The caveat is that management certainly would have to pledge to keep all testing results confidential -- and not take a punitive approach to first-time offenders.

"We have to make a deal on this, to protect the integrity of the game," says one management source. "But we don't have to humiliate and embarrass people. It can be done with sensitivity. But this is an issue everyone should be in favor of addressing. We owe it to the public. If people are going to start calling into question all the feats by McGwire and Bonds and everybody else, we have to remove those questions. It's that simple."

On the other hand, one complaint that ought to be addressed is one we hear from both GMs and players: In an era of unbalanced schedules, it's time to stop having teams play a homestand against two out-of-division rivals one week, then play those same two clubs on the road the next.

"Those back-to-back series against the same club really bother me," says one AL executive. "And I think it bothers the players. You play the same team six times in nine or 10 days. You see the same two or three starting pitchers twice, and the other guys you might never see."

If teams are going to play all their same-league, out-of-division opponents two series all year, it's much more fair to spread out those series. There was a big difference, for instance, between playing the Cardinals twice early, when their rotation was a M*A*S*H unit, and playing them twice now.

Changing this arrangement makes the scheduling process more difficult to spread out those series. But it's much more fair.

"We had him as a third-round guy," said one scouting director. "His tools were very short for a first-round pick."

Said another: "There were a lot of oohs and ahs in our (draft) room over that pick. We had him in the sixth or seventh round."

No one disputes that Hamels' has star-potential stuff. But one scouting director told Rumblings and Grumblings: "We took him off our list because of the medical situation. I just think that guy is going down eventually. It's just a matter of time, with that injury."

It's hard to find many successful comeback stories from broken humerus bones. But the Phillies say they checked Hamels out thoroughly -- and even were told that because Hamels suffered the break as a still-growing teen-ager, as opposed to an adult, they believe the bone will heal to be even stronger than before.

There is also some dispute about whether Hamels suffered the injury playing football in the street, as he told people on draft day. But the Phillies' scouting-and-player-development honcho, Mike Arbuckle, described that dispute as "irrelevant."

"I don't really care if he broke it in a fight or a football game because I know this kid has a solid makeup," Arbuckle told the Philadelphia Inquirer's Jim Salisbury. "To me, the arm injury is a very minimal risk. We all know that high school pitchers are a higher risk anyway, but my philosophy has always been if you think you have a really high-ceiling guy, you roll the dice."

One reason the Phillies have revived their system in recent years is Arbuckle's philosophy to always take a first-round pick who has a chance to be a star. So at least if they miss on this one, they'll have missed for the right reasons.

"I really trust the judgment of Arbuckle and (scouting director) Marti Wolever," says one NL club executive. "They really do their homework. I'd have rolled the dice on that kid, too."

"This was not a let's-all-pick-on-Scott thing," says one scouting director. "He's brought this on himself. In a draft like this one, there were so many similar options to most of his kids, I think people said, 'Why fight that battle when we can take a comparable kid without the aggravation?' Contrary to what Scott was telling us, his guys were not special -- not this year."

The story making the rounds is that Gruler, who wound up signing the night of the draft for a $2.5-million bonus, dazzled the Reds in a pre-draft workout. After jumping off a redeye flight and throwing in front of a throng that included Junior Griffey and Johnny Bench, Gruler told the Reds he wanted to throw a second time to show them what kind of pitcher he really was.

In that second round, he pitched to four college hitters -- none of whom was drafted later than the fourth round -- and blew all four away.

One AL scouting director on the Reds' decision: "If it were me, I'd take Gruler. He's bigger and more physical (6-foot-3, 200 pounds) than the other guy. Kazmir is an interesting guy with a great arm. But his size (6 feet, 170) concerns me."

It happened on that bizarre play against the Red Sox in which Spencer hit a one-hopper back to reliever Casey Fossum, and Fossum mysteriously threw to the plate -- even though there was no runner on third. But the Red Sox still got an unheard-of 1-2-3 out at first base, because Spencer was slow getting down the line, then conspicuously grabbed his hamstring after crossing the bag late to make it look as if he'd hurt himself.

The next day, John Vander Wal struck out three times and failed to get a bunt down. So the Yankees decided to see how ready Rivera was before they had to go out and explore a deal for someone like Cliff Floyd.

Unfortunately, the Rivera era didn't last long, either. He took the wrong subway train to Yankee Stadium on Saturday, arrived late, then ran into a maintenance truck while chasing a flyball in batting practice. He's now on the DL with a slight fracture in his kneecap. He should be out three weeks.

"It's great to project how good guys can be," says one scout. "All those guys have great stuff. But in the big leagues, it's all about results. And the reality is, they've been trying to develop all those guys at the big-league level."

"This guy might be the most misunderstood guy in baseball," says Giants assistant GM Ned Colletti. "He's a great guy. He's great with our pitchers. He plays all the time. He's in great shape. And he loves baseball. He's been a great teammate."

Remember, so many teams thought Santiago was through that two years in a row, he didn't find a job until after spring training had started. The Giants didn't sign him until St. Patrick's Day of 2001. Now he's become their second-best player. Who knew?