NEW YORK -- Baseball investigator George Mitchell likely
will issue his long-awaited report on steroids use in baseball by
the end of the year, and there is a strong possibility he will
identify individual players.
A lawyer for the firm representing Major League Baseball in the
investigation updated representatives for the 30 teams during a
conference call Friday and told them Mitchell's report likely would
be issued in November or December, several baseball club officials
said.
Asked by a club official whether the report would name
individual players, Thomas Carlucci of Foley & Lardner told teams
they should assume it would, several team officials who were
briefed on the call's details said. Reached at his office, Carlucci
declined comment.
Carlucci, a former assistant U.S. attorney in San Francisco,
also told teams there was a good chance they would not receive
copies of the report before it's made public. Carlucci's conference
call first was reported by ESPN.
"There is only one group of people that knows when the report
is going to be issued, whether it's going to contain names, how
many names it's going to contain and what those names are, and that
would be Senator Mitchell and the members of his firm," said Rob
Manfred, baseball's executive vice president of labor relations.
Mitchell issued a statement that did not go into specifics.
"The investigation has not been completed, and no decisions
have been made about any aspect of the report," he said.
The players' association has asked for Mitchell to provide any
accusations he intends to include in his report and the evidence
that backs up the charges so that players may have an opportunity
to refute them, a person who represents players said, speaking on
condition of anonymity. Lawyers for Mitchell have told the union
that they are reluctant to do so, the person said.
"Everybody about whom allegations have been made and whom I
would consider including in my report will be given an opportunity
to hear the allegations against them and respond to them in a
personal meeting with me," Mitchell said in a March 1 interview
with The Associated Press.
He said Friday that he has given players general notice.
"For each player about whom allegations have been received of
illegal use of performance-enhancing substances, I have provided
the years during which the alleged use occurred and the name of the
teams with which the player was then affiliated," he said. "I
asked to meet with them for the purpose of directly providing them
with the evidence about the allegations and to give them a chance
to respond.
"My decision to proceed in this manner was consistent with my
statement of March 1, 2007, and was based on my belief that it was
the best and most fair course of action for the investigation and
for the players involved."
Mitchell's staff repeatedly has asked to speak with active
players, but nearly all have refused. The New York Yankees' Jason
Giambi, following remarks about steroid use with USA Today,
cooperated only when commissioner Bud Selig threatened him with
discipline, and even then Giambi would discuss only his personal
experience with steroids and not detail anything he knew about
others.