The barking here just got a little louder

I find the Michael Vick dog fighting story both repulsive and fascinating. The fascinating part is the exposure of a world that I didn't really know existed -- at least not to this level of detail.

A confidential source explained the setup to ESPN on Sunday.

The source said many matches take place on rural farms, with lookouts stationed in the woods and down surrounding roads, up to eight miles away. He adds that sometimes, local sheriffs are paid off to look the other way -- that is, when they're not participating in the dog fights themselves.

The source described Vick as one of the "heavyweights" of the dog fighting world. He placed the Falcons quarterback at a fight back in 2000 when Vick was still an undergrad at Virginia Tech.

Federal authorities raided a Virginia home owned by the Falcons QB in April. They found 66 dogs, mainly pit bulls, and other evidence of dog fighting activities.

So far, no charges have been filed against Vick, who denies knowledge of dog fighting on the property.

Dog fighting is a felony in every state but Idaho and Wyoming.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution picks up on the ESPN report today.

The paper quotes this statement released by the Falcons.

"Michael was drafted by the Falcons in 2001. The allegations regarding him are still under investigation, and until we have facts related to the investigation, we are unable to respond further."

When you start your statement with an obvious and meaningless throwaway line, "Michael was drafted by the Falcons in 2001," it tells me the Atlanta organization has nothing to say and are hoping and praying this thing would just go away. But it's not. Vick could wind up in some serious trouble here -- with the NFL or authorities. Maybe both.

Update: After thinking about that Falcons statement again, the first sentence does have relevance. The alleged incident cited by the ESPN source took place in 2000. The Falcons drafted him a year later. In other words, what they're saying is that Vick may have broken the law, but he did it before we drafted him. A corporate version of CYA.

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Newest member of the Cards

Here's some information I didn't know about the newest member of the Cardinals pitching staff. Troy Cate was called up from Memphis on Sunday to exchange places with winless starter Anthony Reyes.

Prior to joining the Cardinals, Cate was in the Mariners organization.

Cate was switched from starting to relieving prior to 2005, but was released after being suspended for 15 games due to a negative test for banned performance-enhancing drugs.

If the PED investigations have demonstrated anything, they've shown that steroids aren't the exclusive domain of hitters. As the New York Times' Murray Chass recently noted, "baseball people suspect pitchers have used them as much as hitters."

Cate will go the bullpen. Todd Wellemeyer will take the place of Reyes in the rotation.

Daniel Berk at MLB.com puts the move in perspective.

The Cardinals now have four converted relievers in their starting rotation -- Braden Looper, Adam Wainwright, Brad Thompson and now Wellemeyer. The Cards no longer have a single current member of the rotation who was part of last year's World Series rotation. Jason Marquis, Jeff Suppan and Jeff Weaver all signed elsewhere in the offseason, and Chris Carpenter is on the disabled list.

Comedy Central

The Cardinals took one out of three from the Washington Nationals over the weekend and still gained a game on the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers have lost five in a row. Houston has lost eight in a row and the Reds have lost six straight.

Nothing like the Comedy Central, where .333 baseball moves you one game closer to first place.