Admission of taking steroids could lead to suspension

	Jason Giambi told USA Today that he was "wrong for doing that stuff." Chuck Solomon/SI
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By Jon Heyman, SI.com

Yankees slugger Jason Giambi's steroid admission to USA Today has possibly opened him up for questioning by Major League Baseball, additional scrutiny from both baseball and his team and perhaps even a suspension if it can be determined when he took the steroids, baseball officials told SI.com.

"I was wrong for doing that stuff," Giambi told the newspaper. High ranking baseball officials were dumbfounded that Giambi would make such a public admission after going to great pains to avoid doing so for years. They noted that he was in the clear had he continued to admit nothing. However, baseball officials say that he still may not face any repercussions unless it can be determined when he took steroids.

Baseball didn't have a policy to suspend players for steroid usage until 2005, so unless he admits taking steroids since then, he still may be in the clear. Giambi's $120 million, seven-year Yankees contract began in 2002, so if he admits steroid usage since then, the team could consider a case to void that contract. However, with the contract only running through 2008, there's no certainty that even if Giambi admits usage since 2002 that the Yankees would try to void the deal.

Giambi apologized at a press conference at Yankee Stadium after the San Francisco Chronicle reported that he admitted usage in his grand jury testimony, but he has not until now publicly admitted steroid use. It was believed at the time that the reason Giambi made no admission was that he wanted to avoid liability with his team and Major League Baseball.

Pat Courtney, a spokesman for MLB, declined comment. The Yankees also declined to comment on Giambi's revelation.

Giambi joined a very select group in admitting steroid usage. The others include Ken Caminiti, Jose Canseco and Giambi's brother, Jeremy.

Giambi also told the newspaper that Major League Baseball should apologize to the public for its widespread performance-enhancing drug problem. He said, "What we should have done a long time ago was stand up -- players, ownership, everybody -- and said: 'We made a mistake.'''