New York ? Jason Giambi might be headed to the minor leagues if he doesn’t start hitting. With Giambi’s batting average down to .195, Yankees manager Joe Torre and general manager Brian Cashman met with Giambi on Tuesday night. During the 30-minute meeting, they asked him whether he thought he would benefit from a minor-league assignment.

“We touched on it,” Giambi said.

However, he thinks staying with the major-league team is the best way to regain form. As a veteran player, he cannot be sent to the minors without his consent.

Torre said Giambi could be back in the lineup Friday when the Yankees begin a road trip in Oakland against his former team.

Cashman would not go into details about the meeting, which took place before New York beat Seattle, 7-4, for its season-high fourth straight win.

“We hope that by the time we get off the road trip we’re going to see a different guy,” Torre said.

The 34-year-old Giambi is hitless in his last 15 at-bats and has just four hits in his last 38 at-bats. The 2000 AL MVP, trying to rebound from an offseason filled with controversy over steroids, has just three homers and six RBIs. But he does have 18 walks and a .386 on-base percentage.