More on Giambi: As expected, the sports community is abuzz with the news that Jason Giambi took performance-enhancing drugs. Some of the best posts are at Baseball Musings, Baseball Crank, and Pirate's Cove.
Many thanks to Jayson Stark for providing further details on the possibility that the Yankees could void Giambi's contract. According to Stark's source, all guaranteed baseball contracts contain two clauses:
- (1) The player must agree to keep himself in first-class physical condition and adhere to all training rules set by the club.
(2) The use or misuse of illegal or prescription drugs can be interpreted to mean the player is not keeping himself in first-class physical condition.
- In order to void the contract, the Yankees would have to link Giambi's health problems this season to his steroid use, the attorney said. Or they would have to prove he misrepresented himself and his abilities by failing to disclose his steroid use in advance.
The union has always argued that, in a case like this, the basic agreement supersedes any specific language in individual player contracts. And the basic agreement would protect Giambi's guaranteed money in virtually all cases.
In addition, it has been pointed out that Giambi probably took a physical, including a blood test, before joining the Yankees. If this blood test evinced steroid use, then the Yankees would have signed Giambi with knowledge of drug use, making it hard to void his contract now. But this is speculative at best.
A suspension for Giambi also may not be a sure bet. As reader Andrew Wiesner points out, the basic agreement speaks of positive drug tests, not admissions of drug use. Thus, Selig may be stuck between a public that wants to see punishment and contract language that ties his hands. As I said before, Congress will be very upset if nothing is done, especially after its investigation last year, and this could jeopardize the antitrust exemption.
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