The saucy Jose Guillen is in trouble for getting perhaps a bit too saucy with the HGH.

I suppose “juicy” would have made more sense than “saucy” there. But do we really want to think of Jose Guillen as “juicy”? I know I don’t.

Anyway:

Citing confidential records, the Chronicle said Guillen — whose option for 2008 was declined this week by the Mariners, making him a free agent — purchased $19,000 worth of drugs from the Palm Beach Rejuvenation Center, which along with other anti-aging clinics and online pharmacies in Florida and Alabama, was targeted for illegal sales of drugs, including steroids and HGH. It was raided by Florida law enforcement agencies on Feb. 27.

Guillen reportedly purchased the drugs between May 2002 and June 2005, during which time he played for Arizona, Cincinnati, Oakland, the Angels and Washington. Williams was playing for the Diamondbacks in 2002 when he purchased $11,600 worth of HGH, steroids and other drugs, the Chronicle said, adding that Valdez bought $11,300 worth of performance-enhancing drugs in 2002 after he was traded from the Rangers to the Mariners.

It’s poor timing for Guillen, finding himself a free agent just as the news is breaking. I’m afraid he may have no choice but to be picked back up by Jim Bowden.

Major League Baseball voted to consider the possibility of maybe occasionally using 10-year old technology for a small number of their plays. Welcome to last century, boys!

A story on MLB.com tells us that at the winter meetings the general managers voted 25-5 to investigate the possibility of using video replay to review controversial home run calls. And if five of the general managers can’t even get on board with that noncommittal, limited scope idea, then it’s probably wise to take this slowly.

Sounding very eloquent, Houston General Manager Ed Wade warns of the dangers of the slipperly slope down to accurate umpiring:

The umpires were more right than wrong 99.9 percent of the time,” he said. “With the increased time of the game, at some point you’ll get to a stage where managers are almost compelled to challenge and that’s why I voted against it. I thought the guys on the committee made some very good points. There’s a lot of validity to what they had to say. I just think that if you’re going to do something like that on a limited scope, it doesn’t stay limited.

So, let’s see here: 30 teams, 162 games in the regular season, two teams per game is 2430 total games to umpire. If the umps are right more than they are wrong only 99.9 percent of the time, that means that about two games and a half games per season, they’re getting more than half of the calls wrong. And that doesn’t count the postseason.

Of course, it’s easy not to care about the accuracy of home run calls when you’re the GM of the Astros. What does the commish have to say on the matter?

I don’t like instant replay because I don’t like all the delays,” Selig said. “I think it sometimes creates as many problems or more than it solves. But I am willing to say we’ll at least talk about this if people want to talk about it. I’m going to let the general managers discuss it, let them come back and make recommendations. No, I’m not a big advocate of instant replay.

He’s got a point, but I think that baseball should give it a go anyway. I mean, other sports have managed to survive.

The Pirates finally ended the managerial suspense today when they named John Russell as the next guy to try to right the ship. From the press release:

The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced that John Russell has been hired as the 38th manager in team history. The announcement was made by senior vice president and general manager Neal Huntington.

Russell, 46, spent the last two seasons as the Triple-A manager in the Philadelphia organization. He was named the International League Manager of the Year after guiding Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to the Northern Division title in 2006. Russell, who served as manager at the 2007 International League All-Star Game, managed Ottawa last season.

There’s also a letter to the fans from the general manager. Letters from the general manager? That won’t last.

Dear Pirates fans:

I am extremely excited to officially announce today that we have hired John Russell as the new manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. John’s hiring is another significant step in the process of changing the culture of this organization to a culture of pride, passion and excellence.

Throughout the process it became clear that John was the top choice to lead our ballclub. His positive energy, intense passion for the game and strong managerial experience set him apart from every other potential candidate we considered.

John has been extremely successful getting the most out of his players in his 10-plus years of managing. During his Minor League managing career, John was a two-time Manager of the Year and twice selected by Baseball America as a top managerial prospect.

John is a great teacher of the game, an exhaustive communicator and tireless worker. He will hold himself, the coaching staff and our players accountable for being the most prepared and hardest working club in Major League Baseball. He will ensure that our players continue to improve at the Major League level and play with the pride and passion we, and you the fans, expect of them.

He brings a focused intensity to the managerial role and to our clubhouse. I am extremely confident in John and his abilities to manage our ballclub and instill in our players the sense of pride they should take in playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He shares our vision of how we will return the Pirates to a consistent winner.

Thank you for your continued support of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Sincerely,

Neal Huntington

My favorite part is where he qualified “John has been extremely successful” with “getting the most out of his players.” That can only say good things. And as if that weren’t enough, this original sentiment always turns out to be true about new managers:

Speaking to reporters at PNC Park on Monday, Russell, 46, used the words “accountability,” “discipline,” “pride” and “passion.” Those were adjectives Russell believes will be attached to the club moving forward, and are words that Huntington believe already describe the man that he brought in to replace Jim Tracy.

Pat at Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke fails to be outraged:

I can imagine that a lot of people’s thoughts today run along the lines of, “We looked for a month and we ended up with this guy?” The truth is, most managers are incredibly similar.

While Jake at Bucco Blog takes a somewhat firmer stance:

Some will suggest the proper thing to do would be to give Russell a chance before blasting him, but since he’s already proven to be total garbage in Pittsburgh, why wait?

And what do I think, you might ask, seeing as I’m supposed to be a Pirates blogger these days. Well, I’m just so psyched to see that they picked up Phil Dumatrait, I can’t even think of anything else.

All you Reds fans who bought the Dumatrait jersey (or more likely, all you Bats fans who bought a Dumatrait jersey) will be glad to know that you’ll still get to see your fair share of the youngish lefty now that the Pirates have picked him up off waivers:

The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced they have claimed left-handed pitcher Phil Dumatrait (pronounced “doo-MAH-tray”) off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds. The announcement was made by Pirates Senior Vice President and General Manager, Neal Huntington.

Dumatrait, 26, spent a majority of the 2007 season with Triple-A Louisville, where he went 10-6 with a 3.53 ERA in 22 starts. He made his Major League debut with the Reds on Aug. 2 at Washington and made six starts with Cincinnati over the final two months of the season, pitching a career-high 6.0 innings in a no-decision against the Dodgers on Aug. 9.

Originally selected by the Red Sox in the first round of the 2000 First-Year Player Draft (22nd player chosen overall), Dumatrait was named Boston’s Minor League Pitcher-of-the-Year in 2002 after going 8-7 with a 2.88 ERA in 26 starts with Augusta (A) and Sarasota (A). He was traded to the Reds organization, along with cash considerations and a player to be named (LHP Tyler Pelland), in exchange for right-handed pitcher Scott Williamson on July 29, 2003. Dumatrait missed the 2004 season after having Tommy John surgery on his left elbow on April 12 of that year. In 145 career Minor League games (142 starts), he has gone 45-44 with a 3.33 ERA

To make room for Dumatrait on the 40-man roster, the Pirates outrighted catcher Carlos Maldonado to Triple-A Indianapolis.

How considerate for the press release to provide a pronunciation guide for Dumatrait’s name. They ought to provide one for poor Paul Maholm, who seems to be under the impression that his last name has three sylables. Not that I can talk: I tried to spell the word “pronounciation.”

Another NLC platoon catcher is off the market now that the Astros have resigned catcher Brad Ausmus. Good thing, too; where would Houston be without his three homers? (Via AstroCast)

HOUSTON — The Houston Astros announced today that the club has re-signed catcher Brad Ausmus to a one-year, $2-million contract, plus incentives. The announcement was made by General Manager Ed Wade.

Ausmus, 38, hit .235 (82×349) with three home runs, 17 doubles and 25 RBI in 117 games with the Astros in 2007. He recorded his 100th career stolen base on July 27th, becoming the 21st catcher all-time to reach the 100-steal plateau. Defensively, he ranked fourth among National League catchers with a .995 fielding percentage, committing only four errors in 814 total chances. He made his franchise-record eighth Opening Day start at catcher for the Astros in 2007, breaking a tie with Alan Ashby.

“Brad has had a solid big league career and, despite the fact that he’s played for a couple of other teams, he considers himself to be a lifelong Astro,” said Wade. “We’re very pleased to have him back for 2008. We know that he can make a significant contribution on the field, and we know the impact he has in our clubhouse. Additionally, he can help mentor a young catcher like J.R. Towles, which will make both J.R. and the Astros better.”

Originally selected by the Yankees in the 48th round of the June 1987 draft, Ausmus has a .252 (1490×5905) career batting average with 256 doubles, 76 home runs, 572 RBI and 101 stolen bases in 1,833 career games. He won his third Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 2006 after winning consecutive Rawlings Gold Glove Awards from 2001-02 and ranks 12th all-time with 1,780 career games caught. His 12,040 career putouts ranks second all-time, trailing only Ivan Rodriguez (12,504). Ausmus has spent all or parts of 15 seasons with three teams, including the Astros (1997-98 and 2001-07), San Diego (1993-96) and Detroit (1996, 1999-2000).

Ausmus is the Houston franchise’s all-time leader in both games (1,166) and starts (1,057) at catcher and leads the Majors in games played, assists and total chances at the position since 1995. He also was a member of the American League All-Star team in 1999 while playing for Detroit. In 35 career postseason games, Ausmus has hit .245 (26×106) with five doubles, three home runs and seven RBI.