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Tejada Silent About Steroids

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The Associated Press

Published: February 20, 2008

KISSIMMEE - Astros pitcher Woody Williams walked into the clubhouse and saw a swarm of reporters gathered around Miguel Tejada.

"Leave the guy alone!" Williams said with a smile.

No chance.

Tejada arrived at spring training with his new team Tuesday, and within minutes faced questions about the Mitchell Report and an FBI investigation looking into his alleged link to performance-enhancing drugs.

Tejada refused to answer any of them, preferring to discuss baseball and his fresh start with the Astros.

"I can't really talk about that situation," he said. "Right now, I just want to talk about baseball, because that's really my focus."

The Astros acquired the four-time All-Star shortstop from Baltimore on Dec. 12, the day before the Mitchell Report was released.

In the report, former teammate Adam Piatt claimed he gave steroids to Tejada in 2003, when they played in Oakland. The report included checks Tejada wrote to Piatt to purportedly pay for steroids. The report said Tejada refused to meet with Mitchell's investigators.

Asked if he could answer the allegations in the report, Tejada said, "No, not at all."

MORE ASTROS: Right fielder Hunter Pence crashed through a sliding glass door in the bathroom of his spring training home, leaving him with multiple cuts that will sideline him for a week.

Pence spent the night in an emergency room after the Monday accident. He arrived at camp Tuesday with a gash on his right index finger and a brace on his left knee.

In other news, the Astros defeated former All-Star Mark Loretta in salary arbitration, improving teams to 5-0 against players this year. Loretta will be paid $2.75 million rather than the $4.9 million he requested.

O's Roberts, Gibbons Issue Apologies

FORT LAUDERDALE - Brian Roberts and Jay Gibbons worked out together in Arizona this offseason. They lifted weights, ran on the treadmill and had several conversations about the Mitchell Report, in which each player was accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Hours before the Baltimore Orioles conducted their first full-team practice of spring training Tuesday, Roberts and Gibbons again acknowledged their misdeeds.

"Embarrassment is a good word. Disappointment. You know, it's just one of those things where you look in the mirror, and I have no excuses," said Gibbons, who will serve a 15-day suspension at the start of the season for receiving a shipment of the human growth hormone after January 2005, when it was banned by baseball.

Roberts was implicated in the Mitchell Report by former teammate Larry Bigbie. Roberts later acknowledged he took one shot of steroids in 2003.

"I told the truth. I made my statement. We'll move on from there," Roberts said.

MARINERS: Second baseman Jose Lopez is having visa problems in Venezuela and will miss the team's first full-squad workout.

NATIONALS: Left-hander Odalis Perez agreed to a non-guaranteed, minor-league contract that will pay him $850,000 if he makes the major-league club.

RANGERS: Agreed with second baseman Ian Kinsler on a five-year, $22 million contract with a club option valued at $10 million for the 2013 season.

HALL OF FAME: Longtime Seattle Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus is going into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Niehaus has been chosen as the 2008 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcast excellence. He will be honored during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony July 27 at Cooperstown, N.Y. The announcement comes on Niehaus' 73rd birthday.

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