Cleveland Indians Parting Ways With Jason Giambi?

Jason Giambi has spent the past two MLB seasons as a designated hitter off the bench and de facto coach for the Cleveland Indians, but if the 43-year-old wants to play in 2015, it will likely be elsewhere.

Jason Giambi is 43-years old, and likely nearing the end of his career, if he’s not already there. Giambi hasn’t formally decided if he’s going to call it a career or not, but it looks like if he wants to keep playing, he’ll need to find a new team:

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Giambi has spent the past two seasons with Cleveland, serving as a pinch-hitter, a designated hitter, and as an unofficial coach for the team. Manager Terry Francona

thinks

the world of Giambi, but after a passable 2013 season with nine home runs in part-time duty, Giambi’s 2014 season wasn’t much of an encore. He had two home runs in 2014, and his plate appearances

plummeted

along with his performance, and he was effectively used as a roster placeholder for much of the year, moving on and off the disabled list with various ailments.

Still, the Indians have high regard for Giambi, and consider him a true leader in their clubhouse. The Indians would be open to having him in another role in the organization, although the big-league coaching staff is set, barring any last-minute replacements, with both bullpen coach Kevin Cash and first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. expected to return after unsuccessful managerial interviews. Giambi was a finalist for the Colorado Rockies manager job after the 2012 season (the job eventually went to Walt Weiss), and it’s not absurd to think he could be in line for a spot on a big-league bench soon enough, either as a coach or a manager.

Regardless of where Big G goes next, Indians fans can always cherish this moment from September 2013, when he nearly gave Tom Hamilton, the voice of the Indians, a heart attack:

Thanks for all the #veteranpresents, Giambi, wherever you may end up next in life.

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