More On Bonds

i'm posting this here to cuz i think its relevant to the topic...:)
the scenerios i see..
#1 he goes to LAA. LAA wind WS.
#2 Arod goes to BOS, Bonds goes to NYY. AROD wears the #3 and becomes the reverse Babe Ruth. bonds is a joke in NYY and breaks down from NY media pressure. BOS wins WS.
#3. Bonds goes to DET. Sheff and Bonds become injection buddies again and in their roid rage Bonds kills Sheff in locker room fight over who is the better DH.
#4. Bonds goes to TEX. Sosa and Bonds become injection buddies but in this scenerio Sosa becomes Bonds "Bat Boy"
#5 Bonds goes to any other west coast team and is a no story for 2008 until he says he is going to retire and then people come to games to catch the multi-million dollar ball.

I must say that I would love to see #2 play out tho, that would make some insane rivalry games.

LAA is 5th in attendance this year. I'm not sure they are hurting for dough.

LAA is also trying to overtake the Dodgers as the LA team. Moreno knows that you have to invest heavily for years to gain the market position that the Dodgers hold.

As for money coming off the books ... looks like the only big ticket folks coming out would be Colon @ $14m and Rivera @ $2m. They will need to pay up for a few arbitration guys - most notably Rodriguez.

Colon - $14m
Rivera - $2m

Damm, if it's only gonna be $10M, bring him to Boston. Let Lowell walk, throw Papi at first, and let Bonds DH. It would be a historically bad defensive team but hey with a line-up of Lugo-Pedroia-Papi-Manny-Bonds-Drew-Youks-Tek-Crisp
that would be an OBP juggernaut.

"LAA is 5th in attendance this year. I'm not sure they are hurting for dough"

That's "paid attendance", not how many people are actually showing up. Talking to ushers they say even on sellouts (44000ish I think) that they feel only about 30-32 are showing up. It points to possibly less season-tickets sold again next year and to a lot less rev than the attendance would show. Also, are people buying the teams logo at the same rate? Don't see as many peps on the street with halo gear as you did a couple years back... Less people showing up also lowers that as well.

But it all boils down to that statement from Arty himself. Again, "4th salary, not revenue" and there were other statements boiling down to "we probably won't be adding any payroll at the deadline" ~ which they didn't despit needs at the time.

So anyway, yeah didn't think much was coming off the books in 08. Who is set for raises? I know Frankie will get a good boost, anyone else in line for an increase? Much of that 16M will probably be taken up like that, meaning payroll would have to increase if big parts were added.

The thing that is different about Bonds and Tex/Tejada/Manny or any of the other big names that we have heard rumored around the Angels is that Bonds is a low risk guy because it will only be a 1 year deal. With Tejada or any of those guys, at the time it would be a multi year investment for big dollars. I think it makes too much sense for the Angels to sign Bonds. Him hitting behind or infront of Vlad is scary. If it doesnt work out, then he comes off the books in a year, no big deal. Bonds will also help with the attendance, I mean it is LA ( I know it is really Anaheim), he will be going after 3000 hits and if he stayed for 09 would be approaching 800. Even if you have to bump payroll slightly, it is only for 1 year, maybe 2 and then you have a prospect ready to take over. Also, I know Bonds would have primarily be a DH, but he still is capable of going out and playing LF if he really had to. You could DH bonds around 90 to 100 games, Vlad and Garrett splitting the rest of those games at DH, and Bonds could play 20 or so games in LF if need be. He was ready to go back to SF, so I am sure he wouldnt object. The other intriguing possibility is do the Yankees look into this if Arod ends up opting out and going elsewhere. Try to unload Giambi and have Bonds be the most of the time DH, possibly getting some time at 1st base. I am not sure if Duncan is a capable 3rd baseman defensively but if he is not a butcher out there then you could platoon him with Betemit over at 3rd, each getting some time at 1st also. Of course if this happened it would mean that most likely Giambi and one of the OF's would not be coming back next year.

Bonds made $16m this year in base salary. Looks like he made another $2.5m of so in incentives.

One could argue that Bond's was worth the $18m that they paid him this year. However, his value won't be equal next year for several reasons. (1) Be a year older - skills will continue to diminish (2) Won't be as popular as he was in SF and (3) No records to chase (4) lack of competition for his services will keep the price down.

His options in FA will be limited to (1) an AL team that needs a DH (2) a team that can afford $10-15m and (3) a team that can reasonably compete. You can add in that his preference is to stay on the West Coast. Here is my short list of potential teams and quick explanation as to whether there could be a fit.

Yankees - don't need a DH unless they move Giambi and/or Damon.
Red Sox - would have to play Ortiz at first plus would they want another fruitcake like Manny on the team?
Detroit - possibility if they move Sheff to LF.
Cleveland - already have Haffner.
Oakland - Cust is serviceable plus they don't routinely spend $10-15m for anyone.
Texas - won't be competitive next year but Hicks would potentially open his wallet for the guy.
Mariners - makes some sense. Move Vidro to 1st and move Sexson to any other team.
Angels - not the Angels type of player and they like to use the DH role to rest their aging outfield.

All in all I think the Angels make the most sense. Especially if they collapse in the post season due to a lack of offense. There will be tremendous pressure to bring in another bopper.

Why isn't anyone including the mets into the equation? Alou and Green are off the books - Bonds can play LF as well and possibly more often than Alou did this yr. Mets will compete. 1yr deal lets them work kids into OF rotation when bonds needs day off or two. Moving beltran to 2 gives Mets:
reyes
beltran
bonds
wright
delgado
milledge ( rf )
whoever plays 2b
whoever plays c
not too shabby - still think Angels are best fit but have to at least make mets a possibility -IMHO

He'll be with the Rangers or Angles with the As and Mariners (and "nowhere") are darkhorses.

Bonds isn't going to Anaheim.....he is not the Angels type of player, they're an organization that really values "character" and "chemistry".....Scioscia would especially not want the distraction and ego and special treatment that comes with Bonds.....even though he makes perfect sense for that team...