I don't know if you know about this, I sure didn't, but there is a story about Brian Cashman and Jason Giambi in a soon to be released book about Roger Clemens. The book is called The Rocket That Fell to Earth and it's written by Jeff Pearlman. Here's more from the New York Times:
The book said that when Giambi went through a slump in the 2002 season, his first with the Yankees, Cashman was heard yelling at a television in the Yankees’ clubhouse during a game. Citing “one New York player,” the book said that Cashman screamed, “Jason, whatever you were taking in Oakland,” get back on it.
The book said that Cashman then added, “Please!”
As one might expect, Cashman denied the story:
“That is completely false,” Cashman said.
He added, in reference to the author: “This guy never even called me and asked me if it was true. You think he would have done some fact-checking.”
But Pearlman stands behind his account of the story:
“The source was a Yankee player who was an eyewitness and in whom I have 100 percent confidence,” Pearlman said.
But he acknowledged that he should have called Cashman for his reaction. “He’s totally right,” Pearlman said. “I didn’t call him for comment and I should have.
“But that doesn’t mean the story isn’t correct.”
Could this anonymous Yankee player just be angry at Cashman for some reason, so he's throwing this out there to make him look bad? Possibly. But at the same time it's also possible this story is true.
All you had to do was look at Giambi back then to know he did 'roids. I remember talking about it with friends of mine back when they signed him. If we knew, then Cashman and the Yankees had to know that Giambi had done something too.
Otherwise, why would the Yankees specifically remove any mention of steroids from Giambi's contract? So I don't think it's that much of a stretch that Cashman would say something like this.
UPDATE 12:27 p.m.: Jason, from It is about the money, stupid, landed this quote from Pearlman:
"...I mean, the one thing I'll say—that you can write—is that, when it comes to performance-enhancers in baseball, Cashman's track record is brutally bad.
He didn't merely employ users of performance-enhancers, but he signed three: Jose Canseco, Kevin Brown, Jason Giambi—who were known throughout the baseball world for their ways.
We couldn't report it, because we, the media, didn't have proof. But all three were discussed among players ... writers ... executives; it was hardly a secret. So if Cashman wants to play the 'I had no idea, and any suggestion that I did have an idea is ludicrous!' card, well, I find it hard to fathom.
That doesn't make him different than many (if any) of his GM peers, but it's odd to watch all these players go down in flames, while executives who paid huge salaried for 'enhanced' players walk away clean, with their jobs and reputations without stain."
Well, he has a point.
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