A's dump "rhoider"

[IFallsRon]

Jason Giambi was released by the Oakland Athletics on Friday, cutting short the struggling slugger's second stint with his first major league club.

The 38-year-old first baseman and designated hitter had returned to Oakland this season after seven years with the New York Yankees.

Giambi, the 2000 AL MVP for the A's, has been on the disabled list since July 20 with a strained right quadriceps muscle. His legs have been bothering him for months, limiting his time in the field. The injuries, however, weren't considered career threatening.

A five-time AL All-Star, Giambi was batting just .193 — lowest in the majors when he went on the DL. He has 11 home runs and 40 RBIs in 83 games this season. When he was placed on the DL, general manager Billy Beane and manager Bob Geren said a break might help him.

A phone message left for Giambi's agent, Arn Tellem, wasn't immediately returned.

Beane re-signed Giambi in hopes he would ignite a dormant offense to a lineup that in 2008 lacked punch. Instead, Giambi had a nine-game stretch in June during which he was 2 for 26 (.077). He hit .152 in June for the lowest average for a month in his 15-year career.

New York declined its $22 million option on Giambi after last season, choosing to pay him a $5 million buyout. That's how Giambi wound up back in Oakland, the team that drafted him in the second round in 1992 out of Long Beach State. He made his big league debut three years later.

[mrklean]

hahahahaha he got what was coming to him

[PierBridge]

I give him a lot of credit for being a stand-up guy and admitting his wrong doing and taking it like a man unlike most of the guys who were caught. And he came back clean and had some success. Obviously his age and declining skill is the determining factor in the release.

Yeah ha-ha he's multi millionaire who at 38 can do what-ever he wants the rest of his life... boy we sure showed him!

[TR21]

Right on PierBridge - He's laughing all the way to the bank!

[SledNeck]

I give him a lot of credit for being a stand-up guy and admitting his wrong doing and taking it like a man unlike most of the guys who were caught. And he came back clean and had some success. Obviously his age and declining skill is the determining factor in the release.

Yeah ha-ha he's multi millionaire who at 38 can do what-ever he wants the rest of his life... boy we sure showed him!

great post

[fishersofmen]

I have always been a big fan of Giambi. The mustache he grew last year was sweet, so disgusting it was awesome. The Twins should bring him in tomorrow. What do they have to loose at this point.

[zamboni]

I remember how big Jeremy got after he left KC, I knew something was up with those two. If his legs have been hampering him all year he might call it a career, and like Pier pointed out, one we would probably all love to have had.

[blue_healer_guy]

He was playing by the rules at the time he played, enjoy.

[Jim Uran]

He made a ton of money by being a roider so I bet he could care less about his tainted stats.

[fishersofmen]

If people realized how much underground corruption exists in all professional sports all the way up to the owners, maybe they wouldn't have such high expectations of sportsmanship. I guess thats why all these guys getting busted never really bothered me......I don't look at sports and go, wow everything is so pure and innocent.