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Giambi to tell of steroid use
Giambi to tell of steroid use, By: Jack Curry
Yankees DH will only discuss his history in Mitchell meeting
June 22, 2007
NEW YORK -- Jason Giambi of the Yankees agreed Thursday to cooperate with George J. Mitchell's investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball, apparently becoming the first active player who has consented to speak with Mitchell, the former U.S. senator. Mitchell's investigation is almost 15 months old.
After a telephone conversation with Commissioner Bud Selig on Thursday, Giambi said in a statement that he was convinced that "baseball would be best served by such a meeting." Giambi, the Yankees' designated hitter, said that he would not discuss what other players might have done but that he would be "candid about my past history regarding steroids."
After Giambi tacitly admitted to using steroids in an article in USA Today last month, Selig requested on June 6 that he cooperate with Mitchell within two weeks. Lawyers for the players union and for Major League Baseball have been negotiating the parameters of the meeting for several days.
Statements released by Giambi and Selig suggest what Giambi will discuss.
"As I have always done, I will address my own personal history regarding steroids," Giambi said. "I will not discuss in any fashion any other individual."
Selig's statement noted that Giambi had told Selig that he was prepared to discuss his "personal involvement with performance-enhancing substances." The commissioner called Giambi's willingness to cooperate "an important step" in Mitchell's efforts to put together a comprehensive report. No date was set for the meeting, but it is unlikely to occur next week.
Though the guidelines for the meeting have been established, there is no script for how it will unfold and there are bound to be questions that Giambi will not want to answer. Selig could still fine and suspend Giambi. Selig said that he would make that determination after gauging Giambi's level of cooperation with Mitchell.
In addition to asking Giambi when and where he used steroids, investigators will probably ask him to describe the steroid landscape in baseball. Mitchell wants a picture of what was going on in and around clubhouses.
For instance, were unauthorized individuals gaining access to clubhouses to fuel steroid business?
But Arn Tellem, Giambi's lawyer, and union lawyers will likely balk at allowing him to give those kinds of specifics. Mitchell may also ask Giambi about Greg Anderson, Barry Bonds' personal trainer.
If Giambi does not answer questions as openly as Selig believes that he should, Giambi could be disciplined. If that happens, Giambi would surely file a grievance through the union and fight the punishment. Giambi has never tested positive for steroids.
Tellem called this "an enormously stressful process" for Giambi, who was quoted by USA Today on May 18 saying "I was wrong for doing that stuff" in an article about steroids.
Giambi, who is on the disabled list with a torn left plantar fascia, said he did not want to be "embroiled in a legal battle" that could undermine his rehabilitation and his attempts to return this season.
Since Selig is personally deciding Giambi's punishment, he has reminded the Yankees that they cannot also attempt to punish him.
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