Torre: Giambi would bat cleanup if the season started today

[9er Fan]

From ESPN Player News:

Giambi batted cleanup on Thursday, and manager Joe Torre indicated that Giambi would hit fourth if the season started today, the New York Daily News reports.

[Vladdy the Impaler]

hitting between arod/sheff/matsui... what more can a fantasy owner ask for!?!... i think giambi will be the most UNDERRATED player going into the season and should give flashes of his glory days (even if he is off the juice)

i know a lot of you might not be seeing this... but if the giambino can regain his confidence:

.290 35 HR 110 RBI 100 R 115 BB is definitely possible

[RynMan]

hitting between arod/sheff/matsui... what more can a fantasy owner ask for!?!... i think giambi will be the most UNDERRATED player going into the season and should give flashes of his glory days (even if he is off the juice)

i know a lot of you might not be seeing this... but if the giambino can regain his confidence:

.290 35 HR 110 RBI 100 R 115 BB is definitely possible

I think your numbers arent too far off but i dont see a .290 average. maybe .260-.270.

[TheYanks04]

The Giambino needs to regain the HGH and the roids. I hope he does have a nice season, but batting him fourth right now is silly and Torre is risking games on someone who has yet to prove he can still do anything but hit 230 with a gimpy knee.

[Vladdy the Impaler]

yes i know he was on steroids during his MVP run days... but even after a season of .250 and .208 avg... hes a career .297 hitter AND steroids only make u hit the ball harder... so his avg's were only slightly... but not dramatically impacted by the juice.

giambi is 34 and not too far removed from his best days.

[TheYanks04]

Not true as the extra 10-20 feet it puts on long fly balls turns outs into homers and that does not even factor in the pressing when the avg is down near the Mendoza line and the Fans are booing or the fact that he is now more injury prone and the knee is not as sound. I would be thrilled with .265 28/90 out of Giambi at this point. To hope for anything close to his MVP years at this point of his career factoring in age, roids and injuries is wishful thinking. I hope he does, but you have to be realistic about things. Man can barely run now, he can't play 1b regularly, his bat is a bit slower, etc.

[CubsFan7724]

SOunds like coach pep talk to me. I can't believe he'd seriously put him at cleanup when there are safer and better options.

[TheYanks04]

Maybe, but I would think he would be better off taking some pressure off Giambi by batting him down in the lineup. Batting him 4th means that the fans will really get on him if he is stinking it up.

And you know the opposition will pitch around Sheff with Giambi on deck until such time as Giambi can prove he can still do the job. If they want to pitch around Bernie or Tino it is quite different and less damaging.

[Conner]

Man can barely run now, he can't play 1b regularly, his bat is a bit slower, etc.

First of all....Who cares if he can't play defense? This is fantasy baseball we're talking about, and conveniently, the Yankees are in the American League. He'll play as the everyday DH.


Second of all...There's no reason to believe that his bat speed is definitely slower.

[so0perspam]

Just a sidenote for those doubters that Giambi will bat cleanup, here's what it'll look like Opening Day 2005:

1. Derek Jeter
2. Alex Rodriguez
3. Gary Sheffield
4. Jason Giambi
5. Jorge Posada
6. Hideki Matsui
7. Bernie Williams
8. Tino Martinez
9. Tony Womack