— The management-union Health Policy Advisory Committee is disbanded and HPAC’s responsibilities over performance-enhancing drugs are given largely to the Independent Program Administrator. Decisions on ordering reasonable-cause testing will made jointly by management and the players’ association, with the matter going to an arbitrator if they disagree. Supervision over drugs of abuse is transferred from HPAC to a new management-union entity called the Treatment Board.

— An additional 600 tests will be conducted annually, raising the total to 3,600. Up to 375 tests may be conducted over the next three offseasons, up from 60 per offseason. Testing will include the top 200 prospects in each year’s amateur draft. Players who test positive remain eligible for selection. Players who refuse to test cannot be selected.

— Players in the Mitchell Report won’t be disciplined. Players will join MLB efforts designed to educate youth and their parents regarding the dangers of performance-enhancing substances. The union will contribute $200,000 to an antidrug charitable, educational or research organization.

— The IPA will issue an annual report summarizing the number of tests administered, the number of positive tests resulting in discipline, the substances involved in the positives, the number of Therapeutic Use Exemptions granted by category of ailment and the number of non-analytical positives. Test results—but not urine samples—will be maintained for two years.

— An automatic stay for an initial suspension is expanded to players disciplined for conduct unrelated to a positive test.

— The banned list is expanded to include insulin-like growth factor, gonadotropins, aromatase inhibitors, selective estrogen receptor modulators and antiestrogens, including clomid.

— In future investigations, allegations of player misconduct will not be disclosed publicly by the commissioner’s office unless discipline is imposed. A player will be provided a description of evidence and allegations against him before any investigatory interview. If you want to know How To Calculate Baseball Betting Odds visit badoglife.com

A former American League MVP and Cy Young Award winner, McLain apparently failed to appear in a Livingston County court, and was arrested at 3 p.m. on Friday.

According to the report, the 64-year-old McLain told Livingston County sheriff Bob Bezotte he could not post the 10 percent minimum of $175,000 needed for bail.

A spokesman for Livingston County jail said bond was posted later in the evening, and McLain was expected to leave around 8 p.m. local time. Check out our Live MLB Baseball Odds to get the best odds.

McLain won 31 games in 1968 and help the Tigers to a world championship. The last 30-game winner in the majors, McLain was convicted of racketeering, loan-sharking and conspiracy to distribute cocaine in 1985.

Guillen accused Cuzzi of having a vendetta against him after an incident in Chicago’s home opener on Monday. Cuzzi ejected Guillen in the third inning for arguing balls and strikes.

The two were involved in a similar incident in 2007 in New York. Bet On Baseball To Continue Streak!

“As soon as I know that he’s going to be behind the plate, I know I’m going to be ejected,” Guillen said on Wednesday. “You can have my bench coach handle this game because I know I’m going to be ejected.”

Prior to Friday’s contest, Guillen said he expected the fine and respected the decision.

“It’s not the last time I’m going to be fined,” Guillen said.

Turns out it was hyperextended—that’s bad enough—after he slipped in front of the mound while delivering a first-inning pitch Friday night. If You want You can bet on baseball on BodogLife.com

With Willis sticking around just long enough to throw 14 pitches, the Tigers regrouped behind a solid bullpen to beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2 for their second win in 10 games this season.

“I thought initially I blew it out, but that’s not the case,” Willis said. “I’m able to put pressure on it now. As long as they give me a lot of Advil, I can go back out there.”

Willis will be re-evaluated and when he might be able to pitch again was unclear.

The lefty walked leadoff hitter Carlos Quentin. On his first pitch to Orlando Cabrera, his right knee that he plants while delivering gave way and he slipped in front of the mound. The mound may have been slick because the start of the game had been delayed 6 minutes by rain on a 46-degree night.

The biggest story this off-season is who will win the Johan Santana sweepstakes. Will the Boston Red Sox outbid the New York Yankees or will the Los Angeles Angels make the better offer? What about the National League teams? Will any of the big market teams from the NL try to woo Minnesota’s pitching ace to another league? Will teams like the Atlanta Braves or New York Mets get involved with on of the most prized pitchers in all of baseball? Will Santana even agree to go to the National League?

Whoever gets Santana, no matter how much it costs money and trade-wise, will be the benefit of a significant coup that should energize the fanbase, making their baseball tickets even harder to come by. If Boston get him, Red Sox tickets will be even harder to get, much like the Yankees. There are other transactions of note to be aware as well: Torii Hunter is no longer apart of the Minnesota Twins organization after signing with the Angels of Anaheim. If they do happen to get the other Twin everyone is hot after (Santana), Angels tickets will be even harder to come by. The Angels feature a solid fanbase that will embrace their team, especially if they get an idea they are contenders.

That’s what signing big-name free agents can do for you. They invigorate fans and give them ideas of winning a World Series ring.

Another move worth noting is the trade that sent Miguel Tejada from the Baltimore Orioles to the Houston Astros for a number of minor league players. The move helped both teams as the Orioles were looking to get some young talent in their system and the Astros were looking big bat in their line-up. However, is the Tejada trade enough to make Houston a contender? Or do they need to address their pitching as well?

These are just some of the things to ponder while waiting for spring training to get here. While it appears as if the power remains in the American League, the National League still has plans of knocking them off. With the Arizona Diamondbacks also making a trade that strengthened their pitching even more by acquiring Dan Haren from Oakland, they certainly represent a team that could challenge the American League teams for Major League dominance.

The deal also includes incentives and a team option for 2009.

Blum, 34, batted .252 with five home runs and 33 RBI for the San Diego Padres last season.

Entering his 10th season, Blum returns to Houston, where he played from 2002-2003. In that two-year span, he batted .241 with 18 home runs and 87 RBI in 235 games.

“We’re happy to have Geoff back in an Astros uniform,” Astros general manager Ed Wade said. “He is a very versatile player who can fill a lot of defensive roles, and he swings a very good bat.”

Blum owns a .251 career average with 71 home runs and 344 RBI in 1,022 games with Montreal, Houston, Tampa Bay, the Chicago White Sox, and San Diego. He has appeared at every position except catcher, pitcher and center field in his career.

Melvin received 19 of the 30 first-place votes and 119 points from the Baseball Writers Association of America. He easily outdistanced Philadelphia’s Charlie Manuel, who received seven first-place votes and 76 points.

With the Diamondbacks sporting an extremely young roster, Melvin guided the team to a 90-72 record, winning the division by one-half game over the Colorado Rockies.

Girardi beat out the beloved Yankee Captain, no not Derek Jeter, Don Mattingly for the job this week. Now he inherits the most prestigious position in Major League Baseball and a truck load of problems.

The day before he accepted the position, Alex Rodriguez, in an announcement during the final game of the 2007 World Series, stated he would opt out of the remaining years of his contract with the New York Yankees.

Yesterday, two of the Yankees remaining members of the Yankees dynasty team’s, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera announced they would file for free agency. While the Yankees management will most likely offer these two players whatever they want to stay with the Yankees, there is still the possibility of the Yankees losing two of their best players.

Andy Pettitte and Bobby Abreu, two veterans needed greatly by the Yankees both have options for 2008. Bobby Abreu’s option is controlled by the Yankees, meaning they can decide if he comes back or not. The option is worth 16 million dollars though and may be considered too much to keep Abreu for one more year.

Pettittes option on the other hand, is controlled entirely by him. Andy Pettitte, another member of the dynasty teams of the late 90’s has a close relationship with both Roger Clemens and Joe Torre. Now that both may be gone, there may not be anything holding Pettitte in New York.

Consider this, as of this moment the New York Yankees opening day roster is up in the air. The Yankees are already without a third baseman, a position that yielded them 54 home runs and 154 RBI’s. They may be without a catcher, with no replacement in line. Jorge Posada finished in the top 5 in the majors in average, hitting .338 and had 90 RBI’s. They may be without a closer, with a bullpen that is already in trouble, their one mainstay for the last 13 years has been Mariano Rivera. They may be without Bobby Abreu, who had an off year but still managed over 100 rbi’s. Andy Pettitte was the team leader in strikeouts and had 15 wins. The Yankees could be losing over 350 RBI’s and 80 home runs, 15 wins and 30 saves. This is worst case scenario but with everything that has gone on so far this season, nothing is out of the question.

Verb rights a daily article on the New York Yankees. To view his past articles, you can visit his site at http://www.nyypride.com

NOTE: Learn to check yourself from the feet up…every time. This will keep you from missing certain parts of the swing and more easily allow you to remember all details.

Rest Position – How does it look, how does it feel? Are you comfortable? Is your weight about 40% front foot and 60% back foot? Are you on the balls of your feet with your weight bearing on the inside of your slightly flexed knees and again, the balls of your feet? Hands about 4-6” from your body? Tall back side? Head equal distant between both feet, eyes level, so both eyes see the ball?

Load Position – Take a negative move (this is when you “load” with your hands moving toward your back shoulder) and hands held high (at the top of the strike zone). Can you feel the slight pull of muscles from your torso and upper body…like the winding of a spring? Keep your stride shorter rather than longer! Hands go toward the back of your body while front foot strides toward pitcher (some coaches will call this ‘walking away from your hands’).

NOTE: Your body should now be 80% on the back foot and only 20% on front foot with knees slightly flexed.

Contact position – Are you up on the toes of your back foot, is your front foot slightly open at a 45% angle with FRONT KNEE BRACED AND LOCKED? Are your hands in a palm up and palm down position? Head still and between both legs like a stickman drawing? Are your eyes staring right at the point of contact?

Finish – Are you hitting off a firm front side with your front knee locked? Are you still balanced with head between both legs so as not to be lunging forward? Is the bat completely wrapped around your back? Is your head still?

Coach JP’s Note
This is a generic list of checkpoints and should help most players. It is not designed to change any advanced players who now have a set schedule and their own way of doing things. This should supply you with solid information that will keep you in a good, strong hitting position throughout the entire swing.

Face it, on any given day there are a multitude of factors that can adversely affect your game. The biggest dynamic I see in the game is SPEED - pure running speed. It seems that no matter what else may be going on on the field, it shows up every day, on every play. In our on-going efforts of attempting to dispel the training myths of baseball, so that you can perform better and more safely, adjust your running program to include speed development.

Speed changes the face of most any game. Look at this graphical representation of how 40 yard dash times play out on the football field:

[NOTE: You’ll need to go to www.baseballfit.com/baseball-speed-training.htm to see this chart]

Note that there is 2-3 FEET separating each of the times; i.e., when the guy running a 4.3 time finishes, he’s about 3 feet ahead of the 4.4 guy, and so on down the line. Times that are only .1 apart are not that significant, but look at the difference between times that are .2 or more seconds apart (approximately 6 feet of distance). If the defensive lineman with 4.8 speed doesn’t grab the 4.3 or 4.4 running back as he scoots through the line, he has no chance of catching up to him.

So let’s translate this to baseball and softball.

What happens when a hitter with lightning speed steps into the batter’s box? Depending on the game situation, the coach may have the IF defense play “in,” giving them a better chance to throw out the batter on a bunt or slow roller. However, this makes it tougher for the IF to react to hard hit balls, increasing the chances of the ball getting through for a hit.

Remember, baseball is one big race. A runner’s speed down the baseline against a fielder’s quickness and throwing speed in catching the ball and firing it across the IF before the runner reaches the desired base. There’s the “race” between the base runner and the “battery” (pitcher/catcher). And this leads us to another key way speed affects baseball: when a pitcher has to deal with a base stealing “threat” on base.

As this runner takes his lead, do you think the batter has the pitcher’s full attention? No way! That runner’s speed is a distraction - if even a small one - that increases the batter’s chances of seeing a more hittable pitch.

Using our figures from the football example above, we know that .1 of a second translates to about 3 feet of distance. Three feet of distance can easily be the difference between a stolen base and an out, or beating out a slow roller for an IF single.

And all of this means more base runners, which usually means more runs, which usually means more wins. And the really great thing about speed is this:

SPEED SHOWS UP EVERY DAY

Pitchers don’t always have their best stuff, hitters go through slumps, and fielding errors are made all the time. But I have yet to hear a speedy ball player tell me, “Coach, I feel SLOW today.”

I could go on with this, but I think you get my point. SPEED, pure running speed combined with intelligent base-running, can be a devastating “weapon” to unleash on your opponents. It is used offensively AND defensively and is essential for ALL players, other than pitchers.

How To Train For Speed Development

Running speed has two main components: Stride Length and Stride Frequency. Both of these refer to running mechanics, which is beyond the scope of this report. A good way for ball players to improve their running mechanics is to talk to their school’s track coach to see if they can get some help with their sprinting technique.

From a conditioning standpoint, a key factor in speed development is intensity of effort. When you sprint at speeds below 90% of maximum effort, you are training for something other than speed. Data suggests that you have to train at or near 100% of maximal effort to maintain or improve speed. [1]

The best way to increase your speed and train the alactic-anaerobic energy system is through interval training, otherwise known as running sprints. A distance of from 30 - 100 yards is sufficient; vary the distance each workout. Use a work:rest ratio of 1:5, with 8-10 sprints per workout, 2 days/week. The longer the sprint distance, the fewer the reps.

Also consider speed enhancement techniques such as Assisted Acceleration (like running downhill on a slight 7-10 degree slope). This is also known as “OverSpeed Training” which trains a runner to move the legs more quickly through the range of motion. Resisted Acceleration (OverLoad Training) employs weighted vests, dragging a sled, and parachutes. This trains a runner to move more quickly under a heavier than normal load.

These techniques can help even the slowest player improve their speed by a tenth of a second or two. Remember, that tenth of a second can be the difference between a base hit and an out!

Make yourself more valuable to your team - Train For Speed!