Have 762 Home Runs, Will Travel

with spring training underway, it makes zero sense to me that barry bonds does not have a team. part of the reason stems from how many cents bonds made last season, over 1.5 billion to be precise. this is definitely a lot of money, but it's not as if baseball owners are averse to handing out huge piles of money. for the next year, would you rather pay bonds $15 million or giambi $23 million? and this assumes that he'd make the same salary he made in 2007. this late in the negotiation phase, bonds would probably be willing to sign for $10-12 million to dh and play left on occasion. would you rather pay that kind of coin to garret anderson? mike sweeney todd: the demon barber? love him or hate him, bonds brings people to the stadium home and on the road, so from a business standpoint it seems like a good decision to sign him.

perhaps his age and production are the issue. his numbers obviously weren't up to his lofty standards, but bonds still had an OPS over 1, a BB/K ratio of 2.44, and hit a home run every 12.1 ABs. he played awful in left field, but an al team that needs a dh would be perfect for him. the reduced stress on his legs would keep him healthier and allow him to pay more than the 126 games he managed in 2007. plus, he'd be a perfect locker room influence. for a young team he could talk about how things were different "back in my day", or wax nostalgic about the price of movie tickets. i don't understand why a team with a need for left-handed power wouldn't roll the dice.

i've ignored the major reason why bonds' is struggling to find a home, and that is because of steroid accusations. we poke a lot of fun and poke even more attempted fun at steroid users on this website, but the majority of the evidence is circumstantial, at best. aside from a few odd men out like pettite, lo duca, and gagne, not many have come forward to admit any wrongdoing. bonds remains steadfast that he never knowingly took steroids, yet he has become the martyr for an entire era. but steroids aren't an issue because of one man. they are an issue because of a culture of indifference throughout all sports, and perhaps society as well. you can't blame mardi gras on a single alcoholic.there are reports that tampa is interested in bonds' services. they should shorten their name from "tampa bay rays" to "tampa barrys" to try and appease him. why not? cleveland did it for jim brown.