Mclane speaks

[pravata]

“I was certainly disappointed,” McLane said of Tejada. “We certainly did not (anticipate). In my 15 years of baseball, I’ve never seen anything that no one had idea of anything that was there."

“None of the owners had any knowledge. It was a surprise. We knew there was a problem. I’m disappointed, but we then need to sit down and understand with each player we have a responsibility which is to see how this can be solved.”

Regarding Clemens' personal services contract, he says nothing has been finalized and,

“Boy, that is way too early to determine that...."
Link

[Lurch]

Good thing he took time to prepare for this line of questioning.

[mihoba]

Good thing he took time to prepare for this line of questioning.

Well, he did have to take his head out of the sand for a few minutes.

[Lurch]

There's so much to take in here... I don't know where to start.  Speechless.

[jbm]

He played the dumb card.  I guess the benefit of that is he can bail on the follow up "Would you have done the trade if" question.  I was holding out for some honesty, but that was naive on my part.

[Lurch]

He played the dumb card.  I guess the benefit of that is he can bail on the follow up "Would you have done the trade if" question.  I was holding out for some honesty, but that was naive on my part.

He nailed it.  Mixing in this was brilliant:
"I’ve never seen anything that no one had idea of anything"

One can only assume a striking writer helped him out to really nail the essence of the role.

[The Third Man]

He nailed it.  Mixing in this was brilliant:
"I’ve never seen anything that no one had idea of anything"

One can only assume a striking writer helped him out to really nail the essence of the role.

This is straight out of the GWB  "nobody could have predicted..." PR manual.

[Fredia]

wonder if the blotls of lightning have struck or the nose has grown. i cant imagine this much innonence.

[cougar]

Did anyone bother asking a followup, "Well, the Mitchell report was released to the clubs 2 days before the Tejada trade was announced.  How come no one bothered to skim the interesting parts?"  Shoot, didn't it include some pretty pictures of Tejada's checks to Piatt?

[pravata]

Did anyone bother asking a followup, "Well, the Mitchell report was released to the clubs 2 days before the Tejada trade was announced.  How come no one bothered to skim the interesting parts?"  Shoot, didn't it include some pretty pictures of Tejada's checks to Piatt?

Do we know this?  I've been looking and don't find that this happened.  What I've found is that the MLBPA was given the report an hour before the press conference.  And that during the investigation all players named were told they would be in the report and were given the chance to respond.  As we have read, one did and was taken out off the list.  It would be very interesting to find proof that the owners were given the report early as it would directly contradict what Mclane is saying.

[mihoba]

Do we know this?  I've been looking and don't find that this happened.  What I've found is that the MLBPA was given the report an hour before the press conference.  And that during the investigation all players named were told they would be in the report and were given the chance to respond.  As we have read, one did and was taken out off the list.  It would be very interesting to find proof that the owners were given the report early as it would directly contradict what Mclane is saying.

It was reported here that MLB had the report early. Can't vouch for the accuracy.

[pravata]

It was reported here that MLB had the report early. Can't vouch for the accuracy.

As much as I would like to catch Mclane lying on this, I dont think this article does it.  The date on the article is 12/12, the Tejada trade was on the 12th.  The report could have been delivered to "MLB" on the 11th and the article noted that the next day, but the 11th seems the earliest, more likely, the 12th.  Then the MLB part confuses me, is that just the league office? Selig?  Unfortunately for me and my intent to catch them in a lie (as if "we're concentrating on pitching, defense, and speed" wasn't enough) I don't read that as the report was sent to each team.

[mihoba]

I know, I wish I could find more.

A few days ago, I could have sworn I saw that 48 hr. reference somewhere, like at MLB.com. It's quite possible they removed it, but I can't say for sure.

[Russ99]

While I don't believe McLane and this "veil of innocence" the owners have hid behind regarding steroids for far too long, I wonder if the timing of the Tejada deal was just as important to the Astros as to the Orioles.

If the deal was put on hold and done after the report, the PR/media hit to trading four or five supposedly clean players for an alleged cheat would have been too much, and would have handcuffed Wade from making a deal.

This way McLane can claim innocence and still have Tejada on his club for 2008.

[Limey]

It was reported here that MLB had the report early. Can't vouch for the accuracy.

I think Mitchell himself said in his opening statements that MLB had been given the report in advance.  He said that MLB had to make sure that no confidences mandated in the collective bargaining agreement were compromised.  He said that MLB made no material changes.

[pravata]

While I don't believe McLane and this "veil of innocence" the owners have hid behind regarding steroids for far too long, I wonder if the timing of the Tejada deal was just as important to the Astros as to the Orioles.

If the deal was put on hold and done after the report, the PR/media hit to trading four or five supposedly clean players for an alleged cheat would have been too much, and would have handcuffed Wade from making a deal.

This way McLane can claim innocence and still have Tejada on his club for 2008.

The Orioles GM said the issue was not discussed.  Not out loud at least.  WadeSmith definitely wanted Tejada on the team.  Whether Mclane wanted plausible deniability is open to speculation.  Is he "disappointed" with Wade or with Tejada?  Or disappointed that he has to answer these questions?  Tejada's "B-12" issues are general knowledge, however, it was not specifically known that he'd appear in the Mitchell Report.  Anyone who finds that "impossible to believe" needs to come up with proof that the Astros knew.  Otherwise it's merely a rhetorical flourish designed to attract attention. 

[BUWebguy]

I read multiple places (I think even within the report) that MLB (read: Bud Selig) was given the report three days in advance to review to make sure nothing that would affect any other agreements was in the report. Mitchell said "no material changes were made."

I think I read somewhere that it was a sitch where MLB officials came in a room, looked at it there, and left it there, though I'm less confident on that. If it was that (or something like it), then no owner would have any more knowledge of it than we did before the press conference.

My guess is that Drayton is telling the truth -- he didn't "know" Tejada would be in there. But certainly he and Wade should have had some suspicions.

Think if the trade had waited a couple of days... If the report comes out and Tejada is clean, does the price go up? Similarly, if Tejada is named (as he was), does the price go down? My guess is the O's and/or Astros didn't want to make that gamble and went for it when they did.

[S.P. Rodriguez]

The Orioles GM said the issue was not discussed.  Not out loud at least.  WadeSmith definitely wanted Tejada on the team.  Whether Mclane wanted plausible deniability is open to speculation.  Is he "disappointed" with Wade or with Tejada?  Or disappointed that he has to answer these questions?  Tejada's "B-12" issues are general knowledge, however, it was not specifically known that he'd appear in the Mitchell Report.  Anyone who finds that "impossible to believe" needs to come up with proof that the Astros knew.  Otherwise it's merely a rhetorical flourish designed to attract attention. 

I won't say I liked the trade before and this hasn't changed my opinion.  However, if there was ever a question about Tejada's motivation or work ethic, this should certainly light a fire under him.  Excuse me if I'm trying to find some positive in this...

[Noe]

McLane doesn't know how to say "no comment" and move on.  He's his own worse enemy.