There seems to have been a serious uptick in interest in the Yankee slugger. Some of the more recent pieces on Jason was this puff piece on Giambi by Bob Klapisch of ESPN.com that comes off as remarkably upbeat.

The Yankees are convinced Giambi's darkest hours have passed. "As far as we're concerned, Jason hit our best-case scenario," Cashman said this week. "Now we're back to business as usual; to me, Jason is back to being one of the premier players in the game right now."

Giambi never wavered in his belief that getting healthy -- ridding his body of the parasites and the tumor -- would rebuild his career, if not his reputation. He spent less time at his locker and more time with hitting instructor Don Mattingly, as well as Azra Shafi-Scagliarini, his friend, consultant and spiritual adviser.

It didn't hurt Giambi, either, that the steroids scandal eventually shifted its focus to Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro, both of whom performed disgracefully before a Congressional hearing. That investigation gave Giambi breathing room to reclaim his best skill -- hitting line drives.

"Jason sounds great, he tells me he's been working out and feeling strong," Cashman said. "That's exactly what we want to hear."

It definitely looks like he's been working out as he looks a lot "meatier" in the pictures that accompany most of these articles. Hopefully, that will translate to an even better year at the plate since his work on the field leaves much to be desired. However, even Jason knows his splits:

“My numbers are so staggered. When I play first, they're huge. When I DH, I stink,” he said. “I definitely can win more games with my bat than I can lose with my glove.”


I think that the following pretty much defines Giambi's outlook right now as all the stories about Jason seem to be focusing in on it.

“Every New Yorker, they love to see somebody face adversity and still stand tall and not fall by the wayside,” Giambi said afterward. “They like to see you man up and you take your beating, but you just keep going and ticking and keep working hard. And they love those stories. It's a tough town here, it really is, and a lot of players fall by the wayside out here.”

Well, people do love those comeback stories (even if they are sometimes self-inflicted) and a World Series ring would sure be a great way to add to it. Good luck to Jason - I was rooting for him last year and will continue to do so this year. What can I say, I like redemption stories - let me know if (and why) you feel differently.