Enquirer news services

Two of baseball's marquee players, San Francisco's Barry Bonds and the New York Yankees' Jason Giambi, reported to work Monday. But baseball seemed to be on the back burner.

Instead, the focus was on the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the lab at the center of a federal steroids case that has cast a cloud over Major League Baseball.

Giambi and new New York teammate Gary Sheffield both testified Dec. 11 before a grand jury probing BALCO, a company accused of providing steroids to sports stars. Being subpoenaed did not mean an athlete was a target of the investigation, which was focused on possible drug and tax violations by BALCO.

Bonds said he was more troubled this winter by being without his father, former major leaguer Bobby, who passed away last season, than he was by the BALCO case.

"It's been difficult," he said. "Just hard all the way around."

As for the investigation?

"There's nothing I can do about it right now," Bonds said. "I have to go out and play baseball and, hopefully, it will blow over."

He said he welcomes drug testing in baseball - "They can test me every day if they choose to," said Bonds, who says he's right around his 228 playing weight.

Absent was Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, who is often seen with Bonds in preseason camp. According to federal documents released last week, Anderson told federal agents he gave steroids to several professional baseball players. It was unclear whether Anderson provided names to the agents.

"I feel bad for him," Bonds said. "I feel sad. We grew up together. We're friends. It's unfortunate what he's having to go through."

Giambi looked noticeably trimmer upon his arrival in Tampa, Fla., but said it was the result of hard work and better eating habits, much of it because he was rehabilitating from knee surgery.

Steroids have never been a part of his diet, he emphasized.

Giambi said he lost 4 pounds, down to 228. Observers, including manager Joe Torre, said Giambi's chest, biceps and legs appeared smaller.

Torre noticed Giambi's slimmed-down physique.

"He looked thinner to me," the manager said. "He's a big guy and he's still a big guy. I didn't think it was drastic."

Said Giambi: "My weight is almost exactly the same. Just cleaning it up and losing some of that excess body fat I had."

Asked whether he had taken performance-enhancing drugs, Giambi said: "Are you talking about steroids? No."

Giambi said he did not know BALCO founder Victor Conte, and he welcomed the commissioner's office testing players this season.

"This has really shed a different light on everything," he said.

On his first day in camp with position players, Giambi patiently answered several questions regarding the steroid issue.

Sheffield turned testy when pressed on the drug topic. He spoke about it a couple of times this month during informal workouts and said he had not used steroids.

"Why would I talk to Jason? I haven't seen Jason. Next question. Next question," Sheffield said. "You get a pee cup, I'll pee. You get a needle or syringe, I'll give you blood."

Sheffield said he'd been dogged by off-the-field questions dating to when his uncle, former Cy Young winner and current Yankees instructor Dwight Gooden, tested positive for cocaine.

"I've been guilty by association for years," Sheffield said.

Torre also faced a bunch of questions about steroids. Usually relaxed at this time of year, telling stories with his cap tilted back, Torre spent a lot of time rubbing his brow as he discussed the issue.

"Evidently, it's not going to go away," he said. "I hope we can get through it. You have to sit back and wait and see if anything else comes out."