Where will Bonds play in 2007? Where should he play?

[drarcher]

Agent says Bonds won't retire

According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Barry Bonds is planning to return for a 22nd major league season and expects to begin discussions with the San Francisco Giants as early as next week.

Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris, told the newspaper: "Barry's going to play in 2007. I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."
Bonds is just 21 homers shy of Hank Aaron's all-time mark of 755. And after struggling to start the season, he has finished strong, hitting nine homers in his last 66 at-bats. For the season, he is hitting .271 with 26 home runs and 77 RBIs.

"I have every reason to believe the Giants will contact me as soon as the season ends," Borris said.

[drarcher]

I think bonds will play whereever the money is or in San Fran if all else is equal.


I think he should move to the AL where he would be a DH and not have to be a liability in the field. I'd like to see him in oakland just so the bay area would be able to witness the record.

[MJHMarc]

I can only see him slotted inside the DH slot for an American League team.

His fielding is so poor, I don't think he can handle fly balls anymore.

His batting is actually pretty decent for his age, but as he ages I would expect him to cut down his swings next year.

[sleaving]

dr... there was an article somewhere in ESPN, that addressed Bonds' fit with each AL club next year... I want to say that it suggested that Tampa, Toronto and Minnesota would be the best fits... but I cannot remember that for sure.

If I find the article, I'll post the findings on this thread...

grc

[ThomasTomasz]

I can vouch for Angelos having an interest in Barry Bonds. I mean, he sure does love to target older players, way past their primes, and older sluggers with plenty of personal baggage. Seeing as we need an offensive threat, I can really see Angelos going out to get Barry Bonds for a year, instead of trying for Carlos Lee or Alfonso Soriano, two players whom the Orioles could sign long-term.

Oh, and Bonds would be a bad move for another reason, and that is moving Jay Gibbons off of DH. Gibbons is injury prone, except when playing DH, and his numbers are much better when not playing the field.

I don't want Bonds as an Oriole fan. We've had enough steroid guys with Palmeiro and Sosa in one year, we don't need another washed-up power hitter. But, this would be a typical Angelos move, and would not surprise me in the least.

[drarcher]

Originally Posted by ThomasTomasz

I can vouch for Angelos having an interest in Barry Bonds. I mean, he sure does love to target older players, way past their primes, and older sluggers with plenty of personal baggage. Seeing as we need an offensive threat, I can really see Angelos going out to get Barry Bonds for a year, instead of trying for Carlos Lee or Alfonso Soriano, two players whom the Orioles could sign long-term.

Oh, and Bonds would be a bad move for another reason, and that is moving Jay Gibbons off of DH. Gibbons is injury prone, except when playing DH, and his numbers are much better when not playing the field.

I don't want Bonds as an Oriole fan. We've had enough steroid guys with Palmeiro and Sosa in one year, we don't need another washed-up power hitter. But, this would be a typical Angelos move, and would not surprise me in the least.

You have to remember that what someone is buying in Bonds is the eternal highlight of Bonds breaking the all time HR record in their uniform. I wouldn't be surprised to see the yankees take a look as they think every great baseball memory should be a yankee memory.

[ThomasTomasz]

Originally Posted by drarcher

You have to remember that what someone is buying in Bonds is the eternal highlight of Bonds breaking the all time HR record in their uniform. I wouldn't be surprised to see the yankees take a look as they think every great baseball memory should be a yankee memory.

You know what? I completely forgot about that aspect. Knowing Angelos, thats a huge reason for him to make that move. Now you've got me scared, because everything matches up right now.

[Pat G 0318]

IM thinknig he will go to Athletics, they love big power hitters

[maher789]

Originally Posted by Pat G 0318

IM thinknig he will go to Athletics, they love big power hitters

I think Frank Thomas has proven he has one year left, so that just doesn't seem right.

My guess would either be the Angels, or as Archer mentioned, the Orioles for all of the dough they could suck out of it. But I wouldn't find it strange if he stayed in the NL, with either the Giants, or maybe a match made in heaven reunion with the Pirates. Stranger things have happened.

[trainwreck]

Giants for obvious reasons.

A's only if they can't re-sign Frank Thomas, plus he got cheers in Oakland when he passed Babe Ruth.

Angels because they are another CA team with a DH spot. Also, no one jumps on the bandwagon like Southern Californians. Sure they will call him a cheat now, but they would jump for joy if he was protecting Vlad.

[MJHMarc]

What do you think Barry Bond's asking price will be like? I can only imagine a five+ zeros per year as a minimum wage for him. He is one of those players who would ask a lot of money and then play a couple of games and claim he was resting for the rest.

By the way, rumors are that the Angels will grab Manny Ramirez during the off-season.

The Pirates want a long-term player, not a one-year stunt. Even though it would be awesome to see Barry Bonds back in Pittsburgh.

[bengals11891]

The Reds should get him.....I mean Adam Dunn and him are almost identical except Barry has a batter average. They are both slow, terrible outfielders. I do hope the Reds trade Dunn though anyone think it's possible?

[drarcher]

Add in the ability to break the all time HR record and the money that will be made from that and I think Bonds gets $5 to $10 million next year easy.

[trainwreck]

Will Bug Selig even allow Bonds the chance to pass Aaron is the question.

[wilddowd32]

Tigers are a possibility. They are looking for a power LH bat and Bonds has a good history with Jim Leyland. I saw something recently that mentioned the Tigers as a possible suitor for Bonds.

[LivinginNegadelphia]

He shouldn't.

[MJHMarc]

What can Bud Selig do to avoid Barry Bonds passing Aaron's mark? He has already messed up the game in some ways so he should just leave it and watch it play out.

Truth be told, I can't see Barry Bonds on an NL team next season.

[buckeye215]

Barry will either be a Giant or a member of the California Prison League

[MJHMarc]

I think he'll be better in the California Prison League.

I heard Alcatraz is nice this time next year.

How many of you would like him to be locked in an island off the San Francisco Bay?

[ThomasTomasz]

Interesting twist: Bonds said today that he wants to return in 2007, so let the official speculation begin.

Barring a major league-sized outbreak of sanity, Barry Bonds will be back in 2007.

And you don't know whether to laugh or cry. Chances are Bonds doesn't, either. Not that it will stop him from trying to return.

"My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season," his agent, Jeff Booris, told the Los Angeles Times, carefully choosing his words. "Those are my marching orders."

Considering Mike Tyson announced Thursday that he, too, wants back in between the ropes, one way to think about Bonds' return is this: It already qualifies as the lesser of two evils. Whether it's anything better than that is something we'll decide for ourselves, perhaps sooner rather than later.

Since finding his stroke shortly after the All-Star break, Bonds has been doing a passable imitation both of a teammate and a power-hitting left fielder. He's not quite as powerful nor anywhere near as graceful as he used to be, but he isn't the stiff-elbowed, lock-kneed hitter or lumbering defensive liability he was during the first half, either. He actually seems happy for the first time in a long time.

Bonds stretches with teammates before some games and sticks around after others longer than he used to, even with the Giants eliminated from the playoffs. Playing with less pain, and under the radar since he passed Babe Ruth, Bonds has raised his average to a respectable .271 and hit 10 home runs in his last 89 at-bats -- a clip that compares favorably with some of his most productive stretches ever.

His 26 homers this season are the most ever by a 42-year-old player, eight better than Carlton Fisk hit at the same age. Even allowing for another slow start, advancing age, and the fact that Bonds plays roughly 20-25 percent less than most of the regulars, he's on track to collect the 22 homers he needs to pass Hank Aaron's 755 sometime late next season.

Squirm all you want at the possibility; commissioner Bud Selig certainly will. But by now it's practically an obligation. Considering how long Bonds has been at it and how much he endured already, quitting now would be the most unsatisfactory ending of all.

He's been bulked up by performance-enhancers he told a grand jury he didn't know he was taking, hamstrung by injuries, hounded by the feds and reviled almost everywhere but at home in San Francisco. One way or another, this is a drama that will be worth sitting through to the bitter end.

The opinion we'd like to hear most right now is Aaron's, but he didn't return phone messages left Thursday at his office or home. His previous comments on having Bonds break his record have been mixed. Unlike Bonds, little of the adversity Aaron faced was because of things he did himself. But trouble is trouble. For Bonds to walk away with the outcome still in doubt would -- fair or not -- cast a little of his large shadow over Aaron's remarkable achievement.

Just as troubling, it would let baseball weasel out of a debate that's long overdue. Everybody who had a part in supersizing the game these past dozen or so years -- and that means everybody -- has had enough time to prepare.

Bonds has taken most of the heat because guys like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa melted into the background the first chance they got. So maybe it's only fair that Bonds gets to spread around a little of the discomfort. If you think Bonds' pursuit of Ruth struck a nerve, just wait. And how much would you pay to listen in on Selig's call to the party planners if and when he zeros in on Aaron?

All this becomes moot, of course, if Bonds is serious about driving the car pool or more likely, if he told his agent to hold out for a number anywhere close to the $18 million per year in the five-year deal with the Giants that's about to end. He can't command half that much from any other club, crazy as some of the guys entrusted with the purse strings are on occasion.

Even assuming Bonds agrees to become a designated hitter, his No. 1 choice, Oakland, probably would re-sign a resurgent Frank Thomas for cheaper. The few other American League outposts that could benefit at the turnstile with Bonds -- think Kansas City or Tampa -- are hardly places he wants to be.

San Francisco, on the other hand, is the perfect place for Bonds to exit stage left. He practically built the new stadium for owner Peter Magowan and the town, pounding enough baseballs over the right-field wall to backfill the cove behind it.

Magowan is not a particularly sentimental guy, but he'll have to be to find a salary figure he and Bonds can agree on. If it's higher than Bonds' present-day value, that's the price Magowan should pay for being his enabler. Besides, he always can console himself with the knowledge that the only thing more embarrassing than financing the circus will be watching Bonds put on the all-time home-run crown under somebody else's big top.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slu...v=ap&type=lgns