Giambi Says He Will Be Candid About His Steroid History

Jun 22, 01:20 AM

Current Headlines: NEW YORK _ With the commissioner of baseball threatening him and the muscle of Congress looming over the entire sport, Jason Giambi gave in Thursday and said he will confess his steroid sins to former Sen. George Mitchell.

In a prepared statement, Giambi admitted that he used performance-enhancing drugs, apologized, and said that he will discuss his history of drug use with Mitchell's investigators and speak generally about doping in baseball.

"I alone am responsible for my actions and I apologize to the commissioner, the owners and the players for any suggestion that they were responsible for my behavior," Giambi said. "I will continue to do what I think is right and be candid about my past history regarding steroids."

He will meet with Mitchell, commissioned by Selig to investigate steroid use in baseball, in the near future, becoming the only active player known to have cooperated with the probe. Selig will then determine how to punish the Yankee, who is currently on the disabled list.

The agreement was a tactical victory for Selig, who was willing to force a fight with the Players Association that most thought he would lose. Giambi even recanted his statement of a month ago that baseball should apologize for the steroid era. That notion was a particular sore spot for Selig.

With the threat of Congressional action driving negotiations, the union decided to let Giambi cooperate, rather than force Selig to suspend him and then file a grievance. Mitchell had made it clear to all parties that if they didn't want to deal with him, they might have to deal with Congress and its subpoena power.

"I can tell you from personal experience: If they get involved, they almost certainly will use their subpoena power and everyone will be forced to cooperate," Mitchell, the former Senate majority leader and former prosecutor, told owners in January. "I believe that a report that is not credible and thorough will significantly increase the possibility of action by others, especially if it's the result of a lack of cooperation by the clubs, or by anyone who is or has been involved with baseball."

Mitchell's message was not subtle: He might not have subpoena power, but he knows where to get it. Baseball officials said they took Mitchell's statements as a threat that he might actively seek Congressional intervention if he received no cooperation.

Mitchell declined comment on Thursday.

The agreement also sets the stage for a possible showdown with Barry Bonds. The federal grand jury considering perjury and tax-evasion charges against him is due to expire sometime next month. If Bonds is indicted, sources said Selig is likely to suspend him, forcing the union to defend Bonds with a grievance. Again, all parties believe the union will win, but Selig wants to put the union and Bonds on the defensive, and holds out hope that he could win and establish a precedent that would bolster his powers as commissioner.

It is possible the grand jury could be extended another six months, but if it is dismissed and Bonds is not charged, sources said Selig is likely to tell Bonds that he no longer has a reason to avoid speaking to Mitchell, and will ask him to cooperate.

As the Daily News has reported, Giambi said he will talk only about his own steroid use, using his testimony before the BALCO grand jury in 2003 as a template. He will not be asked to name names. Much of his grand jury testimony was revealed a year later in the San Francisco Chronicle, but Mitchell apparently had been unwilling to use information leaked to a newspaper as part of his report.

In return for his cooperation, sources familiar with discussions said, and if Mitchell is satisfied, Giambi would not be suspended and will probably only face a fine. Baseball would also encourage the Yankees to forego any effort to void his contract, which has $26 million remaining guaranteed.

"Once the interview process has concluded, I will take Mr. Giambi's level of cooperation into account in determining appropriate further action," Selig said in a statement.

Had Selig suspended Giambi, the union was prepared to argue that he had no right to do so under the basic labor agreement. Baseball had no policy for testing and punishing players for doping before 2003, the time during which Giambi admits he used performance-enhancing drugs. Using steroids without a prescription was a misdemeanor offense, however, and Selig was prepared to argue that because there was no collectively bargained policy at the time, he had the right as commissioner to discipline a player who had broken the law.

Many players had been unhappy with Selig's course of action with Giambi, saying the commissioner was punishing a player who simply told the truth when he was quoted in USA Today last month as tacitly admitting he had used steroids. Union leader Tom Glavine said Thursday that he would withhold judgment until he knows what Giambi has to say, but found the entire episode amazing.

"Jason's case certainly is unique. We haven't seen anything like it," Glavine said. "I don't know if we'll see anything like it again."

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Bill Madden and Christian Red contributed to this report.

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