Cameron, Brewers thinking positively
Mike Cameron's smile faded, but the three-time Gold Glove winner never dodged talking about his upcoming 25-game suspension.
"The toughest thing about dealing with what I have to go through now is not being able to play," Cameron said. "Hopefully I don't miss a beat when I come back."
Cameron and the Milwaukee Brewers completed a $7 million, one-year contract Monday after reaching an agreement last week pending a physical for the 35-year-old outfielder.
Cameron was suspended after testing positive a second time for a banned stimulant. He blamed the positive test on a tainted supplement.
"We did every test we could possibly do to figure out what was going on, but we couldn't come up with the positive, the reason, why I failed the test for the second time," Cameron said.
"I've been through a lot since the 25-game suspension. The last thing you want to have your name do is to be smeared with getting suspended, taking drugs, whatever it may be."
He said the worst part of the ordeal is the perception that he's not clean and the toll it has taken on his family.
"There's a way that people kind of justify what kind of person you are by the situation that you're in," Cameron said. "That was kind of like the last thing you always want to happen when you've always had a very clean and good reputation. Like I said, I've got to pay for it."
General manager Doug Melvin said Cameron will be allowed to play in all the exhibition games before being assigned to Triple-A Nashville toward the end of the suspension.
Rolen-Glaus deal completed:ŒScott Rolen was traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Toronto Blue Jays for Troy Glaus in a swap of all-star third basemen that was finalized after both players passed physicals.
Rolen became the second St. Louis star to join Toronto in the off-season. The Blue Jays earlier signed former Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein, the MVP of the 2006 World Series, to a one-year contract.
The 32-year-old Rolen hit a total of only 35 home runs the last three years while being hindered by a left-shoulder injury that has required three operations. He and manager Tony La Russa have clashed since the 2006 postseason, when the manager benched Rolen.
Rolen requested a trade after last season.
The 31-year-old Glaus was hampered by a bad left foot last season while hitting 20 homers in 115 games. Playing on grass in St. Louis rather than artificial turf in Toronto could be beneficial for Glaus, who totaled 75 homers in 2005-06 and has a pair of 40-homer seasons.
Both Rolen and Glaus underwent season-ending surgery in September. Rolen's procedure cleaned up scar tissue that had limited mobility, while Glaus had a ruptured plantar fascia.
Kotsay to Braves: The Atlanta Braves have their replacement for center fielder Andruw Jones, competing a trade that brought Mark Kotsay from the Athletics.
The Braves sent reliever Joey Devine and a minor-league pitcher to Oakland, while the rebuilding A's were expected to pick up about $5 million of Kotsay's $7.35 million salary.
The deal was finalized after Kotsay, who played only 56 games last year, was examined by Braves doctors. He had back surgery last spring, missed the first two months of the season and returned to the disabled list with back spasms in August.
Jones, a 10-time Gold Glover, left as a free agent for a $36.2 million, two-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.