Helton still at odds with Cardinals announcer

DENVER -- If Todd Helton and the St. Louis Cardinals radio announcer who suggested he used steroids are going to make up, it's not going to happen this week.

Rockies management informed the Cardinals on Monday that announcer Wayne Hagin would not be welcome in the Colorado clubhouse and that Helton does not want to talk to Hagin while the Cardinals are in town for a four-game series.

"I'm still pretty upset with it," Helton said before the first meeting between the teams this season. "I still hear a lot about it. In that sense, it really still bothers me."

In an interview in March with a St. Louis radio station, Hagin said, "I know (Helton) tried it because (former Rockies manager) Don Baylor told me. He said to me, 'I told him to get off the juice, that he was a player who didn't need that, get off it."'

Hagin later insisted he was not referring to steroids when he used the term "juice" -- a common slang word for steroids -- but was talking about supplements. Baylor later said he was referring to creatine, a legal over-the-counter supplement.

Helton denies using steroids, and said it was even more disappointing that the comment came from Hagin, who worked for 10 years as a Rockies broadcaster before moving to St. Louis in 2003.

"Anyone who knows me, has been around the locker room, knows there's no chance," Helton said.

Hagin, who has apologized in letters addressed to the team but has not spoken directly with Helton, said he wants to put the issue behind him.

"What I said I said," Hagin said before Monday's game. "It's been done. It's like water in a fire hose. It's out. It's all in my rearview mirror now and I'm not looking back."

Helton said legal action against Hagin remained "a possibility."

"When I actually heard the interview, and how excited he got when he acted like had some scoop no one else had, that (expletive) me off," Helton said. "Thinking about it right now, that (expletive) me off."

Helton entered Monday's game hitting just .265 with 19 RBIs. He said the flap with Hagin and his being the subject of ever-swirling trade talks aren't an excuse for his poor performance.

"I want to be able to use that as an excuse, but I can't, because it's not true," he said.