Carlos Beltran's second opinion on knee is reportedly encouraging

The second opinion Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran requested on his tender knee has provided some encouragement, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.

Beltran, who has had pain in his right knee for much of the spring, went to Vail, Colo., to visit specialist Dr. Richard Steadman on Monday.

Beltran

Steadman examined Beltran's knee and agreed with the Mets' medical staff that the injury is a bone bruise, a source told the Daily News. Steadman, whose specialty is microfracture surgery, likely will advocate Beltran rest through the All-Star break, the newspaper reported.

Steadman and Mets team doctor David Altchek have not had a chance to speak Tuesday morning, the Daily News reported.

Beltran received a cortisone shot on May 26, but the pain returned. A second MRI exam showed the bone bruise had expanded, which sent him to the 15-day disabled list on June 22. Beltran then requested a second opinion.

"With a player of this importance to us, there's no argument on our end to get another look," Ricco said Monday. "He asked to go have a second opinion, which is his right under the rules. With him, there's no reason for us to not be in favor of that. Our doctors are fully on board with that."

Beltran, a Gold Glove center fielder, was hitting .336 with eight homers, 20 doubles, 40 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.

He has had surgery on both knees before, in October 2007, when he was suffering from tendinitis. That procedure was to clear frayed tissue from the tendons.


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Philadelphia Phillies place starter Antonio Bastardo on 15-day DL

The Philadelphia Phillies, already hurting in the rotation, are down another starting pitcher.

Bastardo

Left-hander Antonio Bastardo was placed on the 15-day disabled list late Monday night because of a strained shoulder.

Bastardo left injured in the fourth inning of his last start and returned to Philadelphia, where he saw a doctor on Monday.

Pitching against Tampa Bay last Thursday, the rookie gave up six runs in the first two innings to waste a 4-0 lead. He was replaced by Chad Durbin after a one-out walk in the fourth.

Bastardo is 2-3 with a 6.75 ERA in five starts and has lost his past three outings.

The Phillies were off Monday and begin a three-game series in Atlanta on Tuesday. Right-hander Joe Blanton will start the opener, with left-hander Cole Hamels pitching on regular rest in Bastardo's spot Wednesday. No starter has been announced for Thursday's finale.

Lefty reliever Sergio Escalona was brought up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Bastardo's spot on the roster.

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. says the Phillies have been shopping for pitching help in recent weeks -- without much luck.

"We have interest in a lot of guys and we have talked to several teams about pitching across the board," Amaro told MLB.com Monday. "But a lot of it just depends on which pitching becomes available. And if they do become available, if we have the right fits for them."

Amaro said boosting the output of the rotation is key, though the Phillies could stand to improve their bullpen, too.

The Phillies' starters have an NL-worst 5.21 ERA and are averaging fewer than six innings per game. The bullpen ranks 11th in the NL with a 4.11 ERA.

"When you have this many teams in the race it's very thin," Amaro said. "It's always thin. Again, there were three teams who got pitching last year. Three teams out of 30. That's 10 percent.

"We can say, 'Pretty please can we have a pitcher?' but that doesn't mean one will become available."


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Cleveland Indians fall on hard times

"We got beat by a great team. We've got a lot of young guys on this team. This wasn't the end of something. It was the beginning of something."
-- Cleveland first baseman Ryan Garko after the Indians, one win from the World Series, blew a 3-games-to-1 lead against Boston in the 2007 American League Championship Series.

The beginning of what, exactly?

[+] Enlarge

Andrew Weber/US PresswireGrady Sizemore, just activated from the DL, has an OPS 100 points below his career average.

Garko, a thoughtful and soft-spoken Stanford graduate, never could have envisioned the Indians' going 37-53 to begin the 2008 season, rendering the second half irrelevant, or CC Sabathia wearing a Milwaukee Brewers uniform by the All-Star break.

He didn't foresee Travis Hafner hurting his shoulder, Jhonny Peralta's power declining so markedly, or pitchers Fausto Carmona and Rafael Perez, cornerstones of the 96-win team in 2007, going south so quickly. For the sake of accuracy, Perez actually traveled 142 miles southwest to Triple-A Columbus after a demotion in May, and Carmona was last seen undergoing a ground-floor remake in Arizona.

Garko couldn't have predicted the great bullpen disaster of 2008 or a similar meltdown in 2009 after general manager Mark Shapiro made relief pitching a priority during the hot stove season. With the Kerry Wood and Masa Kobayashi signings, injuries to Joe Smith and Rafael Betancourt, and Jensen Lewis' regression, Indians fans have learned to watch the seventh, eighth and ninth innings through splayed fingers.

So here's where things stand: The Indians, a fashionable AL Central pick in March, are 12 games behind first-place Detroit and last in the division. Shapiro can't make it through a day without answering another question about manager Eric Wedge's job security, and he began the process of selling off short-term assets for long-term value when he traded infielder Mark DeRosa to St. Louis for reliever Chris Perez on Saturday.

If this comes as any consolation to beleaguered Tribe fans, Shapiro is convinced the picture isn't as grim as April, May and June make it appear.

BROKEN RECORD

The Indians have fallen well short of expectations since the 2007 ALCS. Here are the win percentages and run differentials among AL teams since the start of the 2008 season:

 Pct. Diff 

LA Angels .600 86 

Boston .595 221 

Tampa Bay .582 190 

NY Yankees .557 117 

Toronto .531 145 

Chicago WS .529 68 

Minnesota .529 111 

Texas .504 -48 

Detroit .489 -9 

CLEVELAND .469 17 

Kansas City .453 -147 

Oakland .451 -85 

Baltimore .432 -136 

Seattle .422 -155 

"I truly believe in my heart that we're going to be back in the playoffs again in the next three years," Shapiro said. "As much as I feel [the fans'] pain, I can't get caught up in the emotion of the history here. I don't believe we're going to be a bad team. I don't believe this is the beginning of another 40 years of losing. I believe this is a bad season. That's what it is."

The pain is more acute because the Indians have such a knack for snatching despair from the jaws of exhilaration. After putting Boston on the mat in '07, the Indians sent their staff ace to the mound for the clincher. But Sabathia, too keyed up by the stakes, threw a clunker against Josh Beckett. The series returned to Fenway Park, where the Red Sox outscored the Indians 23-4 in games 6 and 7 to advance to the World Series.

"Any time you have the opportunity to advance in the postseason and get that close, there's some level of disappointment when you don't reach your ultimate goal of winning the World Series," said Chris Antonetti, Cleveland assistant GM. "We valued that at the time. We understood that for teams in our market size, with our resources, it's exceptionally challenging to repeat and sustain that level of success.'"

For all their problems this season, the Indians have no plans to rip it up and start anew right now. So unless somebody overwhelms Shapiro with a package for Cliff Lee or Victor Martinez, the Indians will try to fill their holes, put this season's disappointment behind them and compete for a playoff berth in 2010.

There's nothing like a 31-46 record to elicit a little introspection. Here are some of the long- and short-term realities Shapiro and Antonetti must confront over the next few months and the offseason.

The pitching problem Hafner's $57 million contract looks exorbitant in hindsight, but he still has a .959 OPS in 31 games this season. Even with Hafner and Grady Sizemore's missing considerable time because of injuries, the Indians rank third in the AL in runs.

CLEVELAND ROCKED

The Indians' pitching numbers have gone down since 2007. In parentheses are where they ranked in MLB:

 2007 2008 2009 

Overall
ERA 4.05
(5th) 4.45
(20th) 5.24
(30th) 

Starters
ERA 4.19
(2nd) 4.16
(11th) 5.46
(30th) 

Bullpen
ERA 3.75
(6th) 5.13
(29th) 4.93
(26th) 

Save
Pct. 78%
(2nd) 61%
(19th) 50%
(29th) 

The problem is pitching. Cleveland has one starter, Lee, with an ERA of less than 5.00. The Indians' staff has issued 310 walks, most in the majors, and has given up 88 home runs, seventh most in the game.

How bad is the bullpen? The Indians have been outscored 66-32 in the eighth inning, and the relievers have allowed 58 of 140 inherited runners to score.

And there simply is no depth for when things go wrong. The Toronto Blue Jays have survived an incredible run of pitching injuries with help from a Scott Richmond here and a Ricky Romero and Brian Tallet there, but the Indians can't find anyone to carry the burden behind Lee.

Which leads to our second issue …

A break in the pipeline The Brandon Phillips trade to Cincinnati notwithstanding, it's hard to argue with Shapiro's trade history. He acquired Hafner from Texas for Ryan Drese and Einar Diaz, stole Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin-Soo Choo from Seattle for Eduardo Perez and Ben Broussard, and acquired elite catching prospect Carlos Santana from the Dodgers for Casey Blake last July. And what more can be said about the deal that brought Sizemore, Lee and Phillips from Montreal for Bartolo Colon? It was a classic heist.

The Indians have been successful in Latin America, and while you can criticize some of Shapiro's recent free-agent signings, Jason Michaels, David Dellucci and even Wood don't have the type of contracts that are going to strangle the team for years to come.

So what's the problem? In the spectrum of player acquisition options, Cleveland's lack of success early in the draft stands front and center.

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Mark DuncanMark Shapiro has been the Indians' general manager since 2001.

Since 2000, Cleveland has had 19 first-round or supplemental picks. The most successful, pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, has a 23-24 record in the majors, and all of that has come with Baltimore.

Beyond Guthrie, the landscape is essentially bare. First-rounders Corey Smith, Alan Horne, Daniel Denham and Brad Snyder did nothing. Matt Whitney, Michael Aubrey and Adam Miller got hurt. And it's too soon to tell what Trevor Crowe, Beau Mills, David Huff and Lonnie Chisenhall will contribute over the long haul.

Cleveland management contends the early misses are offset in part by some later "finds" that bring the team's overall performance closer to average. Garko, Lewis, Ben Francisco, Aaron Laffey and the departed Ryan Church and Luke Scott are among the players who fit the description. Still, there's not a Ryan Howard, Justin Morneau, Josh Johnson or Jonathan Papelbon in the bunch.

It doesn't help that the Indians rarely pick among the top handful of teams in the first round, where the sure things are found. Cleveland has picked in the top 10 only once this decade. In 2004, the Indians had Jered Weaver and Stephen Drew atop their board but passed on both players for financial reasons and selected Jeremy Sowers, a Vanderbilt product who is 33-14 with a 2.47 ERA in the minors and 14-24/5.18 in the majors.

Some draft watchers think the Indians are too stat-focused and select too many corner infielders, outfielders and DH types rather than athletes and middle-of-the-diamond players. But sometimes it's more about the money than the draft philosophy.

In 2005, the Indians drafted Washington high school pitcher Tim Lincecum in the 42nd round, but ownership wasn't willing to buck the commissioner's office and spend the $1 million or so required to sign him. Think Lincecum wouldn't look good in that rotation right now?

Managing expectations The Shapiro-Antonetti tandem gets more love from national media outlets than, say, White Sox GM Kenny Williams, who is perceived as arrogant and overly blunt. Is it because the Cleveland guys are media favorites? Perhaps. But their front office peers also regard Shapiro and Antonetti as extremely bright, people-oriented, innovative thinkers.

"If you gave Mark an organization with the resources of the Red Sox or the Yankees and the ability to paper over the occasional mistake we all make, he would absolutely run a club that would be a force year in and year out," an AL executive said. "It becomes far more difficult in a market like Cleveland, where your mistakes can linger or derail you for years to come. The margin of error is far thinner."

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE

Here's how the Indians stacked up, payroll- and performance-wise, against their AL Central competition from 2002-08 (Payroll source: USA Today salary database):

Team Average
Annual
Payroll Win Pct. Playoffs 

CLE $50M .503 1 

CHW $72.6M .529 2 

DET $66.9M .440 1 

KAN $43.1M .410 0 

MIN $49.6M .549 4 

The Indians' Opening Day payroll of $81.5 million this year was almost dead even with the payroll in 2002, Shapiro's first season as general manager. Surprisingly, the cost-conscious Minnesota Twins spent more money than Cleveland on player salaries each year from 2003 through 2007.

Indians fans might blanch when Shapiro says he expects the team back in the playoffs in the "next three years," but that's the way life works for teams in Cleveland's economic stratum. Beyond the big boys in New York, Boston and Los Angeles, most clubs live in a world in which sporadic postseason appearances are the reality.

During Shapiro's tenure as GM, the Indians have a .503 winning percentage, two 90-win seasons and one postseason appearance. The Twins and Florida Marlins have made better use of their resources, as a rule. But Cleveland's performance looks pretty good compared to those of Texas, Seattle, Detroit and several other teams that have outspent the Indians by a wide margin and have less to show for it.

The Pythagorean problem The Indians have been outscored by only 27 runs this season, but they're 15 games below .500. That makes them underperformers, based on the Bill James Pythagorean theorem of win expectations.

That's nothing new for a franchise that's posted fewer wins than its run differential would suggest several times in recent years.

The Pythagorean disconnect generally is attributed to three things: the manager, the bullpen or luck. Since no team can be so unlucky that often, the conversation inevitably leads back to Wedge and the relievers.

The Indians need to take a hard look at their underachieving bullpens. Is it a question of evaluation or usage? Did the Indians misjudge Lewis based on his 66 innings last season? Did Wedge burn out Perez with overuse in 2007 and 2008? Bullpen performances are the hardest things in baseball to predict, but when they're bad enough to wreck entire seasons, it's a problem.

The burden of history When a city's fan base is "traumatized," as Shapiro calls it, disappointments are cumulative. Every Kerry Wood blown save is somehow linked to Earnest Byner's goal-line fumble, "The Drive" or Charles Nagy's failure against Edgar Renteria in 1997. The sense of desperation and fatalism can become an emotional anchor. Just ask Boston Red Sox players what the atmosphere was like pre-2004.

In Cleveland, the measuring stick for the Indians remains the great John Hart-Mike Hargrove-Charlie Manuel teams of the late '90s. The Indians averaged 93 wins a year from 1995 through 2001, made the playoffs six times, and featured the likes of Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle.

During that span, the Tribe made history with 455 straight sellouts at Jacobs Field. But those days are long gone. The Indians finished 12th in the majors in attendance in 2002. They haven't ranked higher than 21st since, and this season, they're 27th with 22,557 a game. The reality is, Cleveland is an economically depressed town, and it's a grind for the Indians to sell tickets, win or lose.

"Everything we do now is compared to what we accomplished then," Shapiro said. "If you're around our team, that's what you feel. It's not 2007. It's '94 to '01.

"That was a very special and unique juncture in Indians history that should be cherished, but it's not a fair barometer. We had payrolls in the top five, and we had a unique set of circumstances. A new stadium. Not winning for 40 years. No football team, a poor basketball team and an economy on the uptick. All those things created a very special level of revenues and a very special juncture in Indians baseball."

This year is special only for the trade speculation it's engendered, the anguish it's created and the questions it's produced. It's not even July, and the Cleveland front office and fan base already are looking ahead to 2010. The real-life version of "Major League'' will have to wait.


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Cleveland Indians ship infielder Mark DeRosa to St. Louis Cardinals for reliever Chris Perez

CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Indians traded infielder Mark DeRosa to the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night for reliever Chris Perez and a player to be named later.

DeRosa, who the Indians acquired from the Chicago Cubs in a trade last offseason, was hitting .270 with 13 homers and 50 RBIs.

Perez

DeRosa

DeRosa was in the Cardinals' lineup as the left fielder, batting fourth in Sunday's game against the Twins, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

DeRosa goes from the Indians, who have the worst record in the American League, to the Cardinals, who are tied with Milwaukee for first place in the National League Central.

"You want to hit the rewind button here," DeRosa said of the Indians' disappointing season. "From a selfish standpoint, I get to battle for a division title again and I'm in a good position with a great team."

DeRosa started at second base for Chicago last season, helping the Cubs to the division title. Ironically, he will now be joining the Cubs' bitter rival. DeRosa can play all over the infield, which makes him a perfect fit for the Cardinals. St. Louis has been trying to fill at hole at third base this season because Troy Glaus has been out with an injured shoulder.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has also been juggling middle infielders for much of the season.

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Mark DeRosa is a perfect fit for the Cardinals' lineup and he could come back to haunt the Cubs, who let him go this offseason, Buster Olney writes. Story

DeRosa didn't play in the Indians' 7-3 loss to Cincinnati. The trade was announced immediately after the game.

"We felt the time was right to maximize the value Mark had," Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said.

Perez, who turns 24, on July 1, has a 4.18 ERA in 29 appearances with a 1-1 record and one save. Shapiro hopes he can help Cleveland's beleagured bullpen, which is a major reason the Indians are 31-45.

"He throws 93 to 95 [mph]," Shapiro said. "He had back end stuff and the ability to get a strikeout."

Shapiro expects Perez to join the team Monday. Infielder Asdrubal Cabrera will be activated from the disabled list Sunday to take DeRosa's roster spot.


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Philadelphia Phillies' J.C. Romero in confrontation with fan

TORONTO -- The Philadelphia Phillies confirmed Saturday that one of their players was involved in a confrontation with a fan following Thursday's game at the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Phillies did not identify the player in their statement. The Rays also confirmed the incident but did not release details.

Romero

The St. Petersburg Times reported on its Web site Saturday that Phillies reliever J.C. Romero grabbed and shoved Robert Eaton, 25, of New Port Richey, Fla., after the fan made two comments about steroids.

"What did he say? That he was drunk and got into a fight?" Romero said of the fan's complaint Saturday. "I'm not going to comment on it. I'm trying to be professional, and I don't really want to get into that. Don't want to make a story out of nothing."

Romero, 33, was suspended for the first 50 games of the season after testing positive for androstenedione, a substance that Mark McGwire used in the 1990s that was later banned by baseball. Romero, who earned two wins in Philadelphia's World Series victory over Tampa Bay last year, has sued the manufacturer of an over-the-counter supplement that he said led to his positive test.

Eaton told the newspaper he called out to Romero after a couple of Phillies brushed off his requests for autographs, asking the left-hander to get him some steroids. After Romero told him to shut up and that he didn't know what he was talking about, Eaton said he replied that Romero was the one who'd been suspended recently.

"He reared back and kinda grazed my chin and grabbed me by the neck and threw me back," Eaton told the newspaper. "I was in shock."

A St. Petersburg Police Department supervisor confirmed to The Associated Press that there was a battery allegation at Tropicana Field on Thursday, but wouldn't identify who was involved. A message was left seeking comment from James Magazine, Eaton's lawyer.

"We're disappointed to learn about the alleged incident with a Rays fan and one of our players following Thursday night's game at Tropicana Field," the Phillies said in a statement. "We are in the process of gathering all of the details surrounding the situation. Until such information is provided, it would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time."


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Sources: Drug Enforcement Agency eyes Miami doc for supplying Manny Ramirez PEDs

As Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez nears the end of his 50-game suspension, Drug Enforcement Administration investigators are looking at a Miami doctor and his son as the source of his banned performance-enhancing drug, sources familiar with the investigation told ESPN.

Major League Baseball officials, when contacted, confirmed the existence of the federal investigation.

"We're aware of the investigation and our department of investigations is cooperating with the DEA," MLB president Bob DuPuy said Thursday afternoon. He declined to answer any other questions.

Investigators believe the prescription for human chorionic gonadotropin, known as hCG, was written by Pedro Publio Bosch, 71, a physician who has practiced family medicine in Florida since 1976. His son, Anthony Bosch, 45, is believed to have worked as a contact between his father and Ramirez. It's unclear how far along the DEA is in its inquiry but sources indicated that investigators want to know whether either man ever procured improper or illegal prescriptions for other people. DEA officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Pedro Bosch practices in a medical building located across the street from Coral Gables Hospital in Coral Gables, southwest of Miami.

A. Bosch

Bosch, through his attorney, declined to comment. Anthony Bosch could not be reached for comment.

Anthony Bosch is well known in Latin American baseball circles, sources say. His relationships with players date at least from the earlier part of the decade, when he was seen attending parties with players and known to procure tickets to big league ballparks, especially in Boston and New York.

Records show Pedro Bosch, a 1961 graduate of University of Havana, has never faced any disciplinary action in the state of Florida, where he has been licensed to practice medicine since 1976.

Ramirez began serving his suspension May 7 and is scheduled to return to the Dodgers' lineup on July 3. He is currently on rehab assignment with the Albuquerque Isotopes. At the time of his suspension, Ramirez issued a statement explaining why he went to a personal doctor.

"Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue," Ramirez said in the statement. "He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was okay to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility."

Ramirez's use of hCG was discovered almost accidentally, after he tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone during spring training. After the positive test, MLB requested medical records from Ramirez, which were turned over by MLB Players Association officials. Those records contained the hCG prescription Ramirez had allegedly received from Pedro Bosch. As ESPN first reported, Ramirez was also given a test that determined the excess testosterone in his body came from an outside source, but rather than suspend Ramirez for using a steroid, an action Ramirez was expected to fight, MLB decided that the proof Ramirez had hCG was sufficient to suspend him for 50 games, and Ramirez accepted his punishment.

HCG, commonly used as a fertility drug, is not an anabolic steroid, but boosts the body's natural testosterone production. It is commonly used by athletes and others coming off a steroid cycle.

Ramirez has not offered an explanation as to how he tested positive for elevated testosterone, and sources said they did not know whether the Boschs were connected to whatever drug Ramirez would have taken to cause the positive test.

In early March the Dodgers finally signed Ramirez to a two-year, $45 million contract, the second year as a player option. Ramirez was hitting .348 with six home runs and 20 RBIs at the time of his suspension.

When Ramirez released his statement after the suspension, he added a final thought: "I do want to say one other thing," he said. "I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons."

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Donald Fehr leaving as MLB union head

NEW YORK -- Donald Fehr announced his retirement Monday as head of the baseball players' association after a quarter-century marked by a strike that canceled the World Series, record salaries and finally 14 years of labor peace.

Fehr, who turns 61 next month, said he will leave the powerful union no later than the end of March. Fehr recommended that he be succeeded by union general counsel Michael Weiner, the No. 3 official and his longtime heir apparent. The move is subject to approval by the union's executive board and possible ratification by all players.

Fehr factor

When Donald Fehr was elected to head the Major League Baseball Players Association 26 years ago, the average salary was $289,000. The annual average MLB salary dates backs to 1989, but it gives a good idea of the rise of contracts under Fehr. (Source: ESPN Research)

Year Avg. Salary 

1989 $512,804 

1990 $578,930 

1991 $891,188 

1992 $1,084,408 

1993 $1,120,254 

1994 $1,188,679 

1995 $1,071,029 

1996 $1,176,967 

1997 $1,383,578 

1998 $1,441,406 

1999 $1,720,050 

2000 $1,988,034 

2001 $2,264,403 

2002 $2,383,235 

2003 $2,555,476 

2004 $2,486,609 

2005 $2,632,655 

2006 $2,866,544 

2007 $2,944,556 

2008 $3,154,845 

2009 $3,240,206 

"I have no hesitancy in recommending to the players that he be given the opportunity to do this job," Fehr said.

The 47-year-old Weiner will lead negotiations for the next contract; the current labor agreement expires in December 2011.

Weiner and Steve Fehr, the union leader's brother, were the primary day-to-day negotiators of labor contracts in 2002 and 2006, baseball's first since 1970 that were achieved without a work stoppage.

"I think I have some sense of what I'm getting into," Weiner said.

As part of the succession plan, Weiner met Monday in the union's conference room with Fehr and the 92-year-old Marvin Miller, Fehr's predecessor.

"I think that he's a bright guy," Miller told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "He's certainly not lacking in experience. He's got the background for it."

Weiner has been with the players' association since September 1988 and has been its general counsel since February 2004. The No. 2 official is Gene Orza, the chief operating officer.

Orza praised Weiner for "enormous intelligence and incredible energy."

"I'm sure when Michael becomes executive director, and he should, we'll sit down and chat about the future, bearing in mind of course that I'm even older than Don is," said Orza, who has been with the union since 1984 and turns 63 in July.

A clerk to a federal judge who became the top lawyer to Miller in August 1977, Fehr took over as acting executive director on Dec. 8, 1983. That was 2 weeks after players fired Kenneth Moffett, the former mediator who had succeeded Miller following a 50-day strike in 1981.

Fehr headed negotiations for five labor contracts plus a divisive August 2002 drug agreement that was revised three times under congressional pressure. He decided he didn't want to negotiate the next labor contract in two years and wanted to give Weiner lead time.

"After a while, it wears you down," Fehr said. "I think it will be good for everybody."

"He's done so many good things for the game, even more so for the players," Mets reliever and union representative J.J. Putz said. "But you know, he said enough was enough, and that he was tired. He felt that is was best for the union that he step down, and put a new face on it, and just another outlook. He feels that Michael's definitely qualified. So that's what we have to look forward to in the next nine months."

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Michael Weiner, who is poised to replace the resigning Donald Fehr as the head of Major League Baseball's Players' Association, is already regarded as likable, respected figure within the sport, writes Jerry Crasnick. Story

When Donald Fehr is on your side, you are well protected. Baseball players should thank him for that as he winds down his long tenure as the union's executive director, writes Howard Bryant. Story

Miller, who held the job from 1966-82, said Fehr's tenure should be remembered in a largely positive way.

"Overall, on balance, I think he's done a fine job," Miller told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. "It's still one of the most solid unions you're going to find anywhere. Whenever I'm asked this, one thought that occurs to me is that Don faced some problems I never had to face. And I'm not talking about the drug issue or anything like that."

"When I was there, there was always a signficant cadre of players who had personal experience in how bad things were before the union -- how horrible the conditions were," Miller said. "That's a powerful factor in players understanding what the union means. Almost from the beginning of Don's tenure, he had a membership where not a single player had played one game of baseball without a union. That could be a challenge at times, and he faced it quite successfully."

"I never thought I was in Marvin's shadow," Fehr said. "I did think that I had an extraordinary example to look up and try and follow."

Fay Vincent, who served as MLB commissioner from 1989-92, called Fehr's career "a superb one."

"He succeeded a legend and did a wonderful job for his constituents," Vincent told ESPN's William Weinbaum.

"Donald would come in below Marvin, who invented the union. It's very hard to compete with what Marvin did, but Donald deserves tremendous praise."

Fehr led players through a two-day strike in 1985, then became executive director on a full-time basis the following January. His early years were defined by collusion. The union successfully charged management with conspiring against free agents following the 1985, 1986 and 1987 seasons in violation of the labor contract and settled the cases for $280 million.

Baseball's average salary was $289,000 when he took over 26 years ago, and it rose to $2.9 million by last year. Although players fended off management's repeated attempts to obtain a salary cap, he has been criticized by some for not agreeing to drug testing until 2002.

"He was wrong to see things in terms of civil liberties for the players and not in terms of the overall interests of baseball," Vincent said. " He always said that was your responsibility [the commissioner and the owners]. But I don't want to harp on that as it is just one aspect of an outstanding career."

"If we, I, had known or understood what the circumstances were a little better, then perhaps we would have moved sooner," Fehr said.

Mike and Mike in the Morning

Former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent reflects on the legacy of Donald Fehr. Vincent says the one thing that went wrong for Fehr was how he handled the issue of drugs and testing. Vincent says Fehr will be remembered well because he protected his players.

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Weiner, like Fehr, was critical of purported leaks of Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa from the list of 104 names of players testing positive from the 2003 anonymous drug-testing survey. Federal prosecutors seized the list the following year before it could be destroyed, and the union sued for its return, litigation that is pending before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

"It is regrettable that the names have been out there," Weiner said. "It is regrettable that the government showed no respect for the collective bargaining agreement and, according to several judges, the Constitution."

Fehr presided over a two-day strike in 1985 followed by a 32-day lockout in 1990 and a 7-month strike in 1994-95 that wiped out the World Series for the first time in 90 years. That stoppage ended only when the National Labor Relations Board, at the union's behest, obtained an injunction to restore work rules from U.S. District Judge Sonia Sotomayor, nominated last month by President Barack Obama for the Supreme Court.

"It was very satisfying at the end to say that the players got through it, they got through it one piece and regardless of what it took to get there, they got a very good agreement," said Fehr, who ranked the agreement that followed as his proudest achievement.

There has been labor peace since then, with the current collective bargaining agreement running through the 2011 season, and Fehr developed a businesslike if not warm relationship with commissioner Bud Selig.

"Don has represented his constituency with passion, loyalty and great diligence," Selig said in a statement Monday. "Although we have had our differences, I have always respected his role. In recent years, we have worked together to find common ground for the betterment of the game, which will have resulted in 16 years of unprecedented labor peace by the end of our current collective bargaining agreement. We hope to continue to build upon the game's prosperity as we work with the new leadership of the Players Association."

Fehr said he hopes bargaining will remaining peaceful, but he's confident the union would strike if necessary.

"Players will do it," he said. "I have very little doubt about that."


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