Quick Hits: O's News and MLB Stuffage

Cal Ripken:

I found two Cal Ripken related items online today. The first one comes from ESPN 1300, as he was on the ‘Anita Marks Show’ recently and sat down for an interview. You can find clip on the radio station’s homepage.

The other Cal Ripken related item I found on the orioles.com message board.

The writer, Chris Yandek from the Sports Interview Website had a conversation with Cal and they talk about ‘The Streak’, his induction into the Hall of Fame, the steroids and performance enhancing accusations around baseball, his involvement in baseball now & buying the Baltimore Orioles.

It’s a great in depth interview, and there’s an audio file on the page as well.

The Biggest Mercenary in Sports At it Again? Well, Roger Clemens is flirting with baseball once again. He was at Houston Astros camp and threw pitches and hit grounders to Koby, his son.

This is what he says about plying next season:

"Everybody knows where I stand. I don't care to play, but if that decision comes up again, then it's a big decision on me," Clemens said Thursday. "It has nothing to do with anybody else. It's a decision on me to go out and perform."

I see. And…

Clemens said he's not "milking" his decision in search of the highest bidder. He also said he'll have no problem walking away when the time comes.

"It's 10 times harder to make the decision to come back and try to do it again," he said. "I love what I do and I have high expectations to perform. When I don't, it's disappointing."

Indecision?

"You come back to win, you come back to win it all," he said. "Your goals are set really high. I feel very flattered that those three teams still make an occasional phone call to the Hendricks brothers to ask where I'm at."

We’ll see you again in June and find out who gives you the highest payday.

Manny Passing On Car Auction: From CNNsi.com: “Manny Ramirez changed plans and will not attend a car auction in New Jersey on Saturday while his Red Sox teammates go through their third full squad workout of spring training, the team said Thursday.”

Curt Opts for Free Agency after ’07: The biggest mouth in the North, Curt Schilling, said he will become a free agent after the season and won't let that distract him during his fourth year with the Boston Red Sox.

Theo Esptein, the Red Sox GM, asserted that the will not be interested in signing Curt by saying:

"Curt's going to be 41, and at that age we've got to be a little more conservative," Epstein said Thursday. "It doesn't mean we don't want him back. I have all the confidence in the world that if Curt wants to pitch in 2008 and he's still pitching effectively, as I expect he will, then we'll find a way to keep him in a Red Sox uniform." (CNNsi)

I agree with Theo. Results matter, and you just don’t give a 41 year old a contract unless you’re desperate. If Curt falters, much like Pedro, Johnny Damon and Derek Lowe, he may be sent on his way, as the Red Sox seem concerned with production and value, not sentimentality.