Major League Baseball News

Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge will most likely miss the season opener due to arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Lidge had the knee operated on in October to remove torn cartilage. Lidge injured the knee last year by catching a cleat from his spikes in the ground.

Fantasy Spin: The Phillies will go with RP Tom Gordon to close out ball games early in the season if Lidge isn’t good to go. Make sure you don’t get handcuffed should Lidge miss more time.

Miguel Tejada looked and sounded like an emotional mess Tuesday when interviewed about his inclusion in the Mitchell report just hours after being traded to the Houston Astros. His reasoning behind declining to comment was that his lawyers instructed him not to because of an ongoing investigation that Tejada is still a part of.

“I’m not going to talk about that,” Tejada murmurs. “Right now, I just want to focus on baseball.”

The Mitchell report and his ties with Human Growth Hormone are the least of Tejada’s concerns right now, I’m sure. His brother recently passed away after suffering in a fatal motorcycle accident in the Dominican Republic.  I offer you my greatest support in these hardships, Miggi.

Andy Pettitte took the floor today to the media and got brutalized by the questions about steroids, HGH, and cheating. While Andy admits to using HGH to recover from an injury, he swears up and down with all his heart that he took it because he was told it will help him recover. As a reminder to the public, HGH is regularly prescribed to patients across the US with injuries. It is believed to help the stabilizer muscles, which in turn prevents from re-aggravating the injured tendon or ligament that is strained. HGH was also not illegal in baseball when Pettitte took it.

“Was it stupid? Yeah, it was stupid!” Pettitte explains. “Did I do it to gain an advantage? No. Am I a cheater? I know in my heart that I did not cheat. The only two people who know my heart are myself and God. But if I would have used HGH for an edge, then you could call me a cheater.”

The St. Louis Cardinals and manager Tony La Russa are forced to keep an eye on Albert Pujols‘ bum right elbow in 2008. Pujols will test out his elbow that began giving him problems in 2003. The complications with his right elbow involve strained and re-strained ligaments due to playing through the injury most of the ‘07 season. This came after deciding not to have season-ending surgery on his elbow.

When asked about his elbow affecting his 2008 performance, Pujols was not fazed. “If it blows out, it blows out…You can’t control that.” Pitchers and catchers report to spring training this week in West Palm Beach, Florida. Pujols should be arriving shortly.