Jason Giambi Released by Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics have released the slumping Jason Giambi. The 38-year-old Giambi was hitting an abysmal .193 this season, the lowest in the majors and the worst of his career, and had been on the disabled list since July 20, due to a right quadriceps injury. Giambi hit only 11 home runs and had 40 RBI's this season, which are both career lows.

The Athletics had been one of the worst teams in baseball this season, and currently stand at 47-61, fourteen games under .500. They are currently in last place in the AL West, eighteen games behind the Los Angeles Angels. They have virtually no chance of going to the playoffs this year. The A's general manager said that the team is going in a younger direction, and that attributed to Giambi getting released.

This was Giambi's second stint with the Oakland A's, and it lasted less than a season. Giambi took a major pay cut this season, after the Yankees declined their option for the 2009 season. Giambi was forced to sign with another team, entering free agency, before joining the A's. Giambi went from making more than $23 million a season with the Yankees, to making considerably less with Oakland.

Giambi was drafted in the second round by the Oakland Athletics in the 1992 MLB draft. Giambi spent three seasons in the minors, before being called up for the majors in 1995. Giambi blossomed into a star, in his third season with the A's. Giambi would improve every season with the Athletics. In 1999, he hit 33 homers, with 123 RBI's. In the 2000 season, Giambi hit 43 homers (career high), and 137 RBI's (career high). In 2001, he finished with 38 homers, and 120 RBI's. Giambi became the team leader of the A's but left in the prime of his career to join the New York Yankees in 2002. For most of the seven seasons he spent in New York, Giambi struggled and was called a bust by many.

Giambi's low point of his career came in 2004, with the BALCO scandal. Giambi admitted to using steroids, multiple times, in his career, and apologized vehemently about it. He urged others to not follow in his footsteps and for other major league players to admit their wrong doings, like he did.

Jason Giambi has a couple of options now. Option #1 could be to try to sign with another baseball team, and make an impact for the remaining games of this season. Option #2 could be to take the rest of the season off and heal those injuries that have plagued most of Giambi's career. Giambi could try to sign a deal in the off-season. And finally, option #3 would be to retire from baseball. Giambi is already 38 years old, and his injuries have cut his playing time and his career. Giambi is playing the worst baseball of his career right now, and might feel like he doesn't have it anymore.