However, a team official who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed the team's desire to void the remainder of Giambi's contract -- he is owed about $82 million guaranteed over the next four seasons -- based, in part, on language in MLB's uniform player contract requiring the player to adhere to the team's training rules.
"I'm sure we will [void the contract] if we can," the Yankees official said.
The Yankees' Jason Giambi, left, admitted in grand jury testimony for BALCO case that he used steroids for a three-year period beginning in 2001.
(Frederic Larson -- The San Francisco Chronicle Via AP)
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_____From The Post_____
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Yankees slugger Jason Giambi admits to steroid use for three-year period.
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Thomas Boswell: Baseball's weighty problem is front and center.
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BALCO founder said Marion Jones used banned drugs leading up to the 2000 Games.
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However, one source with ties to the union said an attempt by the Yankees to void Giambi's contract would have "no chance of succeeding" on legal grounds. The source added he doubts the Yankees would even try.
After winning the American League most valuable player award for Oakland in 2000 and averaging more than 40 homers per season from 2000 to 2003, Giambi hit just 12 homers in 80 games in an injury- and ailment-marred 2004 season, and the Yankees left him off their postseason roster.
Two months after his grand jury testimony, Giambi reported to spring training looking noticeably thinner, leading to speculation he had gone "off-cycle" as baseball's drug-testing policy was about to enter its second phase, with penalties for positive tests. However, Giambi said he had lost only four pounds over the winter and again denied steroid use.
Among Giambi's medical problems in 2004 was a benign tumor, a condition the Yankees cloaked in secrecy, declining to reveal the tumor's location or the treatment of it. However, the New York Daily News reported the tumor was in Giambi's pituitary gland, which controls growth. Despite persistent questioning, Giambi refused to discuss the tumor.
Among the revelations in the Chronicle story was that Giambi said he believes Anderson gave him Clomid, a female fertility drug that can enhance the effects of steroids and that can also exacerbate a pituitary gland tumor.
The grand jury testimony obtained by the Chronicle also includes that of Jeremy Giambi, Jason Giambi's brother and a former major league player, who also admits to using steroids and HGH obtained from Anderson.
Although Bonds consistently has denied using performance-enhancing drugs, many in baseball believe it is only a matter of time before the San Francisco Giants superstar -- who won his record seventh MVP award last month and who needs only 53 more home runs to break Hank Aaron's all-time record of 755 -- is linked conclusively to the use of steroids.
"You know, I assumed because he's Barry's trainer -- you know, Barry -- but he never said one time, 'This is what Barry's taking, this is what Barry's doing,' " Jason Giambi testified in regard to his conversations with Anderson, according to the Chronicle. "He never gave up another name that he was dealing with or doing anything with."
Giambi was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony, which was to have been sealed. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California released a statement yesterday saying it has requested the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the source of several leaks regarding the case.
