But the Yankees are paying for the extension, there trading for the one year on Halladays contract, not the extension. That's part of thereason Santana didn't bring back that much (and Bill Smith being a moron).
No you aren't.
[h3]Bay over Halladay for Halos?[/h3]
2:31PM ET
[h5]Jason Bay | Red Sox[/h5]
Top Email
According to ownership, the Halos could pursue Jason Bay in free agency.
Subscribe to Insider for as low as $2.50/month to access the complete rumor
http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/feat...//insider.espn.go.com/mlb/features/rumors#TOP
[h2]Putting the pieces back together[/h2] [h3]Clinical depression had sent pitcher Justin Duchscherer's life, career into a tailspin[/h3]
Comment Email Print >http://a.espncdn.com/icons/share-i... -moz-initial;">Share </div><cite class=
ESPN.com
Archive
Kyle Terada/US PresswireDuchscherer was so "overwhelmed" he began to wonder if he should continue playing baseball.
A pitcher's manhood is routinely defined by what he throws instead of who he really is. Does he have the self-assurance to pitch inside? Is he "man'' enough to throw the breaking ball on a full count, or tough enough to go eight or nine innings and save the bullpen for the following night?
Justin Duchscherer became conditioned to view himself through the prism of wins, losses and ERA in five seasons with the Oakland A's. But in truth, his most enduring display of fortitude came far from the pitchers' mound, in a terminal at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport in late July.
The journey began with a flash of self-awareness, followed by a desperate plea for help.
While the baseball world was preoccupied with trade rumors at the July deadline, Duchscherer stayed busy completing his rehabilitation from spring training elbow surgery. After five months of doctor's visits and solitary workouts, a part of him exulted over the prospect of taking the final step and rejoining his teammates in Oakland.
But as crunch time approached, Duchscherer's competitive instincts gave way to a sense of isolation and despair. As he prepared to board a flight to Triple-A Sacramento for his final rehab outing, he placed a frantic call to Dr. Ray Karesky, the psychologist who runs the A's employee assistance program.
"I was in the airport and it was time to go and I froze,'' Duchscherer says. "I couldn't even get on the plane to do something I've loved my whole life. You go from excited and looking forward to being back with the guys and playing ball to sitting at your house saying, 'What happened?'
Courtesy of Damon LapaBaseball was taking Justin Duchscherer away from the one place he desperately wanted to be -- with his son Evan.
"I guess the word that best describes it is 'overwhelmed.' I was so confused, I didn't know if I should retire or if I even cared about baseball anymore. I didn't know what was wrong.''
In late August, Duchscherer revealed that he was putting his baseball career on hold to undergo treatment for clinical depression. Rather than mask his problems with a pulled hamstring or pseudo-malady, he chose to acknowledge his personal baggage and address the issue publicly.
Those efforts have taken him to a better place, less cluttered with internal conflict and self-doubt, and allowed him to concentrate on being a better father and person. If Duchscherer isn't necessarily a new man at age 32, he can take pride in being a more enlightened, grounded version of the old one.
That's a development worth celebrating as he spends Thanksgiving at his mother's house in Lubbock, Texas, with his son, Evan, age 6.
"It was really important for me to change -- to accept how I viewed myself and the things I've been through,'' Duchscherer says. "If someone says, 'He's weak' or 'He's soft,' that's not my problem. It's on them.''
[h3]A downward spiral[/h3]
Baseball players, like all male athletes, inhabit a culture in which sensitivity is perceived as a sign of weakness, and the inability to deliver a base hit in the clutch is regarded as a character flaw. But as society grows more cognizant of emotional disorders in the age of Oprah, the clubhouse seems more accepting of frailties that can't be measured on the 20-80 scouts' scale.
Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto, St. Louis shortstop Khalil Greene and Detroit pitcher Dontrelle Willis made news for their struggles with anxiety-related issues last season. And Zack Greinke, the brilliant young Kansas City Royals pitcher whose career was nearly derailed by a depression and social anxiety disorder, won the American League's Cy Young Award last week.
Duchscherer, a bright and introspective Texan, is the type of player who's routinely described as an "overachiever.'' Boston selected him in the eighth round of the 1996 draft, and he spent eight years in the minors before sticking with Oakland in 2004. Duchscherer went on to make two All-Star teams -- one as a reliever and another as a starter -- despite a skinny frame and a fastball clocked in the 86-88 mph range.
Yet the same perfectionist's streak that drove Duchscherer to succeed also made him brutally hard on himself. Damon Lapa, Duchscherer's agent, saw it firsthand in a game against Boston in late May 2008: After throwing eight one-hit innings to beat Josh Beckett and the Red Sox 3-0, Duchscherer spent more time lamenting the fastball that David Ortiz hit for a single than celebrating his victory.
"Instead of looking at the game as a success -- like, 'I just one-hit one of the best offenses in the game' -- I went home and I was disappointed because I gave up a hit,'' Duchscherer says. "I kept ruminating over what I could have done differently to Ortiz. It was just a terrible way to look at things.''
Even as Duchscherer's baseball career blossomed, his personal life began to unravel. He separated from his wife, Michele, in April 2007, and their four-year marriage officially ended in late 2008. The ordeal dredged up unresolved issues from Duchscherer's parents' divorce when he was 10, and led to feelings of guilt and shame.
The strain of a ballplayer's life didn't help. Since he's on the road eight months a year and Evan lives in New Jersey with his mother, Duchscherer sees his son sporadically. During the 2008 season, he was able to channel his anguish over his failed marriage into his pitching, but he didn't have that luxury this year. When the A's broke camp in April, Duchscherer stayed behind in Arizona to focus on his rehab. The more time he spent alone, the more he missed Evan and dwelled on his shortcomings as a husband and a father.
"It was a combination of baseball and the divorce,'' Duchscherer says. "I felt like a total failure. I felt like, 'I can't stay healthy enough to perform, so I'm not doing my job, and I failed at my marriage.' I started to get into a lot of negative thought patterns.
Duchscherer's downward spiral took him to a dark, lonely and all too common destination. The World Health Organization defines depression as a "a common mental disorder'' that results in "depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy and poor concentration.'' The malady affects about 121 million people worldwide, and is a significant factor in the estimated 850,000 suicides annually.
Depression can be treated successfully up to 80 percent of the time by psychotherapy, medication and changes in diet, exercise and lifestyle, but the WHO reports that fewer than 25 percent of people afflicted receive treatment.
[h3]Ballplayers aren't immune[/h3]
Karesky, who has a master's degree in education from Harvard and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Arizona State, has seen dozens of Justin Duchscherers in big league clubhouses. He runs employee assistance programs for the A's, Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres, and has done counseling work for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Rays, Washington Nationals and the Major League Baseball umpires.
In a sense, Karesky was ahead of the curve. He was working at St. Luke's Hospital in Phoenix in the mid-1980s when A's officials Sandy Alderson and Karl Kuehl met him during a search to find someone to organize a counseling program for the Oakland players.
[+] Enlarge
Michael Pimentel/Icon SMIDuchscherer, a two-time All-Star, hasn't thrown a pitch in the majors since Aug. 18, 2008.
"They asked about my background, and I told them I had worked a great deal with disturbed adolescents,'' Karesky recalls. "They looked at each other, smiled and said, 'Sounds good to us.'"
Karesky has been a counselor to corporate executives, firefighters and Vietnam War veterans as well as ballplayers. Although he acknowledges the unique pressures faced by those in life-or-death occupations, he says it doesn't minimize the challenges that professional athletes encounter.
"The public doesn't recognize that it's a stressful lifestyle,'' Karesky says. "Most of these kids leave the security of home and have heavy demands placed on them at a young age. They're expected to perform at the highest level of their profession in front of vast amounts of people, in a 24-hour news cycle where everything they do wrong is repeated over and over on the Internet and blogs.
"I can see people out there saying, 'How can we feel sorry for these overpaid, pampered guys?' Baseball players have the attitude, 'Hey, we're not asking for anybody to feel sorry for us. We know we have a good deal.' But one of the problems is, they buy into the idea that they shouldn't have these issues. They're very hard on themselves.
"Just because somebody gives you money and fame doesn't mean it gives you wisdom, common sense or maturity. The reality is, ballplayers are in an extremely demanding environment that produces stress they're not trained to deal with. It's a pressure cooker, and over time that stress can build up and take a real toll.''
To those who contend that baseball players were tougher or more "manly'' in the good old days, Karesky counters that depression and other mental disorders were just as prevalent in previous generations. Just because ballplayers failed to acknowledge it and drifted toward alcoholism or other destructive behavior didn't mean the problems were nonexistent.
In his work with the A's and other clubs, Karesky tries to break the barriers gradually. He engages players in casual conversation at the ballpark, where they're in their element and more inclined to let down their guard and confide in "Doc Ray.'' It was that sense of trust and comfort that prompted Duchscherer to call him from the airport that fateful day in Phoenix.
[h3]Self-acceptance, unconditionally[/h3]
Duchscherer has been on a journey of self-discovery during his ordeal. He's read books on anxiety, depression and psychosomatic disorders. He has also become a devotee of Albert Ellis, a renowned psychologist who pioneered the concept of U.S.A. -- or "unconditional self-acceptance.''
"
You're going to have the same emotions whether you have a million dollars or five dollars in the bank. Sure, it makes it easier to pay your rent. But when you're divorced and separated from your son, having money doesn't make it feel any better.
" --Justin Duchscherer
During his treatment, Duchscherer was fortunate to receive whole-hearted support from his agent, Lapa, and the A's, who treated him as a friend in need of help more than a commodity or a drain on the payroll. David Forst, Oakland's assistant general manager, declined to address the specifics of Duchscherer's condition because of medical confidentiality laws, but said the A's are aware of the burden that depression places on players.
"It's not something we have a ton of experience with, but we recognize that being a Major League Baseball player doesn't make someone immune from the issues that people in everyday life have to deal with,'' Forst says. "That certainly extends to mental health issues. We know it's serious, and we would always say that life comes before baseball.''
The A's aren't alone in this age of enlightenment. Every news flash puts a crack in the traditional male culture, which regards it as a sign of weakness to admit to emotional or mental setbacks.
"Teams are becoming more educated and aware about the severity of this condition,'' Lapa says. "It's not just an old boys' attitude anymore of, 'Rub some dirt on it and get back out there.' There's a newfound understanding that this cuts across all lines, all races, all economic statuses. It's something that knows no boundaries.''
For all the progress Duchscherer has made in sorting out his life, there is still work to be done and a career to resume. He's looking to land a job as a starting pitcher through free agency, and works out regularly at trainer Brett Fischer's facility in Phoenix.
It appears that he'll have no difficulty finding work. Lapa says that interested teams seem to regard Duchscherer's history of depression as more a "technicality'' than an "obstacle'' to overcome. As long as clubs think he can still pitch, it's more a yellow caution light than a red flag.
If Duchscherer can help remove the stigma of depression by sharing his story -- and convince another athlete to seek help -- it will be a wonderful fringe benefit. That consideration pales next to the feeling he has when he wakes up each morning. He's discovered that it's liberating to live by his own definition of success, and not somebody else's.
"I thought once I got to the big leagues and made my first million dollars, that's where true happiness was,'' Duchscherer says. "It's not the case. You're going to have the same emotions whether you have a million dollars or five dollars in the bank. Sure, it makes it easier to pay your rent. But when you're divorced and separated from your son, having money doesn't make it feel any better.''
Duchscherer continues to miss Evan when they're apart, but he's come to realize that the paternal bond is rooted more in quality time than the quantity of hours spent together. Father and son talk daily on the phone about Evan's fondness for soccer, karate and video games. And when the schedule brings them together, they cherish their trips to the zoo or the amusement park or Chuck E. Cheese.
Four short months ago, Justin Duchscherer was paralyzed at an airport gate and barely knew where to turn. Now he's content with his life's direction and comfortable in his own skin. It's amazing how far a man can travel when he's willing to take that first step.
Jerry Crasnick covers baseball for ESPN.com. His book "License To Deal" was published by Rodale. can be reached via e-mail.
Hallady stuff:
The Boston Red Sox are ready to deal and they want to see an ace.
[h4]Edes: The Race Is On[/h4]
The Red Sox are in the running for Roy Halladay, but they face lots of competition if they're to acquire one of the game's top pitchers, ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes writes. Story
Citing an unnamed source, the New York Daily News reported on Tuesday that the team is "putting on a full-court press" to acquire Roy Halladay from the Toronto Blue Jays.
"They would love to get it wrapped up before the winter meetings [beginning Dec. 7]," the source said, according to the newspaper.
A source told ESPNBoston.com reporter Gordon Edes that there is "nothing" to the timing and urgency mentioned in the report.
The consensus among baseball people is that new Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos will get the deal he wants this winter, and if not, he will wait until the trading deadline in July.
Anthopoulos declined comment Wednesday.
Halladay's name was mentioned prominently in relation to the Red Sox at the trade deadline last summer when the Jays said they were shopping the right-hander, but no deal could be worked out and he stayed put.
The six-time All-Star went 17-10 with a 2.79 ERA and 208 strikeouts in 2009, but the Jays finished 75-87 and a whopping 28 games behind the first-place Yankees.
Halladay, who has pitched his entire 12-year career with Toronto, has expressed a desire to win. The Red Sox, Yankees, and Angels have all been mentioned prominently as possible suitors for the 2003 Cy Young Award winner.
It's a given the Red Sox's interest in Halladay has diminished little since the summer, when all of their offers were rejected by then-general manager J.P. Ricciardi.
[h2]White Sox sign Jones to one-year deal[/h2]
Comment Email Print By Bruce Levine
ESPNChicago.com
Archive
The Chicago White Sox have signed outfielder Andruw Jones to a one-year contract for $500,000, with a chance to make $1 million in performance bonuses.
[h4]ESPNChicago.com baseball blog[/h4]
Jones, a five-time All-Star, spent the 2009 season with the Texas Rangers after being released by the Los Angeles Dodgers in January in the second year of a $36 million contract.
According to White Sox sources, Jones is not being considered as a starting outfielder at this point. With the loss of Scott Podsednik to free agency and Dewayne Wise being released, the team was interested in solidifying its bench.
Jones, who turns 33 in April, had moderate success early last season with Texas, but finished with a .214 batting average with 17 home runs and 43 runs batted in. He is a career .257 hitter with 388 home runs and 10 Gold Gloves from his days in Atlanta.
The White Sox tried to obtain Jones from the Braves five years ago but came up short.
Bruce Levine covers baseball for ESPNChicago.com.
[h1]Mauer sets a deadline for extension talks[/h1]
By Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports 1 hour, 19 minutes ago
[h2]Printable View[/h2]Return to Original
- Buzz up! 0
- [h5]Print[/h5]
If the Minnesota Twins want to lock up Joe Mauer(notes) to a contract extension, they're going to have to do it before the 2010 season begins.
Mauer plans on ending contract negotiations if a deal isn't struck by the end of spring training, a source close to the American League Most Valuable Player told Yahoo! Sports on Monday. Mauer would play out the season, then enter free agency primed to land perhaps the second-biggest bonanza in baseball history.
While the Twins hope to reach a deal before that happens - the Star Tribune reported they'd like to have one done by Christmas - formal negotiations between the sides have yet to begin, according to the source.
More From Jeff Passan
- Thank you MLB for all your oddities Nov 26, 2009
- Cuban defector Arguelles attracts suitors Nov 24, 2009
Twins general manager Bill Smith and Mauer's agent, Ron Shapiro, declined to comment.
The 26-year-old Mauer became the first AL catcher to win a batting title in 2006 - and has won two more since, including this year, when he hit .365 and led the league in on-base and slugging percentage. He has won Gold Gloves in consecutive seasons, maintained a pristine image and grew up in St. Paul, Minn., which makes the pressure on the Twins even more intense to re-sign him.
How much Mauer values staying with his hometown team will be tested by the lure of the enormous wealth and marketing opportunities that teams in New York, Boston and Los Angeles can offer. Mauer's connection with Minnesota runs deep, the source said, but he wants to compete for a championship, an opportunity afforded more easily by deep-pocketed franchises than even the best low-revenue franchise in baseball, Minnesota.
The Twins move into their new $500 million-plus stadium, Target Field, next season, and their opening day payroll should increase past the franchise record of $71.4 million, set in 2007. By extending Mauer, they could commit nearly a quarter of their payroll to one player. Without a deal, they would have to consider trading Mauer, as the possibility of signing him once he reaches free agency would be minimal.
In the open market, Mauer would likely command an eight-year deal in excess of the eight-year, $180 million contract Mark Teixeira(notes) received last season - and perhaps bigger than Derek Jeter's(notes) 10-year, $189 million contract that is the largest behind Alex Rodriguez's(notes) 10 years at $275 million. The Yankees will need a replacement for catcher Jorge Posada(notes) after 2011. Victor Martinez(notes) isn't expected to catch full time for Boston long term. The Mets' plans at catcher are fluid, as are the Angels'. The Dodgers, who considered moving Russell Martin(notes), remain a possibility as well.
Mauer doesn't relish the idea of free agency as many players do - he's confident and mature enough not to need the ego-stroking involved. However, he understands what it could mean: wild riches, from his contract as well as the ancillary income. Mauer recently hired IMG to handle his sponsorships, which, in a larger market, would mushroom.
Should he decide to stay in Minneapolis, Mauer will do so understanding that he's ceding tens of millions of dollars, and that even a discounted salary - say, $20 million a year - could hinder the team much as Todd Helton's(notes) nine-year, $141.5 million contract has in Colorado. At the same time, Mauer would enjoy playing the rest of his career in front of a hometown crowd and bringing the Twins their first championship since 1991, when he was 8 years old.
Negotiations are expected to begin soon, and they're bound to get intense. The Twins must weigh how they value Mauer against whether they can compete after taking on his huge salary. And Mauer must consider everything: the importance of money, of winning, of staying home - three integral elements that he can only wish intersected perfectly.
Roy Halladay, the All-Star pitcher who has been the subject of much trade talk since before the July deadline, will not approve any proposed deal after he reports to spring training, according to his representatives.
This means that the Toronto Blue Jays either will have to work out a trade of Halladay by the end of the offseason, or be prepared to receive only draft-pick compensation when the pitcher becomes eligible for free agency in the fall of 2010.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3973
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3973
[h4]Mike & Mike in the Morning[/h4]
http://active.macromedia....lash.cab#version=8,0,0,0 height=70 width=86 classid=clsid27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000> http://assets.espn.go.com...o_player_circular_v2.swf swLiveConnect=FALSE WIDTH=86 HEIGHT=70 QUALITY=best SCALE=noorder wmode=transparent ID=flashPodcastSwf NAME=flash2 MENU=false DEVICEFONT=false FlashVars=&soundLink=http://podloc.andomedia.c...dmike_12012009_olney.mp3 TYPE=application/x-shockwave-flash PLUGINSPAGE=http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash>
ESPN the Magazine senior MLB writer Buster Olney discusses the latest on the future of Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay with Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic.
More Podcasts »http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3973
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3973
Halladay, through the terms of his contract, has the power to veto any trade. He is renowned for his focus and preparation, and despite the fact the Jays have finished behind the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox year after year in the standings, he has not lobbied for change.
But sources say that when Halladay, 32, was approached by club officials before the trade deadline, he told them he wanted a chance to play with a team with a chance to win, without making specific demands about a destination. And now the Blue Jays are headed into another period of rebuilding.
The Blue Jays made him available for trade offers before the July 31 deadline, setting a high price that some rival executives found to be unrealistic -- and there has been recent speculation that if the Jays don't trade Halladay this winter, they might wait until next July to deal Halladay.
But Halladay wants the situation settled by the time he goes to spring training, according to Jeff Berry, a partner at CAA who works with Halladay's longtime point agent, Greg Landry.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3973
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3973
Toronto Blue Jays[/h5]
2009 STATS
- GM32
- http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3973
- W17
- L10
- BB35
- K208
- ERA2.79
Berry said in a phone interview late Monday night that the representatives and Halladay have had a "very good dialogue" with new Toronto general manage Alex Anthopoulos, and that the Blue Jays will have to make a decision "based on what they believe is in the best long-term interest of the Blue Jays organization."
"[But] one thing is certain -- once Roy reports to spring training as a member of the Blue Jays, from that point forward he will not approve or even discuss any potential trade scenario," Berry continued. "This will eliminate a repeat of the distracting media frenzy of 2009 for both Roy and his teammates, and will allow Roy to focus on pitching at the exceptional level Jays fans have come to expect."
Anthopoulos, in an e-mailed response, said: "We don't comment on anything with respect to trade rumors or speculation involving our players. With respect to Roy, we understand that due to his place with the Toronto Blue Jays, the events last summer and his contractual situation, that his future will continue to be discussed and speculated about.
"One thing that I feel is important to reiterate is that Roy Halladay has made it very clear that he loves the city of Toronto and the Blue Jays organization. That being said, Roy has also made it clear that his number one priority is to pitch in the postseason, and his hope is that it would be with the Toronto Blue Jays."
Halladay is 148-76 in his career, with a 3.43 ERA, winning the 2003 Cy Young Award and finishing in the top five in the Cy Young voting four other times. He went 17-10 with a 2.79 ERA for the Jays in 2009, throwing 239 innings and leading the league with nine complete games.
[h4]MLB Rumor Central[/h4]
ESPN Insider has the updated buzz from the Major League Baseball rumor mill.
Story
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3973
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3973
Two years ago, Johan Santana made a similar demand of the Minnesota Twins, as his situation reached a critical mass: He informed the Twins that he would not approve any trade after he reported to spring training.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3973
The Twins wound up dealing him to the New York Mets for outfielder Carlos Gomez and others, and Santana signed a six-year, $137.5 million extension with New York, a record at the time; a year later, CC Sabathia received a seven-year, $161 million deal with the Yankees.
Santana made it clear to interested teams that he would require a contract extension in order to approve a trade, and this affected the offers made by the Red Sox and the Yankees. Halladay isn't necessarily going to make that demand, although it stands to reason that any team that acquires him would want to lock him up to a long-term deal, and that Halladay would be in line to ask for compensation along the lines of what Santana and Sabathia received.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3973
"Obviously, there are recent contract markers for a pitcher of this magnitude," Berry said. "That being said, each potential trade situation will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with a critical factor being the legitimate opportunity for Roy to pursue multiple World Series championships."
The Blue Jays talked with the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Angels, Red Sox and Texas Rangers about possible trades before the deadline, and one source indicated last week that Halladay could be swayed to accept a deal to Boston, the Yankees, Phillies or Angels.
Toronto president Paul Beeston was quoted last week as saying that Halladay is "not inclined" to re-sign with the Blue Jays. That's something the team has known to be fait accompli once it began rebuilding again.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=3973
The Blue Jays would appear to have a clear choice in the matter, going forward: A) They could either conclude a deal before the start of spring training for less than what the Blue Jays hoped to get before the July 31 deadline, or B) be prepared to have Halladay lead their staff through the 2010 season and walk away after next year, with Toronto receiving draft picks as compensation after he departs as a free agent.
That reminds me of those ******ed Bulls fans who didn't want to give up Luol Deng in the Kobe trade
It's especially silly for a Yankee fan to say this, when you have so much money you can afford to pay the next Jesus Montero who comes along.
Agreed. As long as he doesn't go to Boston
We have an ace in Sabathia?
