurance in case Rafael Furcal gets hurt, or at least that's the only reason I would acquire him in this trade. I like DeWitt more than Theriot, though Theriot can play shortstop and DeWitt can't really. Smit looks like organizational depth out of the bullpen to me, and Wallach is too far away to say how good he might be, but early returns are promising. The deal looks like a push to me.
  
  

Ankiel's HGH Use Not a Big Deal

I can't believe how much press this story about Rick Ankiel using HGH is getting. It's being twisted into something that it simply is not. Ankiel, of course, was a promising 20-year-old pitcher with a killer curve ball that out of nowhere lost all his control and never regained it. He got injured in 2004, then attempted a comeback as a position player. Against all odds, he made it back to the majors, and is succeeding beyond anyone's wildest dreams. It's a classic tale of good, old-fashioned, American perseverance. It's the story of a kid who had it all, lost it all, and got it all back with hard work, because he had a burning passion for the game (or at least that is how it has been portrayed).

Here are the facts about Ankiel's situation. He pitched in only six games in the minor leagues in 2004 before suffering a serious injury. To aid in his recovery, he used HGH, a substance now banned by baseball but at the time perfectly legal. In fact, to my knowledge, HGH is a legal substance to use with a doctor's prescription, which also to my knowledge Ankiel had (admittedly my knowledge is limited here, so feel free to call me out on this one). Furthermore, it is safe to assume that many, if not a vast majority, of baseball players have used HGH to recover from injuries, but none have completed a comeback as remarkable as Ankiel's. So, his HGH use should not take away from his comeback at all. The only reason it is being spun that way is because his use of HGH contradicts the American values that have been infused into his comeback tale.

Ankiel's HGH use is nothing like steroid use. If anything, it is similar to Mark McGwire's use of andro during the 1998 season. Andro is now a banned substance by baseball, but at the time it was not. In the cases of both McGwire and Ankiel, it may seem like they cheated, but they were playing by the rules of the time. That's why I'm particularly irked that Ankiel's alleged HGH use is being spun as a sign of how corrupt baseball is, and especially how corrupt it has been for the past decade. There is no denying that plenty of cheating was going on, but why not point to the banned substances that Troy Glaus and Jay Gibbons allegedly acquired, both allegations that were published in the same report that claims Ankiel received HGH? Furthermore, the report says Gibbons received shipments of HGH in 2005, and it was a banned substance by that time. Those are the damaging parts of the report, not Ankiel's HGH use. However, because Rick Ankiel has become a pseudo-American hero with his uplifting tale of hard work and perseverance, his story is getting a vast majority of the attention, and the facts are being falsely manipulated in a way that makes him look like a fraud, and baseball look like a fraud.

I try to stick to more concrete analysis on my blog, but the continuing coverage of Ankiel's HGH use and the way it is being presented is getting on my nerves. In general, sports reporting tends to be solid and fairly impartial, especially when compared to other areas, such as political reporting. However, the Ankiel story is getting warped. The facts are out there, but they are being weaved together wrong. Ankiel is not a cheater, and his 2004 HGH use does not show how flawed baseball is. Gibbons and Glaus don't have the same name appeal as Ankiel right now, but the allegations against them are much more damaging to baseball than Ankiel's. It is unfortunate how the situation is currently being portrayed.