Jason Giambi has fractured rib, will miss the rest of spring training

The Indians passed this along on Twitter a few minutes ago:

Jason Giambi has a non-displaced rib fracture and will miss 3-to-4 weeks. Suffered injury on March 7 at CHI Cubs after a 3rd inning HBP.

— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) March 13, 2014

Missing 3 or 4 weeks means Giambi won't be available when the regular season begins, and will instead be placed on the disabled list.

Giambi is only signed to a minor-league deal, and so he was never assured of a roster spot, but it's been clear that Terry Francona loves Giambi's presence in the locker room, and between that and a couple of big hits Giambi provided last season, beat writers close to the team have made it sound like Giambi was a strong bet for a spot on the team again. Others (myself included) have felt that while Giambi's presence probably is great, and worth having around, the team would be best served by having him there as a coach, because while those pinch-hit home runs last year were awesome, his overall production was pretty grim, especially for a player who can't play defense and only barely runs the bases.

I wouldn't have wished an injury upon the man, but in some ways I see this as a positive for the team, because a more capable player can win that roster spot, someone who adds greater positional versatility to the team, so that Francona can play match ups and go for the platoon advantage late in close games without the fear of leaving the team exposed defensively.