By Dave Cokin
Posted 07/31/2009 at 03:20 AM

David Ortiz was the headline grabber Thursday. The revelation that Big Papi, along with teammate Manny Ramirez, was one of the positive testers from the now infamous 2003 voluntary and supposedly anonymous samplings was clearly the hot button topic for the day.

I haven’t altered my stance at all since this whole fiasco began. There was no policy prior to 2004, and I therefore really don’t care who was doing what before MLB decided to getting a little more serious about the issue. Add in the fact that many of the PED’s that are illegal here were not so in other countries, and the whole scenario becomes even murkier.

However, David Ortiz does rate more criticism than some others who have been outed. That’s because Big Papi appears to be coming across as a giant hypocrite. He’s been one of the louder voices in expressing disdain for violators, and calling for harsher penalties than are presently on the books. Sorry, Papi, but you should have kept your mouth shut. If you’re going to take the pulpit and preach that holier than thou claptrap, you’d better be squeaky clean yourself.

Basically, Ortiz is now a baseball version of John Ensign, one of our U.S. Senators here in Nevada. Ensign has been one of those pompous Christian value-spouting blowhards forever. He was at the front of the line back in the Clinton administration when the President’s indiscretions became public, and he harrumphed himself into the headlines with outrage over Clinton’s behavior. Now it turns out Ensign was having his own extra-marital affair. I have little use for those who preach to others about sinning and then are found to be doing exactly the same thing themselves. Ortiz is evidently guilty of being the same kind of hypocrite, and he therefore is due more disdain than those who at least kept their mouths shut and didn’t try to come off as being above such behavior.

I’ll continue to root for the Red Sox, and this doesn’t do a thing to taint the titles won in 2004 and 2007. And I’ll still be pulling for Ortiz to come through with big hits in the team’s latest quest for glory. But at this point in time, I’ve lost quite a bit of respect for Big Papi, and his declaration that he intends to find out exactly what it is that caused to him score a positive on the test is, quite frankly, very tough to swallow as being truthful at this point.

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There was one significant deal Thursday as the Dodgers and Orioles completed a trade that looks solid for both sides.

LA has a weary bullpen that has logged a ton of innings this season, and they’ve been in need of a strong setup man for closer Jonathan Broxton. They solved that issue by obtaining George Sherrill from Baltimore. Sherrill has done well enough closing for the O’s, but he’s actually best suited for situational work setting up. With the return of Hong-Chih Kuo and the arrival of Sherrill, the Dodgers have suddenly shored up what appeared to be a vulnerability. Plus, Sherrill is a very strong insurance policy should Broxton’s toe problems resurface.

The Orioles did nicely in this deal as well. Josh Bell and Steve Johnson are good prospects that will add to the Baltimore arsenal of quality youth. This team is really setting itself up well for a serious run at the playoffs by 2011. Bell is at 3B right now, although there’s speculation he’ll eventually move across the diamond. His bat is his best tool, and while Bell doesn’t project as an All-Star, he does look like a guy who can become a big league regular and a good fit in the #6 hole in a decent lineup.

Johnson has to be absolutely thrilled with this deal. He’s a Maryland native, and is the son of former big league pitcher and current O’s broadcaster Dave Johnson. Steve has seen his stock rise considerably this season. Johnson put together strong numbers in the hitter-friendly Cal League and he’s been even better since moving up to AA Chattanooga. Johnson has registered an impressive 117 K’s in only 107 innings. He’s still got occasional control issues, and there is some concern about his somewhat violent delivery. But Johnson has gone from a guy who projected as a likely bullpen denizen to a potential mid-rotation starter down the road.

I would rate both teams as winners in this deal, with the Dodgers getting the immediate profit while the Orioles cash in later on.

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The Brewers have had a rough go of it over the past month. But they finally have a little something going with back to back wins as they head to San Diego, and with three games against the Padres, it’s an important opportunity for Milwaukee to try and make some lost ground in the NL Central chase. Chad Gaudin has been okay for the Padres and the team is on their own mini-roll, but I’ll take my chances with Looper and the Brewers here.