Jason Giambi: on the 2020 Hall of Fame Ballot

For a couple of years around the recent turn of the century, Jason Giambi looked like a Hall of Fame player in the making. He won a MVP Award and posted eye-popping on-base and slugging numbers second only to Barry Bonds. The first baseman who made his mark primarily for the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees is on the 2020 BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) ballot.

Giambi was a colorful, gregarious, fun-loving player, one beloved by the fans, his teammates and the media. As the Coordinating Producer for ESPN’s Up Close from 1998-2000, Giambi was one of my favorite guests. He was always friendly and had plenty to say.

Sadly, his career would ultimately be defined by his link to the Bay Area BALCO scandal. As an admitted PED user, he was always going to be up against the 8-ball when it came to his eventual chances at the Hall of Fame. Truthfully though, as we’ll see, Giambi’s performance tapered off after his 32nd birthday. Considering the homer-happy era in which he played, his numbers fall short of Cooperstown.

This will be Giambi’s only appearance on the BBWAA ballot as he will fall far short of the 5% minimum threshold that the Hall of Fame requires for a player to remain on future ballots. Regardless, his is a career worth celebrating.

Cooperstown Cred: Jason Giambi (1B)

1st Year on the BBWAA Ballot

• Athletics (1995-2001, ’09), Yankees (2002-08), Rockies (2009-12), Indians (2013-14)
• Career: 440 HR, 1,441 RBI, 2,010 Hits, .277 BA, .399 OBP, .516 SLG
• Career: 139 OPS+, 50.5 WAR (Wins Above Replacement)
• 5-time All-Star, 2-time Silver Slugger
• 2000 A.L. MVP: .333 BA, .476 OBP, .647 SLG, 43 HR, 137 RBI, 187 OPS+, 7.8 WAR
• Led A.L. in OBP 3 times, led A.L. in Walks 4 times

(cover photo: Reuters/Dino Vournas)

Jason Giambi Career Highlights

Jason Gilbert Giambi was born on January 8, 1971 in West Covina, California. After attending Long Beach State, he was selected in the 2nd round of the 1992 player draft by the Oakland Athletics. If you didn’t follow his career closely, you might be surprised to learn that the 6’3″, 240-pound Giambi mostly played third base in the minor leagues. This continued an A’s tradition of putting big men on the hot corner (Mark McGwire debuted as a third sacker in 1986).

Giambi debuted in the majors in 1995, splitting time between first and third base in a part time role. He became a full-time player in 1996 (his age 25 season) but was used in a utility role, splitting time between the corners and left field. In ’97, he played more games in left than at first. In those first two full-time seasons, Giambi was a solid performer but hardly a star. His basic statistics in ’96 and ’97 were remarkably similar.

• 1996: .291 BA, 20 HR, 79 RBI, 40 doubles
• 1997: .293 BA, 20 HR, 81 RBI, 41 doubles

In his age 27 season (1998), the left-handed power hitter finally had a regular job as the A’s starting first baseman. He improved to 27 HR and 80 RBI although, by only hitting 28 doubles, his slugging percentage sagged. Still, Giambi was developing a keen eye; 81 walks with a .295 BA gave him an on-base percentage of .384.

1999-2001: Giambi’s Peak Years in Oakland

Jason Giambi became a legitimate star in 1999, when he hit .315 with 33 HR, 123 RBI and 115 runs scored. His OPS+ was 153 (53% above league average). In 2000, he was the A.L. MVP (winning narrowly over Frank Thomas); in 2001 he finished 2nd to Ichiro Suzuki. For those two years, he was easily the best hitter in the American League and the second best in all of baseball to Barry Bonds.

• 2000: .333/.476/.647, 43 HR, 137 RBI, 187 OPS+, 7.8 WAR
• 2001: .342/.477/.660, 38 HR, 120 RBI, 199 OPS+, 9.2 WAR

Giambi’s efforts helped lead the A’s to the postseason in both ’00 and ’01. In both years, they fell in 5 games to the New York Yankees in the A.L. Division Series.

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With prolific hitting and garrulous personality, Giambi was beloved in Oakland. After the 2001 campaign, however, Giambi followed the money by signing a 7-year, $120 million with the Yankees. All he had to do besides moving across the country was shave his trademark goatee.

2002-08: The Giambino in the Bronx

With the Yankees, Jason Giambi was joining a team that had won five pennants in the previous six campaigns to go with four World Series titles. As fate would have it, Giambi and the Yankees never won the Fall Classic in his seven years with the team, winning the Series again in 2009 after he had been allowed to leave as a free agent.

In his first year in the Bronx, Giambi continued to hit at a Hall of Fame level: he slashed .314/.415/.598 with 41 HR, 122 RBI, 120 Runs, a 172 OPS+ and 7.1 WAR, best on the team. He quickly became popular in the Bronx, picking up the nickname the “Giambino” by radio announcer John Sterling. In his 42nd game in pinstripes, Giambi hit what’s known as the “ultimate grand slam” in a game at Yankee Stadium against the Minnesota Twins. In the bottom of the 14th inning, Giambi strode to the plate with the Yankees trailing 12-9 and the bases loaded. He hit a walk-off granny to seal a 13-12 victory.

Back in the playoffs in 2002, Giambi again tasted the agony of losing in the ALDS. The Yankees fell in 4 games to the Anaheim Angels despite a 1.098 OPS by their slugging first sacker. After the season, Giambi finished 5th in the MVP vote.

The 2003 campaign was Giambi’s age 32 season. Although he continued to be an on-base machine, the career .309 hitter suddenly saw his batting average drop to .250. He still managed 41 HR, 107 RBI and a 148 OPS+ (thanks to a league leading 129 walks). For the first time in his career, Giambi enjoyed success in October. His two solo home runs in Game 7 of the ALCS (off future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox) helped the Yankees back to the Fall Classic. Unfortunately, the Bronx Bombers fell to the Florida Marlins in the World Series.

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Giambi struggled mightily in 2004, suffering from chronic fatigue that was eventually diagnosed as being caused by a benign tumor. He finished the season with only 80 games played, a paltry .208 BA and 90 OPS+.

Jason Giambi’s PED Admission

Before the 2005 campaign, Jason Giambi admitted in a press conference that he had used Performing Enhancing Drugs. The previous fall, the San Francisco Chronicle had reported that Giambi had testified to using steroids and human growth hormone to the grand jury in the BALCO investigation.

Although he would never again discover the stroke that made him a .300 hitter, Giambi had two more solid seasons in the Bronx:

• 2005: .271/.440/.535, 32 HR, 87 RBI, 113 Runs, 161 OPS+, 4.6 WAR
• 2006: .253/.413/.558, 37 HR, 113 RBI, 113 Runs, 148 OPS+, 2.9 WAR

Injuries limited Giambi to 80 games in 2007. In his final season in the Bronx, he hit .247 with 32 HR, 96 RBI, 113 Runs and 128 OPS+.

2009-14: Jason Giambi’s Final Years

The Yankees chose not to pick up the option they had on Giambi’s contract after the 2008 campaign. In early January ’09, he re-signed with the Athletics. Now in his age 38 season, Giambi hit his 400th home run in an Oakland uniform but otherwise was a shadow of his former self. He was released after hitting just .193 (with an OPS+ of 85) in 83 games.

In late August he was signed by the Colorado Rockies, who were looking for a veteran power bat. Mostly used as a pinch-hitter, Giambi helped the Rockies to the playoffs with a 159 OPS+ in 31 plate appearances. In Game 4 of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies, Giambi delivered a game-tying pinch hit RBI single in the bottom of the 8th inning. Unfortunately, the Rockies would go on to lose that game and the series.

Giambi remained in the Mile High City as a backup first baseman and pinch hitter for three more seasons. He became a favorite in Colorado because of his flair for the dramatic, most notably a towering walk-off home run off Boston’s Jonathan Papelbon to help Rockies fans enjoy a measure of revenge for their loss to the Red Sox in the 2007 World Series. Amazingly, 3 of Giambi’s 22 HR in a Rockies uniform were of the walk-off variety.

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Giambi returned to the American League for the 2013 and ’14 campaigns, signing with the Cleveland Indians. Giambi only hit .171 in 97 games for the Tribe in ’13-’14. His OPS+ was a lowly 75. Still, in 2013, he managed two more walk-off pinch-hit long balls, including this dramatic two-out blast in a late September game against the White Sox to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 victory. The victory helped the Indians reach the playoffs (as the A.L. Wild Card) for the first time since 2007. (Giambi did not appear in Cleveland’s Wild Card loss to Tampa Bay).

Giambi hit just .133 in 70 plate appearances in his final season (2014).

The Hall of Fame Case for and against Jason Giambi

If Jason Giambi had posted his career statistics in a different era of Major League Baseball, he would be a very strong candidate for the Hall of Fame. He finished with 440 home runs and 1,441 RBI. As of the end of the 2000 season, there were a grand total of 20 players who had reached as many as 440 taters and 1,441 ribbies in their careers. All 20 of those men have plaques in Cooperstown and all but 3 of them were first-ballot selections. That was only 20 years ago.

Today there are 39 players who have reached those numbers, including 6 more Hall of Famers. 5 of those 39 are on the 2020 BBWAA ballot with Giambi: Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez and Gary Sheffield. Those five players and Giambi do have something in common; they’ve all been directly linked or accused of using PEDs. The other names are Rafael Palmeiro (who was drummed off the ballot years ago), Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, Fred McGriff, Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Beltre and Carlos Delgado.

That’s still a good list of names. Of course, any time you “make a list” with the minimum stats belonging to the player you’re researching, you’re by definition creating a list in which said player is at the bottom of the list.

If you loosen the criteria to 400 home runs and 1,350 RBI, you now have a list of 48 players, including Paul Konerko (also on the 2020 ballot), Jose Canseco, Juan Gonzalez and Darrell Evans.

By itself, Giambi’s 440/1,441 would have punched a ticket to Cooperstown if he had achieved it in the 1960’s and ’70’s but in the 90’s and early 21st century, it’s not unique.

What if we add OPS+ ?

If you add a third statistical criteria, you can create a smaller list. Another key element of Jason Giambi’s statistical resume is his OPS+ of 139, fueled by his power combined with his excellent batting eye. The list of players with 400 HR, 1,350 RBI and a OPS+ of 135 or more has just 32 names on it in baseball history. It’s a list comprising entirely of Hall of Famers, PED linked players (which includes Giambi), players still active or not yet eligible and (again) Delgado.

All by itself, Giambi’s OPS+ is an asset to his Cooperstown case. There are only 3 eligible players with at least 8,500 plate appearances and a OPS+ higher than Giambi’s 139 who are not in the Hall: Bonds, Ramirez, and Sheffield.

Peak Giambi

The final element of Jason Giambi’s Hall of Fame case is in the strength of his peak performance. From 1999-2002, Giambi was in the very top tier of hitters in Major League Baseball, behind only Barry Bonds.

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This was the Hall of Fame version of Giambi. If he had been able to maintain this level of performance for another few years, he would look better as a Cooperstown candidate. Unfortunately, as we noted, his batting average plummeted after 2002 even while he maintained his power and keen batting eye.

Take a look at Giambi’s slash line for the first 8 years of his career compared to the 12 years thereafter:

• 1995-2002: .309 BA, .416 OBP, .552 SLG, 152 OPS+
• 2003-2014: .238 BA, .381 OBP, .474 SLG, 124 OPS+

As you can see, Giambi remained a valuable offensive player after his BA cratered but he was on a potential Hall of Fame track as of the end of the 2002 season and off it in the years thereafter.

Conclusion

For a first baseman or designated hitter, especially one with a a defined and admitted PED link, Giambi’s numbers come up short of being worthy of a spot in the Hall of Fame. If you go to his Baseball Reference page, the #1 player on Giambi’s “Similarity Scores” list is the previously mentioned Carlos Delgado. The left-handed hitting slugger for the Blue Jays, Marlins and Mets was on the 2015 Hall of Fame ballot and received just 3.5% of the vote, which eliminated him from future ballots because it was less than the 5% minimum.

Here are the numbers of Giambi and Delgado side by side:

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Pretty close, eh? Giambi has the edge of a MVP trophy but Delgado has the edge of no PED connections. Ultimately, the two left-handed hitters put up big numbers that have simply been dwarfed by too many other players that competed in the same era.

Giambi’s and Delgado’s numbers look good when compared to Hall of Famers Orlando Cepeda or Tony Perez but they don’t look so great when compared to their 1B/DH peers (Jim Thome, Frank Thomas, Jeff Bagwell, David Ortiz, Edgar Martinez, Albert Pujols, or Miguel Cabrera).

Jason Giambi had an excellent career but not one that merits a Cooperstown plaque.

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