Jason Grimsley: Seeing the Forest Surrounding the Tree

By now, you have likely heard at least one utterance of the name Jason Grimsley. He's the middle relief pitcher from the Arizona Diamondbacks that was recently served with a second search warrant seeking evidence of narcotics possession and money laundering at his Scottsdale home.

According to the affidavit filed with this most recent search warrant, agents from the IRS and FBI intercepted a shipment of Human Growth Hormone that was addressed to arrive at Grimsley's home via the USPS. On the 19th of April, one day after that package was allowed to arrive at Grimsley's home, IRS agents executed an "anticipatory search warrant" at Grimsley's home, confronted Grimsley with an accusation of guilt and persuaded him that, instead of having his home searched, Grimsley would be transported to a secondary location where he would be, in the words of the agent's later affidavit "extensively debriefed."

At his debriefing, Grimsley apparently spilled the beans on his own torrid affair with all sorts of bizarre chemicals, including things called Deca-Durabolin and Clenbuterol. Grimsley also reportedly divulged the names of numerous other players, though Grimsley's lawyer, Edward Novak, denies that. ESPN (my least favorite news outlet) reported that Novak also believes that some unidentified federalis wanted Grimsley to wear a wire and seek statements incriminating Barry Bonds in the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Keith Olbermann has implicated Albert Pujols thru a gentlemen he refers to as, and this is allegedly sourced, Albert's "soul brother." Jesus Christ in a birch bark canoe.

Instead of getting caught up in the whirlwind of speculation, I prefer to focus on some rather interesting, and apparently unreported, facts in the Jason Grimsley story. I'm not muckraking this trick and I won't judge whether he'll pay in any afterlife for his alleged betrayals, but I will focus on Grimsley's behavior and the extraordinary ride he has had from confession to impending incarceration.

Grimsley was first confronted by IRS agents on April 19th, 2006. He continued to pitch for the Diamondbacks for the next fifty some-odd days, including dealing four innings of scoreless relief the day after the "debriefing." Amidst the stress of having, figuratively, his nuts in the IRS vice, Grimsley managed to log 20 innings, posting a 1-1 record and lowering his ERA from 10.57 to 4.88. Not bad under pressure. There's been no report as to when Grimsley eventually decided to tell the Feds to stick it. I'm betting it was right before what will now be known as his final game, May 31 at Shea Stadium, where he took the loss after allowing one run in the home half of the 13th.

Second, Grimsley allegedly sought and was granted a release from the Diamondbacks after the Feds served the second warrant on his house yesterday. ESPN has reported that the Diamondbacks are paying Grimsley the remainder of his salary as a condition of his release. I can't decide how to feel about that-- do you scorn the MLBPA contract clause requiring guaranteed money or the Diamondbacks for not fighting the clause in the case of a likely-to-be convicted substance abuser? My guess would be that every contract (except maybe that of Barry Bonds) has an explicit provision that denies compensation for a player released upon the discovery of illegal substances. Perhaps the Diamondbacks didn't want to be seen as bad guys. In any event, Grimsley got paid for cheating.
[UPDATE: Apparently Ken Kendrick, managing general partner of the Diamondbacks read my post here and has now decided that Grimsley will not be paid the remainder of his salary, noting that "it's a moral issue." Being the "morally superior" jerkoff that he is, Kendrick finished his remarks by blaming Grimsley for the team's recent slump, stating that "our team hasn't played the same since the day this thing happened. You can see it out there."]

[UPDATE #2: Grimsley's agent Joe Bick has stated that he will fight the Diamondbacks decision, though he'll have to wait for Ken Kendrick to come down off the cross before he can climb up there. Also, think of the tough decision that has to made at the MLBPA: do you file a grievance on behalf of an admitted cheater? Damned if they do, damned if they don't.]

The IRS affidavit also states that Grimsley cited widespread amphetamine use among players that was supported by the their teams. The affidavit alleges that Grimsley quipped that "until last year, Major League clubhouses had coffee pots labeled 'leaded' and 'unleaded' for the players, indicating coffee with amphetamines and without." (page 15 of 23 of affidavit). I have not seen any other news source report these lines of the affidavit. If this claim is true, the controversy has only begun.

Finally, in an unrelated issue, this is the most revolting image I've seen in a long time. Nothing obscene or graphic, just unadulterated humanity that should be viewed only with utmost caution-- it could knot your stomach.

Comments welcome.