A Question
Okay, so, watching the last two games, there’s one glaring question that comes out of this series – why on earth haven’t the A’s signed Barry Bonds yet?
Unlike the Mariners, they don’t have a fan base to offend. No one comes to their games anyway, so a decrease in attendance isn’t really a worry. They have hit six home runs all year (Mark Ellis is the only guy on the roster with more than one), and they’re slugging .339 as a team. If they’re willing to stick Jack Cust’s absurd defensive inabilities in the outfield to squeeze the last drops out of Mike Sweeney’s career, then it’s safe to say they have an opening for the DH position.
As we mentioned prior to the start of the season, the A’s aren’t a horrible team. They have some decent arms, they can play defense, and the bullpen is good. They just need to figure out how to score some runs if they’re going to do more than float through the year as a .500 ball club that wins 2-1 games a few times a week.
We know he’s not coming to Seattle (no, seriously, it has zero chance of happening – give it up), but I can’t really come up with a reason he’s not already hitting cleanup for the A’s yet. It makes too much sense.
Comments
84 Responses to “A Question”
Re: Stark:
I don’t think it’s the Commissioner’s Office saying “don’t sign the guy”. It’s more like them saying “Gosh, wouldn’t it be nice if we could put this steroid stuff behind us? It’s given us a really black eye in Congress…” while winking, at the very most.
I think Bonds has been unofficially blackballed the same way Palmeiro and Canseco were (Canseco, while not as GOOD a hitter as Bonds was, was still useful at the end of his career, with a well above average OPS to league, and Palmeiro’s very similar), by a combination of age and realizing that you can’t reward the ringleaders of the steroid era with roster spots and millions of dollars and expect to be taken as seriously addressing the steroid problem. If you are a minor leaguer in some team’s system, and you get the annual speech about “steroids are bad, mmmmkay?”, and then you notice that the only penalty Barry Bonds is suffering for using the cream and the clear, courtesy of BALCO, is getting yet another multimillion dollar contract… well, it becomes obvious that what your organization’s REAL message is to you is “don’t get officially caught and we’ll treat you like Barry”. I would guess organizations might not want to send that message to their players.
51
Amen.
51 –
Agreed, nicely put.
So at what dollar amount is it worth it for a team to um, un-blackball Bonds? I still think that’s the only hang-up to him playing this year – or this week.
To all of you who don’t want Barry: are you telling us that you think we’re better off with Turbo as DH? From a performance standpoint, if you figure that $4 million is worth a win, Barry projects to be well worth $15 million (or $10, as I’ve heard). Especially if that’s what puts us into the playoffs.
As many have pointed out, the M’s don’t shy away from scum like Al Martin. It sure seems like it’s almost appropriate for the M’s to sign Barry, since it seems like we’ve got more PED-convicts top-to-bottom than any other organization. I personally don’t give a rat’s kiester about the issue, but it’s worth highlighting the hypocrisy.
Signing Barry would make the M’s a better team. It’s not ever going to happen, I know, and that in itself is too bad.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3353025
Longoria will be a rich TB Ray. I wish this franchise was ran like the Rays are.
My complete speculation is that I would be shocked, shocked if eponymous coward’s idea were true. On the other hand, I think Bond’s ego is still expecting a contending team to give him lots of money.
Be interesting to see if he’s still unemployed after the All-Star break.
49-
Outside of Jeff Kent, I’ve never heard of any Bonds teammate every having issue with him (and Kent’s had run ins with more than one teammate).
Bonds would be a great pickup for the A’s, and signing an older bat to DH isn’t unprecedented for them (Thomas, Piazza).
As many have pointed out, the M’s don’t shy away from scum like Al Martin. It sure seems like it’s almost appropriate for the M’s to sign Barry, since it seems like we’ve got more PED-convicts top-to-bottom than any other organization. I personally don’t give a rat’s kiester about the issue, but it’s worth highlighting the hypocrisy.
I actually don’t think it’s hypocritical to have a front office policy that goes something like this:
– any of our players who get caught using PEDs are going to be dealt with through the rules under the CBA we have with players, and we will evaluate what we do with them on a case by case basis, and,
– if we have a choice in free agents, we prefer to sign ones NOT at risk of perjury convictions for lying about PED use to a federal grand jury.
Here’s the thing: Mike Morse WAS penalized for his PED use (twice, actually, and the arbitrator called out that the second penalty was likely a case where he was being punished twice for the same offense… but those were the rules). Barry Bonds? Not so much, unless you consider millions of dollars and holding cherished major league records a “penalty”.
But let me pose a question: your argument seems to be that PEDs be damned, Barry didn’t get caught breaking any MLB rules, and he’s still a great ballplayer, we should sign him. So let me try a slightly different hypothetical: suppose Barry is STILL taking PEDs, but his doctor in the Dominican Republic is slick enough to make up the right cocktail of HGH and whatever to avoid detection on MLB drug tests. We find out about this after the season is over and the Mariners have a World Series win and a shiny trophy, couretsy of signing him. Do you care? Is that trophy tarnished at all? Seems to me if your standard is “it ain’t cheating if you don’t get caught, so there’s no logical reason not to sign Barry Bonds”, you should be fine with having active juicers on the team as well as past ones, right? Why does it make any more sense to punish Mike Morse for steroid use, and then keep handing Barry Bonds contracts, than it does to just go “screw it, juice away, just don’t get caught because Congress is breathing down our necks”?
We’ve discussed this before. (More than once.)
Incidentally, in that post I tried to calculate the value of a half-time (240 PA) Barry Bonds as DH and came up with $13.6M. But I could’ve fuxor’d the math.
Outside of Jeff Kent, I’ve never heard of any Bonds teammate every having issue with him (and Kent’s had run ins with more than one teammate).
Yes, based on what seemed to be going down in the Dodger dugout last year, Kent seems to a more significant clubhouse cancer than Bonds. However, even if he’s loved by his teammates that doesn’t mean he’s not a net negative. He’s still a headache for management, a distraction, and he could be a bad influence in other ways.
Analogy: I used to work with a guy who was brilliant, but a real cowboy. He’d blow off work to go skiing, and then come in in the middle of the night and do more by dawn than most people get done in a week. But he was also easily bored, and he’d tend to solve the hardest part of a problem and then leave others to fill in around the edges. So we tried assigning junior people to clean up behind him, which also required additional management time because Mr Brilliant wasn’t going to give them direction. These junior guys loved him. He was a legend. They wanted to be like him. Unfortunately, they weren’t as talented, so when they tried to go off skiing on a workday and then busting ass through the night, the result was just a mess. We ended up with a gang of unmanageable guys who had lots of bad habits and overall a far less productive team.
Interesting that Bonds gets vilified out of a contract because he was the best player allegedly taking HGH. If he wasn’t the best player taking them and actually had been on the Mitchell Report he could be playing in Houston (Tejada), Detroit (Shef), NY (Giambi, Pettitte), Oakland (Cust) among many other places. Since he was the best player and has the records he gets the shaft when it comes to the “fight” against steroids. For teams not to sign him because of HGH is stupid, I imagine every team in baseball has or is employing a HGH user right now. If Barry only hit 713 HR’s he might have a job right now.
– to E.C.
I believe that, when players are caught having taken PED’s, they should be punished according to the CBA. Thus, if your hypothetical situation occurred, then his case should be handled as per the CBA. Don’t misunderstand: I think that his pending legal problems and the negative publicity should be considered when you debate whether to sign him, and for how much. But I happen to think that his performance would outweigh the negatives. I also suspect that the scenario you outline is not a very likely one – of course I have no proof of that.
Personally, I think that, more than PED’s, it’s Barry’s body armor that is worth arguing over. It allows him to crowd the plate, and, because it’s hinged, it essentially gives him the ability to exactly repeat his swinging motion each time, so he can focus more on the power aspect…
[nope]
What?
Come on get excited! Its RA DICKEY DAY! Listen to the Dickies and wear a pair of Dickies to celebrate 🙂
#55 I just read about the Longoria Deal. I listened to a lot of his games last year on local radio and became a fan.
After I finished reading the article I said the exact same thing to myself…Maybe someday.
64- did you read the article?
Oh, and another thing… Dave, when is the top prospects list coming out?
Captain Poopy …
Which article? The one about the huge contract extension today? (been working all day, wish i was on here more but I have to save the sonics first) … by the way I am so furious about this Sonics situation its unreal.
also … the Rays have been a joke of a franchise for a long long time …
at least that new stadium has … a … uhh … sail?
I would guess organizations might not want to send that message to their players.
I would, if I were the organisation. But clearly my moral flexibility is not widely shared.
JSpektor-
Yea, the one that’s about Longoria signing a 6 to 9 year deal. The Rays aren’t a joke any more. They are building a good young team with a great nucleus.
Bennett, Schultz, they’re both pissing me off. I’m really bummed about the Sonics. The only thing that would make me happy is (if the team leaves) if they allow Seattle to keep the history of the Sonics and the records. Let OK start from scratch. That would only be the saving grace.
70- Seattle should get to keep Durant, Green, and Sam Presti, too.
All I know is that we should see a dramatic increase in the amount of HR’s Bonds’ team will hit, if he signs with one, that is. The guy has injected himself with so many needles that the ‘roids effect would probably spread by osmosis.
Bull’s-eye.
I really hope he signs with someone. I know I’m in the minority, but I want to see him get the milestones he’s so close to:
-4 RBIs from 2000
-65 hits from 3000
-114 games from 3,000
-153 ABs from 10,0000
-24 Total Bases from 6,000
-78 runs from tying Ricky’s all-time record of 2295
-37 XBHs from tying Hank Aaron’s all time record of 1477
74 –
At least to save SOME of the already blasted integrity of the game I hope none of the Milestones are reached.
It is already enough of a disaster that he broke Aaron’s record. He makes me sick.
I hope some of you baseball purists can agree with me here.
(1) He’s too expensive.
(2) He is widely perceived as a cancer in the clubhouse. There have been an abundance of stories throughout the season thus far in which Giants players have remarked about how “loose” and “happy” their clubhouse is “compared to last year.” I don’t think Ryan Klesko’s departure is what caused this change. Given how young the A’s are, I think the front office had real concerns about how Bonds might impact the young guys.
(3) On top of all of that, the indictment did seem to have an impact. The rumor out here was that the A’s were pretty seriously considering signing Bonds, but the indictment was the final straw to push them to decide against it.
Baseball purists? So we should only let white folks play, not pay the players a living wage, and require 9 balls to draw a walk?
I’m a big fan of Barry Bonds. Aside from Rickey’s record (because I love Rickey), I hope Bonds gets all of those.
Come on get excited! Its RA DICKEY DAY! Listen to the Dickies and wear a pair of Dickies to celebrate
Yay! I like this! (I wish I could think of appropriate Dickies lyrics.)
Also, take your brass knuckles to the ballpark!
And: the M’s are a .500 team (which I expected) and one game back from the Angels (which I didn’t) and given their last series against the Angels (and their 3 run streak) have a good chance to pull ahead this weekend. Sure, it’s only April, but… ponies!
For a site that always wants folks to back up their comments you guys say this
# Sentinel Says:
All I know is that we should see a dramatic increase in the amount of HR’s Bonds’ team will hit, if he signs with one, that is. The guy has injected himself with so many needles that the ‘roids effect would probably spread by osmosis.
April 18th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
#
73
currcoug Says:
Bull’s-eye.
77 –
Or we let a pure swinging Ken Griffey Junior, rightful best player of the 90’s who didn’t take steroids slowly climb to 600 … which is scary considering that Junior didn’t even touch steroids.
If he cheated like Bonds and the rest of those scumbags … he would be at 900 (inlcuding years without injury).
And it’s ignorant to say that baseball purists only confine the game to ‘white folks.’ I mean come on.
Bonds helped destroy baseball (he isn’t the only villan, but there are plenty in this story).
FWIW, there was talk this spring that the Ms are interested in talking long term deal with Felix.
should we wear a Dickey, as well?
Just so we have our facts straight:
The perjury trial of Barry Bonds will resume next Novermber at the earliest.
The man has a demonstrated ability of performing on the field irregardless of off the field drama. The trial is a non issue this season.
He also had a 1.000+ OPS last year playing the outfield on 42 year old bad knees while surrounded by arguably the most anemic offense in the bigs. He was seldom pitched to.
If he was primarily DH-ing in stronger lineup, he could very possibly put up some gaudy numbers. To put it another way, he could easily double the offensive output of one fast food eating Jose Vidro……the worst full time DH in baseball.
This team is one power hitting, walk drawing, pitcher intimidating, left-handed bat away from being a real WS contender. Since said hitter is available for nothing more than a modest salary, I’m beginning to feel my longstanding suspicions about our management not being committed to winning are justified.
Without such a hitter our offense just isn’t good enough.
I’m closing this thread because this is an awful discussion.