Giambi becomes further distraction
-
-
- May
- 23
-
By now you’ve undoubtedly heard the reports that Jason Giambi failed an amphetamines test within the last year.
I can’t speak to whether that’s true or not. The Daily News had the story not my paper. Their sources were anonymous as well.
But there are a few aspects of the situation to keep in mind.
This does not necessarily increase the odds of the Yankees trying to void his contract. The Yankees would have been the first to know about a failed test. If they didn’t void his deal then, why would they do so now? They still do not appear to have grounds.
This does, however, decrease the odds of his getting traded. Not only does Giambi have a no-trade clause, but no team would want a player who could get suspended for 50 games any any point.
“Amphetamines” is a catch-all term that includes many over-the-counter products. Any one of us can go in a store right now and purchase assorted pills claiming to keep you awake and alert. Those are technically amphetamines that are banned under the agreement.
Giambi’s only punishment as a first-time offender was increased testing. A second failed test would lead to a 25-game suspension.
I will report more on this later once I get to the Bronx and hear what Brian Cashman and Joe Torre have to say along with Giambi himself.
Giambi has done plenty wrong here, no question about that. But all of the recent furor is the direct result of a conversation he had that he thought was off the record.
In terms of baseball, the question now is whether Giambi can help the Yankees win what is a very important game tonight.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007 at 1:08 pm by Peter Abraham.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
Pete, have you heard anything about the Giambi to the Angels rumors?
who cares ???
I couldn’t disagree more. I could care less if Giambi can help the team win or not. I don’t want my team – or any team – to have to break the rules in order to win games. A cheater is a cheater, whether he’s wearing pinstripes or not.
This is the first time I have read that the conversation with Nightengale was “off the record”. If that is fact the case how does a writer then print such an article. I have always been told that there really is no off the record and a player of Giambi’s tenure should know this BUT still if in fact there was a clear understanding of it being off the record it certainly doesnt helpthe writer get future swcoops if players think he cannot be trusted
Yeah, Peter, could you address the validity of the Angels trade rumors?
If he thought Bob Nightengale, of all people, would keep things off the record, he is dumber than I thought he was.
A bummer but, there is a simple solution to all this. He sits. He isn’t hitting anyway so, its not a big deal.
You keep him on the bench and begin talking to he and his agent about ending this “marriage”.
Whether its now, the deadline or the off-season, its time for both parties to move on.
Hopefully, Giambi and his agent see that and they all work together to find a way to amicably part ways.
If not, he sits and becomes a 20 million dollar bench player.
Let’s face it, given his physical condition, its all he really is at this point in his career. All this other stuff just speeds (pardon the greenies pun) up the process.
Can’t see Giambi going to the Angels.
He has a blanket no-tade clause, and we need his bat and OBP.
Kind of makes his initial “apology” ring a little hollow. If he was so sorry about taking steroids why was he slamming PED’s in the last 12 months. Giambi is a world class tool and needs to be shipped as far away from Yankee Stadium as possible. Cheater.
Who cares! What is more important is the fact that this team can’t win more than 2 games in a row and is going nowhere. Get rid of Mussina that old, cranky, washed up whiner.
Wakeup-
They gave Moose a 2 year, 22million $ deal.. Hes not going anywhere.
And, he will be fine. He’ll adjust.
Why? He is from Orange County. Its probably the only team he would agree to go to right now.
He may not have much of a choice.
At this point, its probably a matter of just how much he wants to stay in NY.
All the public proclaimations aside, it can’t be much fun for him to be the “face of steroids and greenies” again in the biggest media market in the country.
ANYBODY can get traded, regardless of how good or bad their contracts may be. If guys like ARod and Mike Hampton can be traded, anybody can go.
Its just a matter of will and creativity.
The Yankees don’t “need” Jason Giambi. I guess they “need” him if their goal is to be a 75-80 win team.
This team hasn’t won anything with him. They sure as hell can win without him.
The best thing Giambi can do to help the team is to work with them in his exit out of town. That’s the only solution that actually helps the Yankees.
All of the other options may be in Giambi’s best interests but not in the Yankees best interests.
Hopefully, he realizes that at some point this season and both sides can find a way for him to move on.
I agree that trading him doesn’t make sense. I read a blurb about the trade rumors this morning and was wondering if Pete knew anything about it. Trading him just to get rid of him won’t help us out. That’s what Cashman did with Sheffield and Randy Johnson, and that hasn’t worked out.
And Moose is washed up too. Giving him two years was ridiculous.
Yah but Petes right.
Hes not at a high-value right now. We might not get much more than Molina back for him.. That hurts.
DMan77, his bat is still asleep and without anyone else hitting, his OBP is of no use. He is no threat to steal, he is easily doubled up – and considering people like auto out Cano/Phelps/Minky/Cabrera follow, his value is as low right now as it has been for the Yankees. I say you sit him and use someone else to DH. If we had a back up catcher, Posada could fill that role from time to time. Or if Green Tea Joe was smarter, he could use Matsui in that role, putting Melky in Left. Defensively this would be better.
Why do you say the Johnson and Sheffield deals haven’t worked out? A little too early to say that because those were deals for the future.
If Sanchez, Ohlendorf, Gonzales and/or Whelan help this team down the road, its a plus. In addition, they weren’t bringing Sheffield back anyway and Johnson was awful here. Its not exactly like they traded away Jeter and ARod.
Also, getting rid of Johnson got them Pettitte AND Clemens. I take that exchange anytime.
You can’t hold on to negative assets. Giambi is a negative asset. The priority for this team should be finding a way of getting him out of town. If they do, it opens up better possibilities toward improving the team.
If he is here this year AND next year? May be good for Giambi but, its VERY bad for the Yankees.
Going to the stadium for the game tonight. Does anyone know what time batting practice starts?
Yah Giambi is definitly not helping the team with his 2-23 (or something) that hes in right now..
But who do you DH or play in his place?
I guess you go with Melky and hope that playing him fulltime will get him back to hitting around .270-.280..
I don’t think I’d be agasint the trade if it happened, but I’m not really rooting for it either at this point.
It’s just that Cashman appeared desperate to get rid of them. He really had no leverage at that point.
It is total crap that MLB can just leak that amphetamines test info to spite Giambi for his ‘roid comments. What a shady organization.
Replacing him in the lineup is easy. Damon to DH, Melky to CF.
Next year, without his money on the books, it opens up a ton of possibilities.
Call me crazy but, if Jason Giambi was gone from this team tomorrow, I somehow think the franchise survives.
What’s sad is that the only thing Giambi’s sorry about is that he got caught. It’d be nice to see the Yankees suspend him instead of waiting for baseball, but that’ll never happen.
I just read about Giambi over at Highbrid Nation and the writer over there really put things in perspective for me. The media has really blew the whole “performance enhancing drug” thing out of proportion. Seriously, I’m not saying its ok to use these drugs but can we please stop acting like these drugs give athletes some kind of super human advantage over thier peers.
I guess that explains some of that red-faced sweating. Well, that and all the hair gel.
I think once you use PEDs and see how they can help (even if Giambi claims they don’t “give you that gift of hitting a baseball”), you’re never going to go clean. Not when there is something else out there (HGH currently, who knows what’s next) that is not being tested for. Too many millions to be made, too much praise and chicks and whatnot, to resist.
Fire his druggie arse.
I have to wait for ten more years until that John Henry and Larry “Lucifer” Lucchino passes away.. Oh Grim Reaper, I hope you take these two servant of darkness take their souls to hell.
Maybe Ortiz suffered mild heart attack last year, due to exposure of Hgh.. Remember There’s no test for Hgh,,
Enhancement drugs do give you an advantage. Instead of hitting pop-ups, you gain the power to hit HR’s.
It definetly gives you an advantage. BUT, if you stop using, then that power will go away.
I heard the team is NOT told about the first failed test. Only 4 people including the player know, and he can choose to tell whom he wishes.
Just to echo what SJ44 said – without Giambi, the Yankees would probably rotate their regulars through the DH slot.
For now, yeah, Damon would get a lot of time as DH until his various ailments get better. You could also DH Abreu and Matsui, and rotate Melky through the outfield
You could also on occasion DH Josh Phelps
If we ever got a decent backup catcher, you could also DH Jorge Posada (possible with Phelps as the emergency backup C)
And yeah – next year, it would open a big slot. Another big contract would disappear, and Cashman could shape a younger and more flexible roster.
All that said – I know Giambi is popular in the clubhouse, and otherwise seems like a genuinely good guy
As far as amphetamines go – turns out that ADD drugs like Adderall and Ritalin also fall under the ban. Yankee pitching prospect Daniel McCutchen was suspended 50 games last season for ‘amphetamines’ – which I think turned out to be a prescription drug he used to help him study.
I don’t personally place amphetamines on the level of PEDs like anabolic steroids or HGH, but I could understand why a purist would.
My reaction to this is that someone at MLB leaked the story to solidly tar Giambi with the druggie brush, and possibly to get him to go away. Not gonna happen. I’m as disappointed in Giambi for the positive amphetamine test as I would be if he tested positive for marijuana, which is to say not at all disappointed.
Right now, can we just win a freakin’ series? Been awhile.
Time for the UEFA Cup final…
good post scooter. giambi would be the easiest of the regulars to work around if he wasn’t there. he’s still a verygood player if he isn’t hurt . him being healthy is the best option for everyone.
Pete -
I thought with the first failed amphetamines test, only the player and 4 officials know the results – the team is not told and even Selig has no knowledge? Then the player is subjected to plenty more testing (as Giambi alluded to recently anyway)
Then I thought the second failed test led to a 25 game suspsension.
Can anyone clear up what the actual policy is?
I feel like I keep getting conflicting information.
Honestly, I don’t see Giambi going anywhere.
Between the heel spur (and other injuries) and the recent stuff in the media – even if he were to agree to a trade – who would bite?
I CANT believe people seriously think that trading Giambi and playing melky at center or left while dhing matsui or damon will somehow help this offense. Im sure a guy that can hit 280 tops with no power and who never walks replacing a guy that leads the league in obp every yr and can hit 30 homers wont help this lineup start hitting. Stop smoking whatever it is your smoking and people call giambi a druggie.
Amphetamines can be one of hundreds of things – adderol, riddlen even certain over the counter pills and such like that new five hr energy has some sort of amphetamines in it. Why dont you read what an amphetamine is before passing any judgements. And if Giambi was caught using amphetamines six months ago or so then why wasnt he reprimanded then. Why would he be punished for it now? Please, think before you speak.
If you do that trade you have to play Melky as much as you can.
Phelps is basically a AAA+ Guy. Don’t platoon the DH to much..
Melky played everyday last year and preformed well. So if that trade goes through, you’ve got to give him a chance to do that again I think.
can we please start talking about baseball and stop talking about drugs. This is ridiculous already. The yanks need to start playing ball and winning games. I seriously think someone needs to be fired in order to bring them out of this.
ok melky played well batting 280 with 7 homers and a 360 obp. Giambi played like an all star with a 413 obp and 37 homers. You want to replace giambi with melky in a lineup that cant hit right now? Stop with the giambi trade talk – he has a blanket no trade clause and they are not voiding his contract- he isnt going any where an im glad. Giambis contract comes off the books after next yr – the same yr teixera is a free agent.
With the money left on Giambi’s contract, no way is he going to be traded. No team wants to pick up that kind of contract, for a druggie and oft injured player.
Teams would consider it if he weren’t under this new spotlight and didn’t have the heel thing going on.
Most GM’s understand that people hit/pitch better when they are off of the Yankees.
adam dunn is the only first baseman on the FA market next off season.
Giambis contract isnt ridiculously bad – there is only a yr and a half left on it.
* Drew
And Moose is washed up too. Giving him two years was ridiculous. *
Given our choices over the winter and the state of our rotation, it was a good choice. Let’s look – when Moose resigned in November – we had what?
Wang, Pavano, Randy Johnson, Karstens and Rasner.
great rotation there.
Pettitte signed after Moose and Clemens was wishful thinking at that point.
Wright was an Oriole and RJ didn’t get traded until Jan.
Who was on the market?
Zito $126 mil 7 years? I don’t think so.
Schmidt – wanted to stay West Coast
Meche (career 4.48 ERA) – $55 mil 5 years
Marquis (career 4.44 ERA) – $21 mil 3 years
Lilly (career 4.48 ERA) – $40 mil 4 years
Jeff Weaver?
Vincent Padilla?
Woody Williams?
any of these guys sound good to you?
Moose was a 15 game winner and held a 3.52 era. The two year deal was a steal. He’s struggling now. Get over it. He’ll figure it out.
Marius-
You’re right. Alot of the talk about this trade would be based on how much money the Angels would want us to keep paying to Giambi.
The trades of RJ, Sheff, and Wright are and will be great trades in the long term…
they got rid of has beens even if Joe Morgan thinks Sheff is great, gave them like 8 prospects, and saved them a ton of cash..
they were great trades to bad they could not pull off 2 more of them.. If Giambi’s contract could be voided it would help the Yanks a ton, again more flexibilty to get younger and more atheletic and use the $ more wisely.
I like Giambi I think he had a good yr. last yr. and can still be a 30, 105, 400 OBP guy but he cannot field, gets hurt all the times, cannot run, etc….
Sunny, I understand that no one else was feasibly available, but Moose was awful towards the end of the year last year. He should’ve gotten a one year contract and been evaluated at the end of this season.
I HATE GIAMBI BECAUCE HE IS A CHEATER. I HATE THE GUY. And to think he criticized A-Rod in that story last september. Get RID OF HIM: here’s the play.(Assuming the Angels are still intrested)
Giambi probly still thinks he’s a superstar. So what Cashman has to do is ‘insult’ Giambi. he has to tell the media that they are looking to void his contract. Giambi then tells’s Cash he’ll be more than willing to waive his no-trade. They then trade him to the Angels w/ enough money to get the deal done, for Figgins, Saunders, and Mathis. Or for whatever at this point.
If they can’t trade him, work with MLB to prove he took roids. They can then use the language in his contract that says his contract becomes non-guarentted if it’s proven he’s taken illlegal drugs.
REGARDLESS GIAMBI IS AN EMBARISSMENT(sp) TO THE FRANCHISE
They don’t need this freakin distraction.
I HATE GIAMBI BECAUCE HE IS A CHEATER. I HATE THE GUY. And to think he criticized A-Rod in that story last september. Get RID OF HIM: here’s the play.(Assuming the Angels are still intrested)
Giambi probly still thinks he’s a superstar. So what Cashman has to do is ‘insult’ Giambi. he has to tell the media that they are looking to void his contract. Giambi then tells’s Cash he’ll be more than willing to waive his no-trade. They then trade him to the Angels w/ enough money to get the deal done, for Figgins, Saunders, and Mathis. Or for whatever at this point.
If they can’t trade him, work with MLB to prove he took roids. They can then use the language in his contract that says his contract becomes non-guarentted if it’s proven he’s taken illlegal drugs.
REGARDLESS GIAMBI IS AN EMBARRASSMENT(sp) TO THE FRANCHISE
They don’t need this freakin distraction.
MLB didn’t leak Giambi’s drug test, dopey tipped his own hand when he said in the USA Today interview that he “gets tested more than anyone.” The collective bargaining agreement limits how often a guy can be tested, so even the clowns who write in the NEWS were able to connect those dots.
I love the idea that Giambi’s “sorry” he used roids or anything else. By cheating he made $120 mil and became a superstar, and when he got caught there were zero consequences (other than tumors and bone spurs sprouting up all over his body.) Does anyone really believe that if he could go back in time he would just say no, and forfeit the money and fame, in order to be a good guy? Please.
He should shut his piehole, save the BS half-ass apologies, and double the dosage on his horse tranquilizers or whatever it is he’s using now, because the current dosage isn’t getting it done.
“Sunny, I understand that no one else was feasibly available, but Moose was awful towards the end of the year last year. He should’ve gotten a one year contract and been evaluated at the end of this season.”
Drew,
Moose has a career ERA of 3.50 – no one thought the fall off would be this far and fast. And a lot of it (IMO) can be attributed to Good ol’ Marty Miller. Like Moose says (over and over) it’s about habits, and Marty f’ed everyone up. Personally, had Cash not used Miller, I think this team would be well on its way to another good season. All the injuries sucked the life out of this team in April. Matusi, Wang, Moose, Karstens, Damon, etc.
Back to my point – moose was expected just to fill in until all the prospects developed enough to come on board full time. He was the perfect stop gap at the time to fill a rotation spot until Hughes, Clippard and whomever else developed well came up. At the time, no one questioned this thinking and was pretty well blessed by everyone, including most fans if I recall most of the posts on this blog.
I agree with Kate. Isn’t the first positive amphetamine test supposed to be kept confidential even from the team?
Anyway, clearly Jason was blindsided by an “insider” enemy, someone in the information pipeline who knew he tested positive for amphetamines and who held a grudge against him for juicing, or for some other slight, real or imagined, and decided to kiss up to the Daily News. You would have thought that after Bonds was outed for this, The Union and MLB would have investigated and plugged the leak to prevent a repeat. Doesn’t the Union have a responsibility to the membership to see that tests results obtained under the Collective Bargaining Agreement remain confidential? How and why this happened again after the Bonds amphetamine disclosure would make for an interesting story.
Lesson: no matter how much of a “good guy” some people perceive you to be, warts (steroids) and all, when you make millions and are in the spotlight, there’s always somebody out there waiting to stick you in order to curry favor with the Mike Lupicas of the world.
Before anybody jumps me, I DO NOT think Jason should get a pass on what he’s done. I just think self-righteous rats (anonymous sources) are the worst, low-life scum on the planet – lower than juicers, crack dealers and child molesters.
Maybe we could get something decent in return if the deal was for Giambi and Farnsworth.
Call up Britton and I dont think we lose anything in the pen. Maybe we could end up with a better bat than Melk.
Im just glad this games not at Fenway. Imagine how loud the ‘STEROIDS’ chant would be? Ugh.
“Right now, can we just win a freakin’ series?”
the yankees do need this game tonight. i don’t care what they have to do. they need to find a way. people often say emotion is unprofessional,but look at what kenny rogers did when he let it all out. he ran the table right to the world series. someone on this team has to let it out. torre doesn’t have the energy to stop them even if he doesn’t like it. they need a leader to step out of this” professionalism” they are stuck in.
randyhater:
I think the Daily News went further than just inferring from Jason’s admittedly “dopey” (no pun intended) comments.
From today’s srticle in the Daily News: “But Giambi himself hinted at the failed test – which was later confirmed by the Daily News – “
On a side note – I thought this quote from Francona was funny. He was talking about Arod:
“[Monday] night, he got a knuckleball up and he hit it, and we could pick it up on the way home,” Francona said.
Also from the today’s Daily News: Giambi Unsafe At Any Speed:
“Under baseball’s policy, when a player tests positive for banned stimulants, only the four members of MLB’s Health Policy Advisory Committee (HPAC) and the player himself are informed. The player may then tell whomever he likes. Under the rule, even commissioner Bud Selig and MLB Players Association executive director Don Fehr are not informed.”
The Daily News also put it this way:
“Jason Giambi failed a Major League Baseball-administered amphetamines test within the last year, which has subjected him to additional drug testing, sources told the Daily News.”
Well. I think we all seem to be inagreement that we need to win this game tonight.
Hopefully the team can focus on that.
Sunny, if you’ve ever heard a more extended interview with Francona, he’s actually a very funny guy, has a good sense of humor. You want to hate him for obvious reasons, but he comes across as a great baseball person.
Okay, here is a way to get rid of Giambi and slow the Red Sox down.
Send Giambi out to bat. After the 1st pitch, let him rage on the field. Run, with bat in hand, down to 1st base… knock out Youkilis with bat. Run to the pitchers mound and take out Schilling. Aim for the knees or ankle. Run to 3rd and take down Lowell.
Blame it on roid rage and get him committed to Bellevue.
Just want to say – I don’t think there’s a ‘right’ answer to any of this. We’re all fans, and we can (and will) all disagree from time to time.
That said, I agree, Sunny. Moose, Pettitte and Clemens are – well – mentors and placeholders for Hughes, Clippard, Horne, Marquez, Chamberlain, Kennedy, Ohlendorf, Jackson – whichever of these guys pan out.
I still think Moose will come out of it.
Two positives from last night:
From innings 2 to 6, Moose did find a way to handle that lineup with command of an 88 MPH fastball and some solid offspeed stuff. He also did so extremely economically. First inning – 30 or so pitches. From innings 2-6, about 50.
Joe simply left him in too long, and we got a bad call on the stolen base
Moose was throwing a bit harder after inning 1, and with better command. I THINK he will improve. He could have packed it in, and didn’t.
Moose has also served as a guy pitchers go to on this staff. I know there was a pic posted here of Moose and Guidry working with Wang on offspeed stuff. I also remember a story of Moose working in Spring Training with some of the kids.
Last night’s game was frustrating, too, because you saw a patient approach FOR THE MOST PART. Look, you don’t drive a guy’s pitch count over 100 by the start of the 6th inning unless you are taking pitches
What Joe said is true – we didn’t get the big hit. Maybe guys were pressing… or maybe guys STILL aren’t straightened out yet (or like Damon, still dinged up)
Cano seems to be hitting much better – add him to Jeter and Posada as guys who seem locked in.
I think Abreu will turn around – but clearly he’s not there yet. At least he’s being more selective at the plate… but he’s still pulling off pitches.
It’s wierd how every team seems to want to hate their managers TT. I’ve heard Sox fans refer to him as “Fran-coma”. Torre and Francona must write email back and forth comparing fan barbs.
The “druggie” stuff needs to stop. Anybody who so vehemently criticizes Giambi needs to take a breath, because this is getting ridiculous.
We’re paying players millions of dollars to play games, and then we get all self-rightously pissed when they take steroids and supplements to keep up. Giambi played in Oakland back when their line-up looked like the Raider’s offensive line. If there was anybody in that locker room who wasn’t doing steroids, I’d be shocked.
I’m not saying this stuff is okay, but for a fan to get pissed at a player for taking them is ridiculous. We pay them outrageous amounts of money, criticize and boo them during slumps, and fawn over them when they do well. That’s fine, but can we then act shocked and angry when they take something to get an edge? We practically asked these guys to take steroids, and now we’re pissed that we got what we asked for.
Besides, what use is firing Giambi, in the long run? His importance in the line-up is debatable, but we can at least admit that it would be tough to drop him. But as soon as he gets fired, or permanently benched, then every other player who took this stuff is going to close up tighter than a snare drum. Like Giambi himself said, the sport needs to just come out and admit what happened, get it out there, and move on.
Dwelling on it like this, and reacting like religious fundamentalists watching porn for the first time whenever we find another guy who took steroids is just stupid, and it’s doing more damage than the drugs themselves at this point.
sunny615-
mussina was one of the ones who opted out of marty miller’s training. he still is in lousy shape though. he looks weak. 86 isn’t going to cut it.
This team definitely needs to improve, but I don’t think trades or selling is the right way. Giambi is too old, too slow and his contract is too large to move. No one is going to take a chance on Giambi. Even a team like the Angels who are looking for a big bat. The Angels are a hit and run team and Giambi fits on that team like George Bush does at a WMD-finding convention.
I don’t think another “injection of youth” is going to help IMO. And more importantly, they don’t really have any other youths in the farm that are viable replacements for any of the position players. Gonzalez is a utility guy, but at this point, I’d take him over Cairo. Phillips is not much of an upgrade over Mink (better glove) or Phelps (better bat). And the rest are years away from even making an appearance. Melky obviously needs to see more plate time to keep his rhythm and doesn’t appear to be able to handle on and off playing of a bench player. As last year, he started awfully slow but was showing good at bats by mid July. Cano is learning what to do with a slump and is still trying to climb out and Abreu is still trying to turn a corner. This team,unfortunately, needs to play better *now*, not in a few weeks. The pitching is getting sound, but the offense is inconsistent and sluggish. I don’t see how this team can make any post season unless they start playing now. I am an optimistic fan and love this team, but if they were going to make a run, I believe it would have happened by now. The pitching at least is 90% solid and that’s the foundation we need to build on, but that’s only half the battle and without the position players fighting for their lives, I am very nervous. I hope everyone’s right and I am still in as far as a recovery, but the Yankees have to start stringing together wins asap.
* “randy l
sunny615-
mussina was one of the ones who opted out of marty miller’s training. he still is in lousy shape though. he looks weak. 86 isn’t going to cut it.”
*
True, but if I recall correctly, Marty had a lot of the equipment removed including some of the back exercise machines (that affected Pettitte), and large rubber bands they used for stretching, so even if Moose did opt out, his routine must have been affect if only a little. And Mooses weakness currently I believe to be attributed to his body assuming it’s April – as he came of the DL about 2 weeks ago and hasn’t pitched in consecutive games longer than a few weeks.
Murph,
I think Giambi’s lips are looser than MLB’s. Seeing as he apparently goes around blabbing “off the record” about his roid use, it’s at least as likely that he let it slip about the uppers as guys at MLB who have nothing to gain and their jobs to lose.
Don’t put it past newspaper guys to guess a story and then pretend to confirm it with an anonymous source. For instance I don’t believe for a second that the Angels have any interest in Juiceboy. I think George King created that out of wholecloth, or else got it from some reporter in Anaheim who King knows good and well is making it up, all so he’d have something to write about that would cause some fuss.
Drew, Cashman wasn’t desperate to get rid of either RJ or Sheff, not even close. He didn’t have to pick up Sheff’s option, no obligation there, then picked up the option under market value, we held the chips as we had him at a relative bargain and other teams needed him more.
RJ, the story broke as a “if a good deal comes up, we’ll oblige his desire to be closer to home.” He wasn’t desperate to ship him, no matter how much we all wanted him to go.
O.K. how ’bout this folks?
The Yankees trade Giambi, Cairo, Nieves, and a player to be named later to the Angels for Chone Figgins and Jose Molina.
Yes, a total salary and distraction dump. Because the Yanks are gettng zip in return as far as prospects or starting Major Leaguers, the Angels take on all of Giambi’s salary, although if they want the Yanks to take on say $10M of the remaining $41.75M, the Yanks should consider it like buying out Giambi and pay it. At least they get SOMETHING in return as opposed to a straight-up buyout. I think Giambi would agree to this trade considering like an article in the Post a few days ago said, the Angels’ ballpark is only 20 min. or so from where Giambi grew up and it’s close to the beaches he loves. If Giambi was suspended 50 games while with the Angels, the Yankees could send the Angels Shelley Duncan, who has no future with the Yankees. It is a total no risk trade for the Angels because they lose only their backup catcher and utility infielder but get back replacements making barely anything (remainder of Cairo’s $0.75M and Nieves’ $0.4M for this year) in return. And who says they couldn’t re-sign Molina for next year if not Figgins cuz I’m not sure if he’d be a free agent after this year?
The Yankees lineup could be as follows:
Damon/Jeter/Abreu/A-Rod/Matsuiat DH/Posada/Cano/ Mientkiewicz/ Cabrera in LF
The Yankees could and should get a righthaned power-hitting LF, I’m thinking a Reggie Sanders-type cuz the man himself is injured (I’m only guessing he’s injured cuz he’s batting .367 in only 16 games, so I doubt he’s a bench player batting .367 for the Kansas City Royals). Jermaine Dye would be perfect (if Matsui could play LF, Dye could certainly play there) but it’s too early and the guy just came off an M.V.P.-candidate year. I could see the Chi-Sox saying no way cuz of what he did in ‘05 besides the 2005 World Series M.V.P. Now that I think of it, how could you trade your ‘05 W.S.M.V.P? So forget him unless they’re out of it.
* The Yankees trade Giambi, Cairo, Nieves, and a player to be named later to the Angels for Chone Figgins and Jose Molina (+ $10 mil) *
That package wouldn’t get you a bag of Cheez Puffs. Why stop there – trade that package to Minnesota for Santana, Mauer and Morneau and then trade Melky and Farnsworth for Pujols.
The *only* way that deal gets done is if that PTBNL was Hughes, Tabata, or other top prospect.
If the Yanks can’t trade Giambi this year, they should release him after this year and absorb the $26M loss (his $21M salary due next year + his $5M buyout for 2009) as follows:
$10M paid to Jaret Wright ($4M), Javier Vasquez ($3M), Randy Johnson ($2M), Josh Phelps ($0.6M), and Jose Veras ($0.4M) off the books after this year.
$16M cleared trading Igawa.
There you go. Wright, Vasquez, and Johnson aren’t Yankees anymore, Veras might not pitch for the ‘07 Yankees, Igawa will probably not pitch for the Yankees for the rest of this year, and Phelps is a goner after this year Giambi or no Giambi next year. The above $26M was wasted money anyway,
so why not just clear it and use it to send Giambi on his way? The bright side is the Yanks clear $16M (Giambi’s $21M salary – his $5M buyout) after next year.
Molina and Figgins are not Santana, Mauer, Morneau, or Pujols. You obviously don’t know how to read cuz my trade idea which is based on a rumor from an article from the N.Y. Post, would be a SALARY DUMP. Do you know what “salary dump” means, idiot? Obviously you don’t. It means the trade is really one where it frees up money for the Yankees to use for next year and/ or make another move or several moves this year where salary has to be taken on.
Yeah one of those Yankees you listed would be the PTBNL. Get a life you jerkoff.
Whatever idiot proposed the Figgins Molina for Giambi stuff is obviously losing it.
What do the Yanks need a no hit no position guy for?
And they lack power right now. They’re going to trade their best legit power source??
Think on this.
And major leaguers have been greenies for 50 yrs.
Its not a big deal. They handed them out like candy.
Murph, did you read Loopy’s take on this?
**smirks**
randyhater:
You could be right. Jason could have sunk his own ship. People might have gotten tried of his running mouth. And I’m not going out on a limb to defend journalists I do not know. However, there are a lot of self-righteous, holier-than-thou scummers working at MLB, and everywhere else for that matter, including the Yankees.
The Daily News has its back channels to MLB where they can have very detailed conversations (”suppose I told you that somebody told me …. “) to test rumors off the record. MLB, like any other public organization, looks for ways to hand out favors to the media for future consideration, to get good spin, or to get help in retaliating against an enemy who it perceived fired first, like Jason.
In this case I’m sure the Daily News made the usual promises to protect its sources and, who knows, maybe some compensation changed hands too. Thus, the people who dimed Jason probably weren’t concerned at all about losing their jobs. (Although I do think somebody had to show someone from the Daily News a piece of paper or an electronic file that looked official indicating a positive test result to prove their reliability. That included some risk).
Angel:
Oh yeah. I read Loopy.
Let me put it his way. My sister has a male dog and when he’s “happy,” you can’t miss it. I can only imagine how “happy” Loopy was when he wrote his column for today’s paper.
Much as I detest self-righteous scum like Loopy, it’s really hard to defend Jay.
ISH! Thats a nasty thought! lol
I can’t really defend Jason either, but I found it funny that the heading of that column was “Credibility… going going gone”. I found that tad ironic coming from a man who seems to have the same problem himself.