Giambi-Mitchell Meeting Not Until July

Jason Giambi won’t meet with baseball steroids investigator George Mitchell until July at the earliest.

In announcing Giambi’s agreement to cooperate with the probe Thursday, baseball commissioner Bud Selig said Mitchell assured him “Giambi’s interview will be scheduled promptly.” But the busy calendars of the various lawyers who will attend the session make setting the date a complicated task.

Because of that, the meeting won’t be take place in June, a person involved in the process said Friday. Giambi, bowing to Selig’s pressure, will become the first active player known to speak with Mitchell or his staff.

Selig threatened to discipline Giambi for comments that seemed to be an admission of steroids use and said he will take Giambi’s cooperation with Mitchell into account.

Giambi’s meeting won’t be recorded and there won’t be a transcript, one of the people involved in the talks said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the process.

When retired players spoke with Mitchell’s staff, there weren’t recordings or transcripts, so it never became an issue in the Giambi negotiations, the person said.

The New York Yankees star testified before a federal grand jury investigating steroids in 2003. If his session with Mitchell was recorded, it could be matched against his grand jury testimony for possible inconsistencies.

Giambi, a former AL MVP, said he will talk to Mitchell about his “personal history regarding steroids” and will not discuss other players. He has been sidelined by a foot injury since May 30, and the Yankees don’t know when he’ll be able to play again.