As history showed, the M’s kept making silly and overpriced signings (Sexson, Beltre, Washburn, Batista, Silva, Johjima, etc).

One of these is not like the others.

Also, Johjima’s original contract was fine. It was the extension, which wasn’t Bavasi’s fault, that was silly. That the M’s are still paying Carlos Silva an obscene amount of money to be on the DL (better than watching him pitch, I guess) is all Bavasi. I specifically bring up Silva because he was one of the prime sources of the ‘Ichiro is a cancer’ story that Baker kept hyping & Baker continues to protect Silva on that front because Silva gives him access and quotes.

Jack,

My first post on this subject (at NBC) made it clear that I thought Baker’s central point in his original piece—that you have to have the goods if you’re going to accuse someone of something—is the right one.  As for the Ibanez piece, I think it was something less than an accusation, even if the speculation of it all was based on less than the “hey, look at those stats” kind of thing which I find distasteful.  I’m not going to defend the guy to the end of Earth, but at the same time, I’m not going to pile on.  Ultimately, I think the whole affair blew up to where it did because the Philadelphia Inquirer reporter mischaracterized the Ibanez piece to Ibanez himself, which set things off. 

As for this:

“Sosa’s sudden loss of the ability to speak English when put in a position to have to answer questions are legitimate causes for suspicion.”

Whether or not Sosa had an evasive intent, I don’t think the fact that he used a translator itself is a cause for suspicion.  If I had a client testifying under oath, in a situation where you know the only real chance of legal jeopardy is perjury, and English was his second language, I’d demand that he use a translator even if his English was pretty good.

As to the overall subject of speculation, I’ll admit that I’m being a bit cute here. I don’t demand a fatwah on all speculation about steroid use. I just demand that it at least have something at its core and that the writer admit that and proceed consistently with the facts that they do not know for sure. I’d also like them to worry about things other than some superstar’s hall of fame chances and explore the effects and incentives at play for lesser players. Not a word about Pablo Ozuna from anyone this week, and that’s telling.

For me this Baker business is really about a group of people piling on a blogger for doing no worse (and actually nowhere near as worse in many instances) than they themselves have done.

Craig, I agree with you to a substantial extent.

I guess if I was advising a client who hadn’t used steroids, I’d be less afraid of him incriminating himself by using English than I would be of him looking guilty and wrecking his reputation by seeming to hide behind a translator. Sammy speaks English awfully well—-better than some players who speak it as their ONLY language.

On a personal level, I feel for the blogger, who had a house land on him while thousands of others who have done worse escaped unscathed. But I’m glad it happened to somebody, because bloggers need to be reminded that they are writing about real people, that the web has huge reach, and that if they publish something, even opinion, they need to be fair, competent and responsible—-and also accountable. On my own website, I’ve been taken to task by the targets of commentary on occasion, sometimes deservedly, and it always makes me more careful. And sometimes I’ve apologized and written a clarification.

The headline on the blog piece on Ibanez undercut the author’s subsequent characterization of the post. Yes, agreed, the ESPN gang attacked him for doing what is all too common…it’s just important to emphasize the correct conclusion, which is that it IS too common, and not that it’s an acceptable practice because so many writers and bloggers do it.

Wooden: exactly. Baker’s whole rant amounted to “I have worked my whole life to have my stuff picked up nationally, and this blogger guy is the one whose crap is repeated on the wire?”

LOL at the Craig Kilborn mention. I think he has spent his entire career making sure you know he’s the smartest guy in the room.

And an unanswered question in all of this: Toronto is a much larger city than Seattle (and has all of Canada’s ear, especially where baseball is concerned). Why did Baker depart for this relative backwater? Did Jays players and front office feel awkward about talking to him after the “White Jays” piece?