Giambi now the silent type

NEW YORK -- We want players to fess up if they've taken steroids.

We want the truth, for a change.

When Jason Giambi admitted to USA Today recently that "I was wrong for doing that stuff," and said players, management, and Major League Baseball should apologize to the public, it was obvious he was admitting that he took steroids, and possibly that he took amphetamines, which according to an unsourced New York Daily News story yesterday, he tested positive for in 2006.

As soon as those words appeared in the nation's newspaper, Giambi was told to shut up.

Major League Baseball facilitated a meeting with him, which took place yesterday, in which Giambi met representatives from the commissioner's office to discuss his comments. There have been stories about the Yankees threatening to attempt to void his contract, and if he wasn't the main focus of former Senator George Mitchell's investigation on steroids, he's got to be in the top two or three, right there with Barry Bonds.

With potentially serious consequences, would any player be stupid enough to ever admit he took performance-enhancing drugs? Not now.

While it doesn't matter to anyone except Yankees fans and the team's management whether Giambi's contract is voided, it's a Catch-22 because you want players like Giambi to be truthful and forthcoming, but if they do they'll suffer monetary losses, and teams will be penalized by losing a top player. Distractions will surround teams with admitted steroid users.

In other words, the lawyers have intercepted the truth. They are controlling the situation. The truth will now come out when the lawyers want it to, not a second sooner.

The next truthful moment for Giambi may come after he leaves baseball. For now, we've likely heard the last of Giambi's revelations.

Giambi has a lot of friends in the Yankee clubhouse, and none of them were overly concerned about distractions. They seemed more concerned about Giambi.

"I haven't talked to him yet, but if he wants to talk about it I'll be there," said Yankees captain Derek Jeter. "If it's not a distraction to him, it's not going to be a distraction for us."

Johnny Damon, who may be Giambi's closest friend on the team, said Giambi is "mentally and physically doing fine. He's out there playing, and that's what's important to him. He's not going to let this affect how he plays on the field. That's the last thing I would expect from him. He loves being a part of this team and he's looking for this team to turn things around, and we're going to have fun around here again."

Giambi was the subject of trade rumors earlier in the week in which he was being eyed by the Los Angeles Angels, who need a hitter behind Vladimir Guerrero. But Giambi has a no-trade clause and said he would veto any deal. He said he has not been approached about accepting a trade, which leads one to believe it was no more than a rumor. After all, what team would trade for a player who might be disciplined by Major League Baseball?

So yesterday, Giambi stood by his locker unable to say a word about the situation. He acknowledged the hourlong meeting had taken place but would not reveal who was present, and he hoped it went well.

From this moment, players' mouths will be zipped on the issue of steroids. David Ortiz learned his lesson recently when an innocent comment he made about drinking a supplement when he was a teenager that may have contained something he shouldn't have consumed, wound up in a headline that he felt was damaging to him. It's unfortunate that players will hold back now.

Giambi admitted that Major League Baseball has advised him not to speak anymore about his comments to USA Today. He was not commenting on the Daily News story about his supposed positive result for amphetamines, and claimed he knew nothing about it until yesterday afternoon. He said that topic never came up at the meeting.

Giambi had told USA Today, "I was wrong for doing that stuff. What we should have done a long time ago was stand up -- players, ownership, everybody -- and said, 'We made a mistake.' We should have apologized back then and made sure we had a rule in place and gone forward. Steroids and all of that stuff was part of history. But it was a topic that everybody wanted to avoid. Nobody wanted to talk about it."

When we saw those words, we applauded Giambi. We hoped other players would come forward and admit steroid use.

"I wish I could tell you guys more, but unfortunately I can't," Giambi said yesterday.

He claimed he never saw the Daily News story, and when pressed on whether it was true, Giambi would not bite. One reporter asked, "In order to write an accurate story . . . " To which Giambi said, "I can't give you an accurate explanation."

He also said he was "more worried about talking to the commissioner" than the Daily News story. "I can't get into it. They won't allow me to get into it," Giambi said.

Giambi was accompanied to the meeting by agent Arn Tellem, who would not comment. Giambi did say he was awaiting "a response" from the lawyers and MLB executive vice president of labor relations and human resources Rob Manfred on what could happen next.

Giambi was asked every which way whether he felt there was a positive aspect to the meeting, and all he could say was, "We just went and talked and I really didn't have an opinion after that. I just went in and talked to them and hopefully good things will come out of it. I can't get into the specifics of it. Sorry, guys, that it's not more helpful."

Too bad.

Giambi is not a hero or a martyr, but he was trying to tell us something. A few people didn't want to hear it, and now the rest of us can't hear it, either.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.