Steriods? Jason Giambi took Steriods? We had no idea Really.

Hmm..The Yankees are shocked and surprised that Jason Giambi is on steroids. They are so shocked in fact and they feel so cheated and so betrayed that they now do not want to pay him the $11M in 2005, the $18M in 2006, the $21M in 2007, the $21M in 2008, or the 5.0M buyout.

Does Giambi being on steroids come as a surprise to anyone? Some writer's are saying the Yankees should show him the door. But really, why is any surprised? Most of us normal people had a pretty good idea he was doing it and I'm sure baseball people, including the team that signed him, had a pretty good inkling that he was taking them. But guess what? It was OK then because it was working to their benefit. Would anyone be asking for his dismissal or calling him a bum if he hit 41 homeruns like he did in his first two seasons as a Yankee? Was anyone calling for Gary Sheffield's dismal after admitting he took Steroids? No, because he had a great year. I'm sure if he was hitting .250 with 15 homers and 75 RBIs they would have.

You simply cannot pick and chose when you will have morals and be high and mighty on this issue. It is black and white. The article I linked to above said this:

Say what you want about Yankees pride, but liars and cheaters don't fit into the mix. There was a time when Yankees baseball stood for something. It wasn't too long ago that standup guys like Don Mattingly and Tino Martinez played first base, a hallowed position in Yankees history because of Lou Gehrig and all he stood for, not someone like Giambi, who has become a shell of his MVP-self who no longer can rely on his little steroid helper.

Um, once again, what about Sheffield? For some reason his steroid use and constant denial prior to that information leaking out is not lying or cheating? The idea that Sheffield is immune to the criticism that Giambi is getting it laughable to me. Yeah, we know, just like everyone Sheff had no idea he was taking steroids. Sheffield only took them for two months, I know. Does anyone believe that?

The basic premise behind the Yankees voiding Giambi's is that he is required to keep his body in good physical condition. However, due to taking the steroids, he caused his knee to deteriorate and cause or exacerbated his pituitary tumor causing him not to be able to perform. My, this would create a slippery slope if the Yankees got this done. Coincidentally, Gary Sheffield suffers from a chronic shoulder injury that won't heal. The fact that he is having trouble recovering could be from steroids too. Does anyone know he really took them for only two months? you cannot pick and choose who's contract you can void due to steroids.

Also, according to Newsday, the Yankees are going to move forward in trying to void the final four years of Giambi's contract.

Paragraph 7 (b) (1) states that a club can terminate a contract if the player should "fail, refuse or neglect to conform his personal conduct to the standards of good citizenship and good sportsmanship or to keep himself in first-class physical condition."

Another focus will be on the phrase first class citizen. I said it earlier in the post, but you cannot pick and choose who you want to hold accountable for their actions. Sheffield did roids too. If you get rid of Giambi, you would get rid of Sheffield for doing something wrong. Just because one produces and the other does not cannot you mean you decide who is unworthy to wear pinstripes. If the Yankees get out of this contract it will be ridiculous. Luckily, the only entity stronger than the Evil Empire at this time is the Baseball Player's Union.

In 1998 when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa reenergized the entire sport of baseball, no one seemed to mind that Mark was taking Andro, which was banned in every other major sport besides baseball. Sammy went from 36 to 66 homers in one year and his 66 topped his career best by 26. Was it due to steroids? No one knows, but I know Selig would not care much then. It is 100% clear that Barry Bonds took steroids that this point. Is anyone really going after him or calling for him to be released? For some reason, Jason Giambi is getting an underserved amount of criticism for lying when Bonds did it, Sheffield did it, and others lied about doing it. But since Giambi is no longer performing, no one really cares. Unreal. If you going to make an example out of Giambi and void his contract, you have to void everyone who failed the steroid test last year and everyone who was found out to have taken steroids through the BALCO trials. As much as I do not respect Giambi for going over the enemy after they beat his team back in the 2001 playoffs, he does not deserve this. He is by far from the only one. Make no mistake, he was wrong and anyone who did steroids is wrong. However, there were a lot of people that were wrong and did the wrong thing and if something happens to him, it has to happen at all.


"This once again demonstrates the need to implement a tougher and more effective Major League drug-testing program. I have instructed Rob Manfred, Executive Vice President of Labor Relations, to look into this situation and to continue working with the Major League Baseball Players Association to have a drug-testing program that mirrors the very effective policy we currently have in the Minor Leagues. I will leave no stone unturned in accomplishing our goal of zero tolerance by the start of Spring Training and am confident we will achieve this goal."
-Bud Selig

That translated means:

"I don't care who does steroids if it is good for the game, just don't get caught."

Everyone knew this was going on for years, lets get real here. I really love how the newspapers are begging for the game to be cleaned up as if steroids was surprise to everyone. If they feel that way now, these articles should have been more prevalent over the entire year.

The guy looks like a body builder. As did Giambi, Sosa, and others. It aggravates me as if everyone was playing naive now. You can cry about innocent until proven guilty, but I think everyone had a good idea who some of the guys on juice were. You could have made a stink to clean up the game without naming names. I just do not buy that these guys did not know they were using steroids. Athletes’ bodies are like machines. They have a pretty good idea as to what they are putting into them.

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The Heredia trade basically downgraded the bullpen as they lost a workhorse who is more useful than Heredia to save $1,000,000.

"At the end of the day, it was really about financial flexibility," Mets GM Omar Minaya said.

All that for a million? It's really not a lateral move. I like the idea of getting rid of another veteran loud mouth, but I think the team being deeper should be the bigger goal.

According to they NY Post, the Mets are talking to Richard Hidalgo and Mike DeJean. According to Newsday, the Mets are also looking at Moises Alou, who is 38 years old. I know they are just rumors, but that is ridiculous. DO NOT BRING ALOU HERE. I just need to point to his road numbers of a .247 average, 10 homers, 39 RBIs in 300 at bats and his 29 homers, .339 average, and 67 RBIs at home. Let's get real, anyone that thinks this is good idea is out of their minds. Give me Diaz any day over Alou, and give me Diaz over Hidalgo also. If you are not going to significantly upgrade the team, let the kids play.

"We looked at how we can possibly get younger, but there was no (concerted) effort," Minaya said. "We make some of the decisions based upon finances and some of them based upon youth."

Well certainly judging by all your free agent targets no decisions appear to based on youth outside or Richard Hidalgo.

Victor Zambrano has started long tossing and may begin to throw from a mound soon. (Haven't we heard that before?)

Omar Minaya, according to the NYDaily news would be OK using Victor Diaz in the outfield if it came down to it, although they prefer one more year of seasoning for him. He also said he feels comfortable going with Aaron Heilman or Jae Seo for the fifth spot if he fails to bring in another starting.

Omar's big splash is starting to look like it may be Felix Heredia and/or Juan Padilla.

The Rangers have expressed interest in Mo Vaughn and he may get invited to spring as a non-roster invitee.