Matt Herges, a key figure of the National League pennant club’s bullpen and recently re-signed, was the lone active Rockies player named in the Mitchell report today. He is linked to the purchase of human growth hormone in 2004 and 2005, according to former Mets clubhouse attendant and convicted steroids dealer Kirk Radomski.
Current first base coach Glenallen Hill is also linked to Radomski, who produced a check from Hill from 2001 that he says was for two kits of human growth hormone. In the report, 53 players are implicated based on the testimony of Radomski. Hill told investigators that while he purchased steroids from Radomski, he never used them, according to the report.
The 304-page report also named nine former players with connections to the Rockies: pitcher Denny Neagle, reliever Ron Villone, reliever Kent Mercker, second baseman Mike Lansing, catchers Gary Bennett, Gregg Zaun and Bobby Estalella, outfielders Larry Bigbie and Jack Cust and pitcher Darren Holmes.
Herges rejoined the Rockies as a free agent a few weeks ago, signing a one-year deal worth $2.25 million, walking away from a more lucrative offer by the Tigers. According to the report, which cited interviews with Radomski and former Dodgers’ minor-league trainer Todd Seyler, Herges was involved with steroid use in 1999 with Los Angeles’ triple-A affiliate and purchased human growth hormone as late as 2005 when he was already an established major leaguer.
Herges’ only season with the Rockies was last year when he went 5-1 with a 2.96 ERA and played a key role in the team’s late-season push.
Before a Sept. 13 game against the Phillies, Herges stressed the importance of ridding the game of performance-enhancing drugs when asked about the possibility of players approving a blood test for HGH.
“The whole thing is an eyesore, (HGH) is something none of us want in the game,” Herges said then. “I do think we need to do whatever it takes to eliminate all the doubt and all the garbage. If we are talking about a urine test I think that would be agreed upon overnight. But a blood test is so intrusive. That’s a next level kind of step.”
Immediate efforts to reach Herges and his agent were unsuccessful. The Rockies are expected to make a statement later today after commissioner Bud Selig holds a news conference.
According to the report, Radomski said he engaged in “five or six transactions” with Neagle from 2000-04 involving human growth hormone and anabolic steroids. Radomski also produced a check from Dan “Chico” McGinn, the Rockies’ former clubhouse manager, for the amount of $1,600 that Radomski said was for the purchase of performance-enhancing drugs. Neagle played for the Rockies from 2001-03.
Radomksi said Neagle referred Bennett and Villone. Radomksi said Villone purchased performance-enhancing drugs in 2004 and 2005 and that Bennett paid $3,200 for human growth hormone in 2003. Neither was with the Rockies at this time.
Radomksi produced two $1,000 money orders from Lansing dated Feb. 5, 2002. Lansing’s last season with the Rockies was 2000. According to Radomksi, Lansing purchased performance-enhancing drugs while he was with the Montreal Expos, the team he played for before joining the Rockies in 1998.
Radomski produced one check from Mercker for what he said was for a kit of human growth hormone in October of 2002, nearly four weeks after Mercker’s only season with the Rockies.
Bigbie cooperated with Mitchell’s investigation and admitted to using steroids and HGH. However, he said he did not use any performance-enhancing drugs during his two-month stay with the Rockies at the end of the 2005 season. Bigbie brought up Cust’s names to investigators based on a conversation in 2003 while both were with the Orioles. There’s no direct link that Cust used steroids while with the Rockies in 2002.
The information on Estalella is tied to his involvement in the BALCO case and his presence in book “The Game of Shadows.” The book alleges Estalella used performance-enhancing drugs to help recover from shoulder surgery while he was playing for the Rockies in 2002 and 2003. Zaun’s use, according to the report, dates to 2001 before he joined the Rockies.
According to a Sports Illustrated report, Holmes ordered human growth hormone in October, 2003. Holmes, who played for the Rockies from 1993-97, claims he never used the drugs.
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
