Bonds and Giambi

Of course, just when I say there isn't much baseball news the story breaks about Jason Giambi's admitted steroid use to the grand jury investigating BALCO. Giambi's injuries in both 2003 (knee) and 2004 (tumor and parasite) led many people to suspect that he was on steroids although he continued to deny it. His brother Jeremy apparently also admitted to the grand jury that he took the same substances.

What I found most interesting about the ESPN story was the following quote.

Bonds brought Anderson [Greg, Bond's personal trainer] on a barnstorming players' tour of Japan after the big-league season in 2002. Giambi said it was on that November trip he met the trainer.

In his testimony, Giambi said he asked Anderson about the things Bonds was doing to stay at an elite level.

"So I started to ask him: 'Hey, what are the things you're doing with Barry? He's an incredible player. I want to still be able to work out at that age and keep playing,' " Giambi testified. "And that's how the conversation first started."

Bonds continues to deny it but it seems the hoofbeats are getting closer. Gary Sheffield already admitted it but claims he didn't realize that what he was given contained steroids. Right. This also blows away any remaining shred of legitimacy for MLB's steroids policy. The union clearly doesn't care about leveling the playing field for the majority of its members but would rather protect the cheaters.