The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired All-Star pitcher Dan Haren from the Oakland Athletics and traded major league saves leader Jose Valverde to the Houston Astros yesterday in separate swaps involving 12 players.
Oakland sent righthander Connor Robertson with Haren to Arizona and received six players: lefthanders Brett Anderson, Dana Eveland, and Greg Smith; infielder Chris Carter; and outfielders Aaron Cunningham and Carlos Gonzalez.
The National League West champion Diamondbacks got reliever Chad Qualls, infielder Chris Burke, and righthander Juan Gutierrez from the Astros.
Haren, who was 15-9 with a 3.07 ERA last season, became the first elite starter to switch teams this offseason - which could set off a flurry of moves by other teams in search of pitching.
The Minnesota Twins are listening to offers for two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana, who can become a free agent after next season. Baltimore is thought to be shopping lefty Erik Bedard.
Haren, the American League All-Star starter this year, joins a Diamondbacks rotation that includes 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb. Arizona also hopes to get Randy Johnson back from injury next year.
"I'm extremely excited," Haren said. "Just having spent a couple of spring trainings in Phoenix, me and my wife really love the town. There's just so much to do, and the team is obviously on the rise - a lot of young guys. It looks like a fun team to be on."
Athletics general manager Billy Beane said he expects his team to take its lumps in 2008, and he all but ruled out signing indicted home run king Barry Bonds to be the designated hitter across San Francisco Bay.
"Gosh," Beane said, chuckling when asked about the 43-year-old former Giants slugger. "We'll deal with this trade. We're trying to get younger. We're trying to put together a club that continues to get better over the next couple of years."
Valverde, who had 47 saves in 54 chances, takes over as Houston's closer from inconsistent Brad Lidge, a 2005 All-Star who was traded to Philadelphia Nov. 7.
"We're excited about Valverde. He had 47 saves last year and a lot of those saves were one-run games. This is something we worked on for a long time," Astros GM Ed Wade said. "When we pursued Valverde and were able to bring it to closure, it made all the sense in the world for us to do it. This brings us closer to being a champion."
Clemens still wanted
Astros owner Drayton McLane said he still plans to offer Roger Clemens a personal services contract when the pitcher retires, barring hard evidence that the Rocket took steroids.Clemens was mentioned more than 80 times in the Mitchell Report, the result of an investigation into steroid use in baseball led by former senator George Mitchell that was released Thursday. Through his attorney, Rusty Hardin, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner and former Red Sox ace vehemently denied the allegations against him, all based on testimony by former Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees strength coach Brian McNamee.
"This is only accusations that somebody made," McLane said last night. "That doesn't mean he's guilty. We're just going to work with Roger and his agents, Randy and Alan Hendricks, and see where that takes us."
The 45-year-old Clemens played for the Astros from 2004-06, along with Andy Pettitte, who also was named in the report. Clemens won the last of his Cy Youngs in 2004 after going 18-4.
Clemens still lives near Houston, and last month, Randy Hendricks sent McLane an e-mail that said Clemens was ready to begin his personal services contract with the team.
McLane said the report hadn't changed his opinion of Clemens.
McLane also said the Astros were unaware of any warning signs that Miguel Tejada took steroids before the team acquired him in a trade with Baltimore Wednesday. Tejada also is mentioned in the report.
Not everyone was so supportive of Clemens.
The Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association may rescind its invitation to him to speak at the organization's state convention. Clemens has agreed to speak at the convention Jan. 12. The title of the pitcher's speech, according to the organization's website, is "My Vigorous Workout, How I Played So Long."
Player spared mention
According to TheThe Times said that when he was notified by Mitchell's investigators that they had evidence linking him to buying drugs from former New York Mets clubhouse employee Kirk Radomski, the player brought his lawyer and met with Mitchell. The player offered evidence that he had disposed of the drugs without using them.
The player, who has not been identified or named in the 409-page report, admitted he bought performance-enhancing drugs from Radomski. He was able to provide "substantial and corroborated evidence" that he had disposed of the drugs without using them, Mitchell said in an interview yesterday morning at his New York law office.
Bush addresses report
President Bush, responding to the Mitchell Report, said steroids have "sullied" the game."I love the sport, I love the game," Bush said during a press conference at the White House Rose Garden. "Like many fans, I've been troubled by the steroid allegations. My hope is that this report is a part of putting the steroid era of baseball behind us.
"I think it's best that all of us not jump to any conclusions on individual players named, but we can jump to this conclusion: that steroids have sullied the game."
The president said team owners and players must take the report seriously.
Spring is here
Spring training tickets for Red Sox home games at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla., go on sale today at 10 a.m.The City of Palms Park box office will be open today and tomorrow from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and weekdays from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tickets, priced from $10-$40, also can be obtained at redsox.com or by calling 617-482-4SOX. For accessible seating, call 877-REDSOX9.
Rays sign Floyd
Cliff Floyd agreed to a $3 million, one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays . . . Third baseman Mike Lamb and the Twins agreed to a $6.6 million, two-year contract with an option for 2010 . . . Center fielder Mike Cameron won't return to the San Diego Padres, his agent said. Meanwhile, lefthanders Shawn Estes and Glendon Rush agreed to minor league contracts with San Diego.
