BOB: the Marlins are hopeful

Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee to face off in congressional hearing

As you’re reading this report on Wednesday, Roger Clemens and former trainer Brian McNamee will be in Washington, D.C. where they’ll be testifying at a hearing in front of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Also in attendance will be Charlie Scheeler, a lawyer who led the staff work for former Senator George Mitchell in his investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in baseball.

Conspicuous by their absence will be two players named in the Mitchell Report, as well as Kirk Radomski, the former clubhouse attendant who distributed PEDs who also turned snitch for the Mitchell Investigation. Andy Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch are the two players who were initially summoned but were later excused because they had already answered the committee’s questions.

Also in attendance will be Jeff Novitsky, the Internal Revenue Service agent tasked with investigating steroids in professional sports. Novitsky won’t be testifying, but he’ll be watching things closely. If McNamee is found to have lied, he’ll have violated his agreement with the government; if Clemens turns out to be the liar, he could faces charges for lying to congressional officials.

Angels, Cardinals extend player development contracts with affiliates

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim recently announced that they’d be extending their player development contract with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes through the 2010 season. The Quakes have been the Angels’ Advanced Class-A affiliate since 2001 and both parties seems happy with the current arrangement.

Likewise, the St. Louis Cardinals extended their working agreement with the Quad Cities River Bandits through 2010. Quad Cities has been the Cardinals’ Single-A affiliate for the past three seasons, and while the team is now under new ownership, the Cardinals hope to build a solid working arrangement with the new owners, Main Street Iowa.

Derek Jeter settles tax case with New York

Last week, Derek Jeter settled his tax case with the State of New York. At issue was how Jeter was claiming Florida as his state of residence while New York officials felt his primary state of residence was New York. This resulted in a tax savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the All-Star shortstop.

Details on the settlement weren’t made public. It would have been interesting to see how much Jeter had to pay in the end because I doubt the state would have let this go without getting something out of it.

Marlins feel stadium deal is imminent

Talking at the Florida Marlins’ annual FanFest, team president David Samson said that this time next year, the team wouldn’t be talking about the deal, they’d be talking about the actual construction of a new facility. He said that there was a good chance that the $525 million deal will be completed some time in the next three weeks and Samson went on to talk about how it will change the future of the organization.

Dodgers get ready to kick off final spring training at Dodgertown

In what looks to be the Dodgers’ final spring training in Vero Beach, Fla., the team expects a lot of nostalgia in the end of a 61-year relationship between the team and the city. With a move to Glendale, Ariz. for the 2009 season, former manager Tom Lasorda commented on how many great players trained at the Vero Beach facility. He would be the foremost expert; he was one of the players to train at the facility in that first season.