Jason Giambi's status with the Yankees took an interesting and odd twist Tuesday. General Manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Torre initiated a meeting with Giambi, the incredibly shrinking hitter, and asked him to consider going to the minor leagues. But, in the end, nothing changed.
Although Torre acknowledged before the meeting that sending Giambi to the minors was a possibility and added that it was crucial for the Yankees to devise an organizational plan for Giambi, confusion followed instead. Cashman called the meeting routine and said Giambi would remain with the Yankees.
Since Giambi, 34, has more than five years of major league service time, he has the right to veto a demotion to the minors. When Cashman was asked if the Yankees had tried to convince Giambi of the positives of sending him to the minors, and if Giambi had resisted, he declined to comment.
"If that was an option we were willing to discuss, I would only discuss it with him, not with the press," Cashman said.
But after Giambi watched the Yankees quiet the Seattle Mariners, 7-4, at Yankee Stadium, he acknowledged that they discussed a visit to the minors. Giambi said the topic was "touched upon," and he told the Yankees he would be more comfortable continuing to work with Don Mattingly, the batting coach, in the major leagues.
"We had talked about it," Giambi said. "There was no question of it being asked. I'm going to do my work up here."
Cashman said he did not have any more meetings scheduled with Giambi, but the Yankees will continue monitoring their latest soap opera. The Yankees owe Giambi about US$80 million on his seven-year, US$120 million contract, and they have had discussions for several months about ways to get out of it.
But Cashman said the Yankees did not discuss anything that would lead to Giambi's no longer being a Yankee.
Arn Tellem, Giambi's agent, would have surely been in on a meeting involving finances while Torre would not. Cashman added that the Yankees always had the right to try to void a contract if they felt it was warranted, but he added that something like that would remain private.
Regardless of how the Yankees presented the minor league option, it seemed obvious they were trying to convince Giambi that a respite from the intense environment might help.
Torre and Cashman mentioned Giambi's psychological state in talking about his abysmal start before the game.
Torre said Giambi needed a lot of work, lacked confidence and would be helped by playing first base every day, which was not going to happen on the Yankees with Tino Martinez on a power surge.
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