Brendan Donnelly is the latest player named in the Mitchell Report to deny that he did steroids. The former Angels and Red Sox reliever admits to contacting Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski to inquire about the anabolic steroid Anavar, but says he never took any. Radomski told Mitchell investigators that Donnelly bought Deca-Durabolin from him, but Donnelly denies ever taking it.
The Mitchell report also refers to some emails that allegedly passed within the Red Sox front office in late 2006, prior to the team acquiring Donnelly. In the first one, Red Sox staffer Zack Scott reportedly said of Donnelly:
He was a juice guy but his velocity hasn't changed a lot over the years ... If he was a juice guy, he could be a breakdown candidate.
Another staffer, Kyle Evans, responded:
I haven't heard many good things about him, w/ significant steroid rumors.
The Red Sox went ahead and got Donnelly anyway. He made 27 relief appearances for the team this year, going 2-1 with a 3.05 ERA before being put on the DL with an elbow injury that ultimately required him to have Tommy John surgery. He was cut by the Red Sox just before the Mitchell Report's release.
Players doing steroids is one side of this story, but a very significant other side is teams' obvious willingness to overlook a guy's known or suspected history. It's clear from those emails that the Red Sox had more than an inkling about Donnelly's doping - but they needed a relief pitcher with post-season experience so they signed him. How lucky for them that he would've missed the 2008 season anyway after tendon-replacement surgery in his elbow, making it easy for them to cut him loose before the report came out.
We need to remember, amid all the player-trashing that is certain to happen, that the teams deserve a big share of the blame.
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Tags: boston red sox, brendan donnelly, los angeles angels, mitchell report
