Stars Realigned

There are no official records, but it is hard to imagine the hot stove having ever been hotter.

As spring training camps open this week in Arizona and Florida, it is hard to imagine whether there has ever been a winter in which more major players changed teams.

“I’ve only been at it for eight years, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen this many impact-type players go to new teams, guys who can change the direction of leagues and races,” Kevin Towers, the San Diego Padre general manager, said.

“And if there has been an off-season like this one, it probably involved all free agents. This has been half free agents, half trades.”

Salary dumps or otherwise, the succession of mega-deals, which included the trading and free-agent signing of the two players -- Alex Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero -- who are considered baseball’s best, has erased the specter of collusion that seemed to resurface a year ago.

Unfortunately, the more ominous steroid specter may intrude on a spring invigorated by the hot stove’s lingering glow.

As baseball begins the more punitive program of random testing mandated by the fact that 5% to 7% of last year’s sample tests came back positive, the industry is nervously watching fallout from the federal grand jury investigation of the Northern California nutritional supplements lab at the center of an investigation into an alleged distribution ring for performance-enhancing drugs.

Greg Anderson, Barry Bonds’ personal trainer, was one of four men charged last week with supplying banned substances to athletes. All four pleaded not guilty, but Anderson told federal agents that he gave steroids to several baseball players, according to released affidavits.

Three of baseball’s most renowned players -- Bonds, Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi -- were among seven who testified before the grand jury with limited immunity.

No athlete has been charged in the investigation, but the process has intensified speculation of widespread steroid use in baseball and by Bonds, in particular, during his home run onslaught in recent years. Although Bonds has denied using steroids, Anderson has been a frequent visitor to the San Francisco Giant clubhouse in violation of baseball policy governing clubhouse access to personal trainers, a policy that will be more strictly enforced this year, according to a memo sent recently to all clubs.

Whether the government will choose to charge any of the athletes is uncertain, but even the possibility that Bonds, Sheffield or Giambi could be cited has baseball apprehensive, as does the possibility of a breach in the anonymity and confidentiality key to the testing program.

The grand jury has subpoenaed the results of last year’s sample testing from the two labs responsible for overseeing it. The labs have until March 4 to deliver the information, but officials of the players’ union have been meeting with government lawyers in an attempt, said a person involved in the process, to at least “narrow the scope” of how the information is used.

It’s unclear, of course, how this will play out, but the investigation is a darkening cloud as the spring camps open.

“Obviously, we’re hopeful it doesn’t diminish the happiest time of the year when every team is looking to be the Florida Marlins of last year and the Angels of the previous year,” Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer, said of the two most recent World Series winners.

“At the same time, we’re obviously concerned with the involvement and implication of any legal situation, and that’s especially true when illegal substances are involved.

“As everyone knows, we’re trying to get to zero tolerance in that area, and we’re obviously watching this closely.

“The fact that some high-profile players have been mentioned has increased the public and media scrutiny and added a third-party element, but at this point none of the players [has] been charged or tested positive, unlike four [NFL] players who tested positive for THG.”

Baseball didn’t test last year for THG, a newly discovered designer steroid, but will this year.

It’s all a disturbing part of what DuPuy describes as “the happiest time,” and one thing is certain: Snowbirds will need a program when they visit the spring camps.

A galaxy of star players switched teams.

In addition to Rodriguez and Guerrero, the list includes Curt Schilling, Miguel Tejada, Bartolo Colon, Andy Pettitte, Kevin Brown, Javy Lopez, Javier Vazquez, Ivan Rodriguez, Richie Sexson, Alfonso Soriano, Keith Foulke, Derrek Lee, Rafael Palmeiro, Greg Maddux and Sheffield. Roger Clemens even came out of retirement and changed teams.

Who were the winners and losers in this off-season roulette? Here’s one view:

Winners

* New York Yankees: The acquisition of Alex Rodriguez was merely an extra rich frosting. The Yankees already had rebuilt their lineup with Sheffield and Kenny Lofton, restocked the rotation with Brown and Vazquez, and refurbished the bullpen with Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill.

* Angels: Arte Moreno never hesitated. His $146-million acquisition of outfielders Guerrero and Jose Guillen and starters Colon and Kelvim Escobar filled every hole and produced a pitching surplus from which Bill Stoneman can deal if necessary.

* Boston Red Sox: A-Rod has been snatched by the Evil Empire, but the acquisitions of starter Schilling, closer Foulke and Gold Glove-caliber second baseman Pokey Reese should help influence the Red Sox to play the 162 games anyway.

* Baltimore Orioles: Owner Peter Angelos can do only so much for the Greek Olympic team, but he subsidized an impressive remodeling of the Orioles with the signings of shortstop Tejada, catcher Lopez, first baseman/designated hitter Palmeiro and starter Sidney Ponson.

* Chicago Cubs: The late signing of Maddux and the earlier acquisitions of first baseman Lee, relievers LaTroy Hawkins and Kent Mercker, and utility men Todd Walker and Todd Hollandsworth, pushed the Cubs into the top five ahead of the Houston Astros (Pettitte and Clemens) and the San Diego Padres (David Wells, Jay Payton and Ramon Hernandez).

Losers

* Marlins: It wasn’t quite the decimation of the 1997 World Series winner, but uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. The latest payroll purge claimed Lee, catcher Pudge Rodriguez, outfielder Juan Encarnacion, starter Mark Redman and relievers Braden Looper and Ugueth Urbina.

* Dodgers: The loss of Brown and Quantrill has weakened the major leagues’ best pitching staff, and there has been no improvement in the major leagues’ worst offense aside from the acquisition of Encarnacion.

* Minnesota Twins: This wasn’t as bad as contraction might have been, but the Twins are looking at another rebuilding process after economics played into the departures of relievers Hawkins and Eddie Guardado, catcher A.J. Pierzynski and starters Eric Milton and Kenny Rogers.

* Atlanta Braves: It’s been a long time since the Braves were on anyone’s list of off-season losers, but dramatic payroll cuts under Time Warner, the departure of Maddux a year after Tom Glavine left and the double-barreled lineup loss of Sheffield and Lopez may translate to the end of Atlanta’s division dominance.

* Montreal Expos: Baseball’s foster child faces another resiliency test. The Expos were forced to sacrifice their pitching ace (Vazquez) and best player (Guerrero) in economic decisions mandated by the commissioner’s office, and they now begin preparations for another summer of wicked travel, including 22 games in Puerto Rico.