SI.com is reporting that Bud Selig is now considering not punishing the players that were named in the December Mitchell Report on steroids. Selig had previously said that he would punish the players around the time the report came out.

I guess Mitchell’s pleading to not punish the players finally got through to Bud..

According to ESPN, David Wright told reporters at the charity event earlier today that he’d support strict penalties against those caught using illegal PEDs, even if that list includes Paul Lo Duca. According to Wright:

“He’s a guy I’d go to battle for any day. But when you’re talking about steroids, you’re talking about something that’s illegal. No matter how close a friend, I can’t condone steroids.”

The article states that Wright has talked to Lo Duca in the offseason, but not about the Mitchell Report.

I still don’t fully believe much of anything will result in the Mitchell list. Probably a few older vets near retirement that don’t have HOF numbers will end up thrown under the bus as the token sacrifices to cleaning up baseball. Though if this is the case, it should be noted that Paulie easily could end up in this category. Either way, I wouldn’t look too much into Wrights quote, since its the respectable right thing to say, which is what he normally does to the press.

The New York Times is reporting that José Canseco offered to keep Magglio Ordóñez out of his next book if he invested money in a film project Canseco was promoting, according to a person in baseball with knowledge of the situation.

Canseco has said he was working on a movie regarding his book “Juiced” which is presumably the film project he was referring to.

The Times writes that four people in baseball confirmed that referrals were made from Major League Baseball to the F.B.I. regarding Canseco’s actions relating to All-Star outfielder Magglio Ordóñez.

Canseco denies he or any of his associates ever asked Ordóñez for money to keep his name out of a book titled “Vindicated.” that Canseco has been shopping. Don Yaeger, a former Sports Illustrated associate editor who reviewed all of Canseco’s materials in December quit the book project at the end of December.

Canseco had said he has “explosive” information regarding Alex Rodriguez in his upcoming book but Yaeger questioned many of the accusations Canseco was preparing to make.

Sammy Sosa is named among 3 other players in an affidavit that was unsealed by the U.S. Department of Justice, the International Herald Tribune reports.

Sosa, Pete Incaviglia, Geronimo Berroa and Allen Watson - were named in a May 2006 affidavit by Jeffrey Novitzky, a special agent for the Internal Revenue Service criminal division, which details his interview with the former pitcher Jason Grimsley.

The Grimsley affidavit indentifies Sosa as having talked about using amphetamines, Incaviglia as having used amphetamines, Berroa as having used steroids and Watson as having used unidentified performance-enhancing drugs.

It also names Jose Canseco, Lenny Dykstra, Glenallen Hill, Chuck Knoblauch, Rafael Palmeiro, David Segui and Miguel Tejada, all of whom were named in the Mitchell report.

A second affidavit was unsealed that named former Met Sid Fernandez, reports the Washington Post.

According to ESPN.com, Radomski received a $3,500 check from Fernandez that was written in February 2005, eight years after El Sid’s final major league appearance. Phone records cited in the affidavit say Rose Jr. called Radomski several times in 2001, ESPN.com reported. Rose Jr., the son of baseball’s career hits leader, was sentenced in May 2006 to one month in prison and five months of home detention for distributing a steroid alternative to his minor league teammates.

Heres a quote from Pettitte:

“In 2002 I was injured. I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow,”

“I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible. For this reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone. Though it was not against baseball rules, I was not comfortable with what I was doing, so I stopped.

This is it — two days out of my life; two days out of my entire career, when I was injured and on the disabled list,” he said. “I wasn’t looking for an edge. I was looking to heal.”

Marty Noble on Mets.com speaks with the always outspoken Billy Wagner, who gives his thoughts on the Mitchell Report.

Wagner comments on how all players might now be looked at with some suspicion.

“When it says 96, 97 on the gun, on the scoreboard, you know someone’s going to ask, ‘How can a guy 5-10 throw that hard?’ Then they’ll start wondering, ‘Did he use? Did he use and just not get caught?’”

Wagner talks about the great players before him, like Mickey Mantle and Sandy Koufax, who have had their achievements diminished by cheaters.

“Those guys are hurt by this, too,” Wagner said. “The things they did have been matched now. No one’s wondering about them. But when you’re 10th on some list of all-time stats, you’re 10th. I don’t think it’s going to say ‘Four of the other guys used steroids.’

To read more of Wagner’s comments head over to Marty Noble’s article on Mets.com

Jose Canseco is quoted in the New York Daily News regarding Alex Rodriguez’s omission from the Mitchell Report.

“All I can say is the Mitchell Report is incomplete,” Canseco said. “I could not believe that (Rodriguez’s) name was not in the report.”

“A-Rod wasn’t the only player missing, according to Canseco, who tried to attend Mitchell’s press conference at the Grand Hyatt on Thursday, only to be turned away by MLB officials since he was not a member of the media.

Paul Lo Duca could face disciplinary action by Major League Baseball because the documentation in the Mitchell Report included checks written just three years ago, writes Adam Rubin in the New York Daily News.

Among the evidence of steroid use by the former Mets catcher were internal notes of an October 2003 discussion among Dodgers officials that pointed to him getting off steroids leading to a drop off in his production. Lo Duca went from 25 homers in 2001 to seven in 2003. The internal memo read “Got off steroids. … Took away a lot of hard line drives. … If you do trade him, will get back on the stuff and try to show you he can have a good year.”

Lo Duca was traded to the Marlins on July 30, 2004. One of the checks to Radomski is dated seven days later.

There are numerous personal notes between Randomski and Lo Duca, one of them is even written on Dodgers stationary and reads

“Kirk, Sorry! But for some reason they sent the check back to me. I haven’t been able to call you back because my phone is TOAST! I have a new # it is (redacted). Please leave your # again because I lost all of my phonebook with the other phone. Thanks. Paul.”

Here are some links around the web with additional news and reactions to today’s release of The Mitchell Report.

The Associated Press provides a great concise summary of the details of the prominent players named and their involvement with steroids in the Mitchell Report.

ESPN does the same for EVERY player named along with the number of the page in the report they were referenced.

SI.com’s Tom Verducci reacts.

McNamee said he injected the steroids into Clemens’ buttocks after the Jays returned home from a trip to Florida. Up to that point Clemens was 6-6 with a 3.27 ERA. After that he was literally unbeatable: 14-0 with a 2.29 ERA. Think steroids work?

Attorney for Roger Clemens claims ’slander’.

“I have great respect for Sen. Mitchell,” Hardin said in the statement. “I think an overall look at this problem in baseball was an excellent idea.

“But I respectfully suggest it is very unfair to include Roger’s name in this report. He is left with no meaningful way to combat what he strongly contends are totally false allegations. He has not been charged with anything, he will not be charged with anything and yet he is being tried in the court of public opinion with no recourse. That is totally wrong.”

Jose Canseco denied access to Mitchell Report press conference.

Castiglione: Why would you come to Senator Mitchell’s press conference to sign a book deal?

Canseco: No hablo ingles

Trey Coppola’s reaction to the Mitchell Report.

So, why NOW does Major League Baseball decide to take “action”?

I find it coincidental that after Bonds breaks the all-time homerun record and the popularity of baseball rises, the commissioner decides to take a stance. At this point baseball can do no wrong.

Congress to hold second round of hearings on use of steroids in Major League Baseball.

Toasted Joe adjusts the results of the 2000 World Series games in light of recent news.

Red Sox knew about Gagne’s steroid past.

On November 1, 2006, Epstein emailed his scout, Mark Delpiano, “Have you done any digging on Gagne? I know the Dodgers think he was a steroid guy. Maybe so. What do you hear on his medical?”

Yankees strength coach Brian McNamee supplied Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte with steroids.

“Clemens asked McNamee to inject him with Winstrol, which Clemens supplied,” the report says, using the brand name for the anabolic steroid stanozolol. “McNamee injected Clemens approximately four times in the buttocks over a several-week period with needles that Clemens provided. Each incident took place in Clemens’s apartment at the SkyDome.”

The report further states that, after the Blue Jays traded Clemens to the New York Yankees in 1999, Clemens persuaded the Yankees to hire McNamee in 2000. According to the report, during that season McNamee injected Clemens with steroids and HGH, both four to six times, and also injected him with steroids four to five times in 2001.

McNamee traveled to Tampa at Pettitte’s request and spent about ten days assisting Pettitte with his rehabilitation. McNamee recalled that he injected Pettitte with human growth hormone that McNamee obtained from Radomski on two to four occasions. Pettitte paid McNamee for the trip and his expenses; there was no separate payment for the human growth hormone.

Giants General Manager Brian Sabean was told that Barry Bonds was seeking information about using steroids.

Oakland A’s teammate Adam Piatt helps Miguel Tejada obtain steroids.

Rangers Owner and GM discuss Tejada’s steroid use over email.

In December 2005, Texas Rangers owner Thomas O. Hicks and general manager Jon Daniels engaged in an email exchange about possible trade discussions. In one email, Daniels stated that he had “some steroids concerns with Tejada,” and cited Tejada’s decreased productivity over the second half of the 2005 season.

Insufficient evidence on Scott Schoeneweis.

Strange audio bleeds into Mitchell Report press conference broadcast.

Brandon Walsh of 90210 a steroid abuser???

New York Mets statement on Mitchell Report.

Video reaction from Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Statement from Howard J. Rubenstein, spokesman for the New York Yankees regarding The Mitchell Report.

Mike Lupica’s reaction.

Gene Wojciechowski’s reaction.