Bud Selig wants to put baseball's focus back on the field. To do that, the commissioner has an idea: limit talk about steroids.
Selig recently sent a directive to all 30 teams, telling them to decline comment on the BALCO case "specifically" and performance enhancing drugs "generally."
While the memo was not sent to players, some of them liked the move.
"I think it's a good thing," pitcher Russ Ortiz, Atlanta's union representative, said Wednesday. "There's a lot of comments out there. It's not just the players. It's other people, too. But it's all speculation.
"Right now, no one is reporting on baseball. They're reporting on all this other stuff. Let's focus on baseball and let the other stuff take care of itself."
Said Braves manager Bobby Cox: "I've not heard about it. I wish I had gotten that yesterday. I'd rather not address it anymore."
The talk about steroids has swept spring training, with increased speculation and scrutiny over which players might have used them.
On Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Barry Bonds was given the substances by his personal trainer — who got them from the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.
According to the newspaper, investigators also were told that steroids were given to New York Yankees stars Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield.
Trainer Greg Anderson gave the players the drugs from BALCO, according to information given to the government and shared with the newspaper. Anderson has been charged with participating in a ring that provided performance-enhancing drugs to pro athletes.
Giambi's brother, Jeremy, had little to say about the issue.
"It's just something that's going on," he said at Dodgers camp. "I really can't talk about it. At some point, I will have a comment."
Asked about his brother, Jeremy said: "He's going about his business, he's got a season to play. He's getting ready to have another big year."
The subject of steroids has been a daily topic at Yankees manager Joe Torre's press briefings. The first question Tuesday was about the Chronicle report and Torre politely said "next question."
Later, Torre was asked whether he was declining comment because he was told to keep quiet or because he didn't want to talk about the subject. He said both.
"I can't talk about something I don't know anything about. We feel that we really don't want to comment on this thing," he said.
GIAMBI LOSES TRAINER: Pounds aren't the only thing Giambi has lost. The New York Yankees won't rehire his personal trainer, meaning Bobby Alejo cannot travel on team charters this season and can't supervise Giambi's pregame and postgame workouts in ballparks.
Following Selig's decision last month to enforce rules restricting clubhouse access, Giambi expressed hope that an arrangement could be worked out.
"I think Jason is hopeful there is some avenue to work through," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Wednesday. "I just don't sense where there is one right now."
Giambi, who credits eliminating junk food for his noticeably slimmer physique this spring, had finished practice and left the clubhouse while Cashman spoke with reporters.
"I am talking to Brian Cashman, and I'm going to continue to talk to him," said Giambi's agent, Arn Tellem.
YOUNG REPLACES A-ROD: Michael Young, taking over at shortstop in Texas for the traded Alex Rodriguez, signed a one-year, $450,000 contract Wednesday.
The Rangers are still discussing a multiyear deal for Young, but needed to get a contract settled before the start of Cactus League play Thursday.
Texas also renewed the $300,000 contract for Laynce Nix, the likely starting center fielder. With Young and Nix settled, the Rangers have every player on their 40-man roster under contract.
Rodriguez, who signed a $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas three years ago, was traded to the New York Yankees just before spring training.
JACKIE ROBINSON DAY: Jackie Robinson will be honored every April 15 by Major League Baseball, starting with a national celebration at Shea Stadium paying tribute to the Hall of Famer's legacy. Selig announced Jackie Robinson Day on Wednesday, saying "we are further ensuring that the incredible contributions and sacrifices he made — for baseball and society — will not be forgotten." Robinson will be honored each year at all major league ballparks hosting a game on April 15, the anniversary of the date he broke baseball's color barrier in 1947 with Brooklyn.