Sorry I'm late with this. My dad had eye surgery this morning. He's doing fine.

Eric McErlain has a linked filled post on the revelations of the Giambi brothers steroid use. The SF Chronicle article is here.

I must say I'm very disappointed, both at Giambi's stupidity and his dishonesty. First the stupidity:

Nedrow also asked Giambi about several different-colored pills Anderson provided; they were denoted on calendars as "Y" for yellow, "W" for white and "O" for orange, according to the ballplayer. Giambi testified that he didn't know what the pills were, though he thought the white one might have been Clomid, a female fertility drug that can enhance the effectiveness of testosterone. His use of the drug was reflected on a calendar, the prosecutor said.

"I don't know what they were," Giambi testified. "He didn't really explain them. He just had told me to take them. And it had -- he explained it has something to do with the system. ... He just said to take it in conjunction with all the stuff."

It's too bad Anderson's not a doctor; then Giambi could sue him for malpractice. Next, the dishonesty.

Giambi, a five-time All-Star, played his first seven seasons in Oakland, emerging as one of the game's top stars. After the 2001 season, the 6-foot-3-inch, 235-pound slugger signed a seven-year, $120 million contract with the Yankees. Two months after testifying before the grand jury, Giambi reported to spring training this year looking considerably thinner, though he insisted he had lost just four pounds.

There was speculation that the weight loss stemmed from Giambi's stopping the use of steroids. Asked by reporters during spring training whether he ever used performance-enhancing drugs, Giambi said, "Are you talking about steroids? No."

Don't these people know how not to answer a question? How about no comment or I'm not going to talk about that? The coverup is always worse than the crime.

What should happen next? Giambi was taking the steroids during 2003, the year the steroid ban went into effect in baseball.

Anderson kept him supplied with drugs through the All-Star break in July 2003, Giambi said. He said he had received a second and final batch of testosterone in July but opted not to use it because he had a knee injury and "didn't want to do any more damage."

Can the commissioner's office take action? A judge Landis like Black Sox ban? Probably not, since the procedures for dealing with cheaters are built into the basic agreement. But things have changed. The basic agreement was designed to protect the privacy of the players. The results were to be secret, and would only come to light if the ballplayers continued abuse and were suspended. It seems a ban is out of the question.

Can the Yankees do anything? It will be interesting to see if they can nullify the contract based on Giambi's 2003 usage. What will be more interesting is if Giambi can no longer play, will the insurance pay off on the contract? I wonder if they wrote the policy to exclude problems from illegal drugs?

Can some good come out of this. I hope players read this testimony and think, "I don't want to be that much of an idiot." My guess is that the lure of big bucks from big muscles will keep athletes shooting up.

Which brings me back to a point I've made before; let athletes take these under a doctor's care. Do you think a physician would have given a player female fertility pills? We're not going to stop steroid use by banning it. But maybe we can control the bad side effects controling the use.

It will be interesting to see Conte's interview. I expect this will get a lot worse.

One final thought. I'm disappointed as well that the transcript of the grand jury was leaked.

Anderson has denied wrongdoing in the BALCO case. His attorney, J. Tony Serra, declined comment, citing a court order aimed at preserving the secrecy of grand jury proceedings.

So in the future, players are going to be less willing to testify about people like Anderson. They'll go to court and take the fifth amendment, and the Greg Andersons of this world will keep on pushing their drugs. I'm sure the Chronicle is happy they got a big scoop, but I doubt there will be any cooperation with grand juries in the future.

Update: Jeff Quinton is keeping track of other bloggers commenting the subject.

Update: James Joyner has more.