Home Run Derby

So Giambi came out with another version of his little “I’m really sorry for doing that thing I really can’t tell you about, even though you all know what it is I’m talking about anwyay” act. This time he added new material about how it was big bad Major League Baseball’s fault that he was forced to plunge a hypodermic needle, over and over again, into his own ass, and they should really apologize for that. The horror.

The Yankees front office, in the true spirit of Renault, announced that it was going to investigate the question [heh-heh] of whether Giambi ever took steroids, [hee-hee], and if so, would assess whether to void his contract [hahahaha].

I’m really left puzzling as to the why the Yankees would choose to address this issue again in this fashion. This entire saga came up in 2004 (shortly after the arrival of Giambi to the Yanks), when his testifimony in the BALCO case, reportedly admitting his steroid use, was leaked.  At the same time he dropped a ton of weight and went from being the power hitter the Yankees had shelled out big bucks for to an overpaid slap-hitter. It would seem that if there had been a time for the Yankees to investigate and exercise the morals clause in the contract, it would have been then.  Although Giambi was sucking at the time, though, the Yanks were winning, so perhaps they thought it less trouble to just avoid the controversy and look too hard. 

Either that or the Yankee’s front-office investigator was this guy:

As it stands, Giambi managed to gain back some of his former power (although now it appears that may have been due to Captain Speed as opposed to Ranger Roid) and actually ended up as one of the “good guys” of the steroid era for a time, a troubling and dodgy category that includes the likes of Jose Canseco.  He’s currently mired in a slump, but I seem to recall at the time his testimony was first revealed he wasn’t exactly burning down the house, so again it seems odd that the Yankees now are taking this seriously. Maybe because the Yankees were winning back then even if Giambi was sucking, it wasn’t as big a deal.

In any event, based on this entire history I would believe there may be some real grounds for Giambi to contest any attempt to void his contract. Some background employment law: most of us are employed “at will,” meaning we can get kicked for any reason, so long as it’s not one of a few legally barred ones (i.e. race, gender, disability, etc.)  Baseball players, however, get individually negotiated contracts (with certain restrictions from the union based on terms collectively bargained), which lay out specfically when they may be dismissed and the contract voided.  Included therein is typically a “morals clause,” where the club is allowed to void for bad behavior, like violating the league’s drug policy . 

It’s true that the law generally favors enforcing the language found in contracts. However, as with all things legal, there are always plenty of principles and exceptions which may serve to confuse what may otherwise seem like a straightforward application of the contract language. While the language of the contract itself may provide for dismissals based on bad behavior, there are several arguments from equity (lawyer talk for “that’s not fair!”) which would seem to favor Giambi. 

In 2004, grounds existed to believe that Giambi had ‘roided up.  The Yanks did nothing.  Estoppel may therefore apply – if Giambi could show that the Yanks through their actions led him to believe that they would not exercise the morals clause for his conduct. they can’t rely on the violation of the steroid band to dismiss.  

Laches may also apply – basically if it was shown that the Yankees took so long to exercise the clause after they had grounds to do so that they in effect waived that contract right.  And there are others which I’m sure Giambi’s sharks are well-versed in.  

Rather than get into this legal thicket, however, the Yanks and Giambi would likely go the trade route first – that way the Yankees don’t have to defend not having known Giambi took steroids in 2004 and Giambi doesn’t have to admit that his steroid use should have been obvious to the team.  This is a nice advantage pro sports teams have over your average Fortune 500 company – you can’t send Larry the Weasel in marketing over to GE for a couple of junior accountants and a mailboy to be named later.

Giambi’s new amphetamine test results are a wrinkle – that wouldn’t be subject to the equitable arguments.  However, that infraction occured under the new testing regime the union and owners hammered out, and would presumably be covered by those procedures and not grounds for voiding the contract.  It’s worth noting that the test result here, for a first offense, was supposed to be confidential.

Even more laughable than the Yanks’ indignation at this point, however, is the fact that MLB and Bud Selig are apparently going to do some principal’s office meeting with Giambi.  At this point, Selig must feel like the driver in that old Twilight Zone episode “The Hitchhiker,” driving faster and faster away from the menacing steroid man only to see him pop up again the next few miles.  He may drive away from Giambi today, but there’s a certain former Mets clubhouse guy waiting just over the horizon.

Yes, I know, different hitcher, but Rutger Hauer is freaking badass