Jason Giambi may still have a little Bay Area baseball left in him. Unfortunately, he'll be playing it in a Colorado Rockies uniform as he tries to wreck the Giants' Wild Card chances in a three-game series in mid-September.
The Rockies signed Giambi to a minor-league deal Monday, MLB.com is reporting. Giambi will report to the Rockies' Triple-A affiliate, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. He'll play five to seven games with them at the Sky Sox' 8,500-seat Security Service Field, where kids eat free on Mondays!
But when MLB rosters expand to 40 on September 1, Giambi is a near-lock to be called back up to the majors and contribute to the Rockies' NL Wild Card efforts. The Rockies currently lead the Giants by three games in the NL Wild Card race, but six weeks of baseball still remain and the Braves and Marlins aren't far behind.
Things didn't work out for the 38-year-old Giambi in his return to the Oakland A's this year. They signed him to a $4 million deal for this season, but his measly .183 batting average left the A's with no choice but to cut him with 15,000 Jason Giambi bobblehead dolls still on their hands.
The Colorado Rockies are beefing up their roster and hope to get lucky with another Bay Area has-been, signing pitcher Russ Ortiz. Ortiz pitched for the Giants from 1998-2002, and again for a season in 2007. Ortiz' 2007 elbow injury created an open roster spot that went to Tim Lincecum, and the rest is history.
The first time the Giants face the Rockies after Giambi can join the team is in a three-game series at AT&T Park from September 14-16.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who just decided for sure that Giambi doesn't have anything left.
