Can Someone Sign Bonds Now?

When I made my bi-hourly visit the MLB page on ESPN and was greeted with a photograph of Barry Bonds under the headline, “Breaking News”, I was shocked.  ‘Someone finally wised up and signed this guy,’ I thought to myself.  ‘The greatest player of our generation is going to end his career on his own terms.’  Instead, I was let down.  Bonds won’t be making his way to back to the field.  Not now, maybe not ever.  The report was just to inform us that his perjury charges have been broken down so they now include additional counts.

Personally, I don’t care about this stuff.  I’m not a major league general manager, I’m not Barry Bonds, nor am I Mitchell Investigator.  I’m just a fan, and as a fan, I want to see this guy on the field.  Love him, hate him, do whatever you want, but the fact remains that he’s the greatest player that any of us may ever see.  Even back when he was a twiggy left-fielder manning the outfield for the Pirates he was among the game’s elite, and even more so after he blew up.

I don’t know if he did steroids.  He probably did, he probably rubbed the cream on his legs between innings, and put drops of the clear under his tongue like most players sip Gatorade, I don’t care.  I’m not on his jury, it’s not my job to decide what’s fact and what’s fiction.  I just want to see him play baseball, and as a Cardinals fan, I wish that Tony LaRussa could have persuaded John Mozeliak into singing this guy.  Sure, putting him in the outfield as a 43-year-old-arthritic-creaky kneed-man isn’t an ideal situation, but any deficiencies caused by his lack of range would certainly be offset by his bat.

The fact is though, that the off the field issues matter, especially if you’re a General Manager.  I’m not sure that I would want this guy in a young clubhouse, which is why I previously stated that it would be an idiotic move to allow him to infect the Rays clubhouse.  He could be poison, but in the right situation, one with a strong veteran presence, Bonds could mean the difference between the wild-card and third place.  Regardless, his trial isn’t going to be until next season, now that the indictment is in, the worst of it is behind us, right?  Well probably not, but one could only hope.

Strictly speaking in terms of baseball, bringing in Bonds is a no-brainer.  I’m not in the clubhouse, I’ve never been his teammate, so I don’t know how big of an effect he really has on things, but the guy can still play.  If Elijah Dukes can be on a roster, then why not Bonds?  At least you know that Bonds isn’t going to attack his teammates as long as Jeff Kent isn’t around, and I think he’s past that phase of his career.  This guy just wants a chance to play.

The guy had an OPS of 1.045 last season, which was good enough for sixth in the National League.  Above him?  Chipper Jones, Prince Fielder, Matt Holliday, Albert Pujols, and Ryan Braun.  That’s some pretty good company to be in, especially at the age of 43.  His .480 OBP was the best in the business, as were his 132 walks.  Don’t let the numbers fool you either, his 28 homers were a little low, but he’s still among the most efficient sluggers in the land.  He hit a homerun once every 12.1 at-bats, the third best average in baseball.

With all that statistical evidence, why is he still sitting on the sidelines?  A lot of teams are already set at DH, but certainly someone in the American League could use him.  That’s a limited view, though.  Contrary to popular belief, he doesn’t have to go to that league. If someone in the National League needs a left fielder, they shouldn’t hesitate to pick him up.  I know that sounds crazy, but Fire Joe Morgan provided an interesting little fact the other day in an article about Bonds.

“He is better suited to be a DH. But weighed against his still-crazy offensive prowess, his bad fielding still might be worth it, Manny-style. Baseball Prospectus has Bonds at -12 and -4 Fielding Runs Above Average the last two years. Man-Ram’s been clocking figures like -6, -21, -18, -12, and -13 for years. Big huge boulder of salt with these numbers, as fielding science is far from a reliable game, of course.”

I’m no stat head, but what this is basically saying is that there are far worst defensive players that cover their liabilities with their bat.

I’m not going to go out and say that there is collusion taking place here.  I highly doubt that the owners and General Managers got together in some smoke filled room and decided to blackball this guy from the league.  Each team probably has, what they believe to be, a good reason or two to keep this guy off their roster, this latest indictment being one of them.  It’s a horrible PR move to bring this guy in, and even if they don’t support what he’s done, fair or not, this man is the poster boy for all that’s wrong with baseball, and it will be perceived that they condone what he allegedly did.

The problem is that it’s a great baseball move- and we are still playing baseball, right?  The fans may disagree at first -no, they will disagree at first- but as soon as he starts producing, the boo’s will turn to cheers.  Fans just want their team to win, they don’t care how, and they don’t care with whom.  They may not like Barry at first, but if he helps you win games they will eventually adopt him.  He may be baseball’s villain, but he’ll be their villain, and they’ll defend him.  It’s our nature; we love our own, warts and all. 

Let Barry finish his career the right way.  He may be all that’s wrong with baseball, but so are so many others.  Just because he was the best cheater doesn’t mean that he should take the fall for everyone else.  Miguel Tejada’s still in the league and no one is burning crosses in Houston.  Granted he doesn’t own any major records, but that should be immaterial.  You can’t turn a blind eye to one cheater and hang the other. 

You just can’t.