Although the news that Jason Giambi admitted having used performance-enhancing drugs is hardly surprising, it’s too early to know what the ramifications will be. What does it all mean? Will Giambi still be wearing pinstripes in 2005? (Not if the Yankees get their way.) Will he be playing baseball at all? (Considering the amount of money that is due him over the next four years, I think that is not a hard question to answer, “>or is it?)

What does the public think of him now? What about his fellow players? So far, the Internet community of baseball writers have been generally more sympathetic towards Giambi–especially regarding his health–than the mainstream media. Perhaps this is because Internet writers are amatuers who are fans first and don’t have to deal directly with the athletes they write about. Tom Verducci expressed disdain for Giambi on SI.com:

SI.com: Giambi is getting tarred and feathered for his detailed account of his steroid usage. Is this a bit unfair considering he was more forthcoming with information than Bonds?

Verducci: I’m not condoning what Giambi did, and I’m not even giving him extra credit for being honest. That’s what you are supposed to do in front of a grand jury. In the media, we’re used to being lied to, and he was lying to us for years. Giambi is just not as slick or as savvy when it comes to handling difficult questions as Bonds. Clearly Bonds was walking a tightrope of trying not to perjure himself and trying to answer questions. Giambi doesn’t smack of any of that balancing act, but the guy clearly is a fraud and this is a long pattern of usage of usage in his case.

John Heyman wrote a particularly vicious column in Newsday last week, detailing Giambi’s off-the-field lifestyle. John Harper has a far more balanced piece on what Giambi does when he’s away from the ballpark today in the Daily News.

Meanwhile, the Kenny Lofton-Felix Heredia era in New York is officially over. Felix Rodriguez and Mike Stanton are now with the team, as is John Flaherty, who was re-signed to back-up Jorge Posada. Not wild about seeing Flaherty back? (If you are, better hope that Jorge stays healthy.) Wait until they ink Eric Milton.