Who Can Really Say?

Smeared But Not Guilty

Will Jason Giambi don a Yankee uniform next year?

Giambi, through his agent but with his chin up, says yes.

"Jason Giambi is an extremely dedicated athlete and a caring and loyal teammate," Tellem said in the statement. "Jason loves the game of baseball, the Yankees and the extraordinary New York Yankees fans.

"Jason has always appreciated the steadfast support of the fans who have been there through good times and bad," continued the statement. "He is determined, focused and working hard to return to form in 2005 and help the Yankees get back to the World Series."

Yogi, his head wagging, says no.

"I don't think so," Berra said when asked whether he would permit Giambi to play for the Yankees next year.

In the same article as Yogi, demonstrating diplomatic skills that could land him the job of U.N. High Commissioner for Baseball (when they appoint one several years from now), says . . . nothing. Although to be fair to Torre, even as a diplomat I think he's heartelt in his comments.

"As far as where he's going to be playing, I don't want to comment on it," Torre said. "You never know what's going to happen. I wish Jason well whatever happens."

Torre said major league baseball must immediately resolve the issue of steroid use. The players' association instructed its lawyers Tuesday to attempt to reach an agreement with management on tougher steroid rules and testing.

"This is not about who's better than someone else; this is about who's stronger than someone else," Torre said. "I think baseball players will have to push for changes to make sure they've got the trust of the fans. That's what this is all about. The only way you get to do this is to get both parties to come together on this."

Torre said baseball cannot allow its most sacred records to be tainted by scandal or doubt.

"Statistics are such a big part of baseball because the rules haven't changed over the years," he said.

Unless something else comes to light, I think Giambi will report for camp and start the regular season, barring physical problems the likes of which I can only speculate about after the bizarre injuries that benched him last year. Purely from a team performance standpoint, I hope he knocks the stitches off the ball. If he does it will be very interesting to watch the fan reaction, which I think will drive the boo birds away.

Remember, the only thing we've got right now is what is reported to be a part of his testimony. The neither MLB nor the Yankees have the transcript, but only a newspaper report of a partial transcript. If nothing else comes from the continuing investigation or eventual Balco trial/plea deals, Giambi remains smeared but not guilty.

Posted by Peter at December 9, 2004 09:11 PM