Jason Giambi

Steroid stigma? What steroid stigma?

A year removed from the Mitchell Report, Jason Giambi rebounded from a dismal, injury-filled season to hit .247/.373/.502 for the Yankees in the final year of his failed contract. This off-season, he has become an after-thought so far, which isn't much of a surprise. He can't play first base at all, and that limits his potential destinations to teams who need DH's (Rays, Blue Jays, Twins, A's, Rangers, Mariners), which can still be quite a few teams. While his defense is atrocious, a lot of those teams could definitely use a guy with a .875 OPS and would be a major upgrade. For the right price ($10M or less?), he'd probably be a bargain, but let's look at some stats before we just jump in.

Giambi will be 38 years old, so he is getting older. As for his .247 batting average, his BABIP was a pretty low .257 last season, but his LD% was also a low 18.9. Interesting notes here though as his LD% has gone up (not down) the past four seasons, which means his hands might not be slowing down that much, but his K% was a high 24.2. His 14.2 BB% was also lower than his career norms but still pretty good. Giambi's ISO of .255 was also pretty robust, so he still hits the ball pretty hard.

Is he that 30-40 HR guy anymore? Probably not, but I wouldn't be too surprised if he hit 25+ with close to a .260/.360/.500 line next season. Bill James says he'll hit .244/.388/.484, which would be pretty good.