Thursday, January 29, 2009

Source: Ex-teammates to testify against Bonds

Former major league catcher Bobby Estalella is expected to provide significant testimony to support the government's contention that former San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds knowingly took steroids, according to a source with knowledge of the evidence.

Source: Ex-teammates to testify against Bonds

EstalellaTwo sources have confirmed that Estalella has been subpoenaed to testify in Bonds' perjury trial, scheduled to start March 2 in federal court in San Francisco. Estalella is expected to provide testimony of firsthand knowledge about Bonds' alleged steroid use, ESPN has learned.

Estalella was Bonds' teammate on the Giants during the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

In his leaked testimony during the BALCO investigation, Estalella admitted to a grand jury that he had used the "cream," the "clear" and human growth hormone that were provided to him by Greg Anderson, Bonds' personal trainer.

Estalella also was named in the December 2007 Mitchell report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, in connection with an assessment by the Los Angeles Dodgers of his value as a free agent in late October 2003. According to the Mitchell report, Ellen Harrigan, an administrator in the Dodgers' scouting department, recorded an observation by one of the participants in a meeting discussing Estalella that he was a "poster boy for the chemicals."

Prosecutors also plan to call Jason Giambi and his brother, Jeremy, as witnesses at Bonds' trial so they can testify that Anderson gave them performance-enhancing drugs, The New York Times reported on its Web site Thursday night.

The newspaper said prosecutors want to use testimony from the Giambis, teammates in Oakland from 2000-01, to show that Anderson developed doping calendars for them. Then the prosecutors could argue that Anderson made similar calendars for Bonds, the Times said, citing an unidentified person briefed on the government's evidence. The newspaper said the person spoke on condition of anonymity because he didn't want to jeopardize his access to sensitive information.

After seven years with the New York Yankees, Jason Giambi re-signed with the Oakland Athletics this offseason. Jeremy Giambi has been out of the majors since 2003.

Bonds testified in front of the BALCO grand jury in 2003 that he used the "cream" and the "clear," but didn't know they were performance-enhancing drugs. The government alleges he lied under oath, leading to the March 2 perjury trial date.

The government also has subpoenaed Anderson to testify at the trial, but Anderson's attorney, Mark Geragos, has told ESPN that Anderson will not appear or testify.

Estalella, one of several of Bonds' former teammates expected to be subpoenaed for the trial, played for six teams during his nine-year major league career from 1996 to 2004.


Source: Ex-teammate to testify against Bonds
Player Ratings: Catania 0-2 Inter