Jason Giambi Released by Oakland A’s
Written August 7, 2009 by Jack Jones
Oh, how the (artificially) mighty have fallen. Bloomberg.com reports that the A’s have Released Jason Giambi. The former American League MVP (2000) is having a horrible season, hitting just .193 (worst in the Majors) with 11 homeruns and 40 RBI with a .364 slugging percentage (4th worst in the AL). He had been on the disabled list since July 20th with a strained quadriceps.
Giambi is a 5-time All-Star and played for the A’s for 7 years before being traded to the New York Yankees, where he played another 7 seasons, then ended up back in Oakland. Giambi’s current contract was worth around $4.5 million dollars.
It looks like the first baseman/designated hitter may be headed for retirement. I don’t know of any teams that are looking for a 38 year-old former slugger/steroid user whose best years are far behind him.
You really have to wonder just how much those performance enhancing drugs helped this guy when you look at how rapidly his numbers have declined. Here is a look at some of Giambi’s career stats:
.282 AVG, 407 HRs, 1319 RBI, .405 OBP, .932 SLG
I’m not saying that Giambi couldn’t have had a productive career without enhancement, but those numbers are up there near guys like Billy Williams and Ralph Kiner, who are both in the Hall of Fame. When he played in New York in 2008, presumably off the juice, he still hit 32 bombs and drove in 96 RBI. With his history of injuries, however, it’s hard to imagine him hitting for as much power as long as he did without some pharmaceutical-grade help.
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