Odds & Ends: Nationals, Garcia, Bonds

The Royals should sign Bonds? Absolutely. Sign Bonds and bench Guillen! Dooo it.

There are so many teams who should sign Bonds.

There are probably about 15 teams that could use the services of Bonds right now. its ashame that Selig sent a memo out not to sign him ( half joking). he would probably still hit about 20 hr and hit 285 with about 80 rbis and 150 walks. the way this man gets treated almost makes you want to feel bad for him

NL West - (Grade if the get signed by the team)

Arizona-Don't really need Barry Bonds they have young core who can hit for power but not average (C)

Rockies-This would make sense since they had good success with Holliday and now they need that hitter since Helton isn't what he was back in the day (B-)

Padres- Someone to help Adrian in that line-up (B+)

Dodgers- Already have Manny does not make sense in this situation (D+)

Giants- Need his bat power badly but have a crowded OF but rather develop the kids (A-)

NL Central-

Cardinals- Pujols and Bonds that would be an extreme offense but they also have an OF jam as well trying to find time for Colby Rasmus(spelled wrong)(B+)

Cubs- I would rather have Bonds than Milton Bradley even if he is a switch-hitter (C+)

Pirates- What a reunion this would be. Pirates can make noise if their SP is that good. (A-)

Astros- Too old, need to get younger anyways don't like this at all (D)

Brewers- Braun and Fielder is there and there offense is good. They need pitching. (C-)

Reds- They don't need him but a veteren leadership would be good. If they needed him they would have bought back Adam Dunn and Jr. (B+)

NL East-

Braves- Chipper and Bonds like that but they already have a complete OF maybe if someone gets hurt (A-)

Mets- Don't need him since they didnt sign Moises Alou back anyways. Murphy is there.(D+)

Phillies- Way too much power in that line-up he would probably hit 8th if he was in that team and plus they full in OF (D+)

Marlins- His price might be too high to sign lol. Should make that line-up better (A).

Nationals- What position would he play OF is too full and they unable to move Nick Johnson so that Adam Dunn can play 1B. (C+ if Johnson goes) (D+ if he doesn't go)

So, is this the 94th article of the exact same template Whitlock has come out with? Sorry that nobody wants a roided-up clubhouse curmudgeon, deal with it. It's not a conspiracy, just nobody wants to deal with his B.S.

I would give the Mets an A if they signed Bonds. It wouldn't block Murphy. Bonds would be better for the role Sheffield is currently playing on the team.

Everyone's right - there is no risk if Barry actually does sign for league minimum. I just question what people think he can bring to the table.

He is 2 years removed from playing the game. He has no business playing in the OF where he is downright awful AND significantly more likely to get injured.

If you could just take his bat then maybe you make the deal. Unfortunately, with Barry you get also get ... well Barry. The media circus, the spotlight, the complaining, etc. Ask Cub fans how they are enjoying the current biggest jerk in baseball in Milton Bradley. He's like Barry but maybe nicer?

Barry has no business playing for any NL team. Some AL teams might make sense (a fringe contender with no DH and an available roster spot).

"If you could just take his bat then maybe you make the deal. Unfortunately, with Barry you get also get ... well Barry. The media circus, the spotlight, the complaining, etc. Ask Cub fans how they are enjoying the current biggest jerk in baseball in Milton Bradley. He's like Barry but maybe nicer?"

Honestly I think that Bonds wouldn't pull a lot of that crap he used to pull anymore. He'd no longer be the superstar getting paid substantially more than anyone else. He'd merely be another guy, making the league minimum, and if he caused any problems then whoever signed him would pull the cord very easily.

"I agree with melonis rex though - he should have played in the WBC just to show if he did, in fact, have anything left in the tank."

I'll third this, that would've been a perfect time to showcase his talents. The only question is whether the American team would've really wanted Barry.

Teams like Minnesota, Kansas City, Baltimore, Toronto, and Seattle should really be in on this.

If the Mariners signed Bonds (they won't, because they wouldn't do that to Griffey), I would absolutely love that move for them.

Could someone please buy Ozzie a clue? Freddy Garcia is done. Freddy Garcia has been done. Freddy Garcia will not return to be worth anything more then a 21-24 year old guy in double or triple A ball looking to come up.

He threw 8 straight seasons of 200+ innings in the steroid era. Signed with the Phillies and came out throwing 80-83 mph.

Steroids anyone?

With Phil Hughes back in the big leagues and looks like he will stay there, that probably is a good sign that all our other favorite prospects will find their way up soon. As for Freddy Garcia, he was good but after that injury he will never be the same pitcher and the best he can do is a small specialist role as a reliever. Probably too overpriced to even do that. It's ok, you will always have Guillen to say nice things about you!

"Otherwise, shut up, go to court and get your conviction"

If you've paid attention the the news regarding Bonds' trial, you'd see that the chance of conviction is virtually nil now. I realize nobody wants to hear this, but Bonds decided early on that he was not going to admit to the steroid use and has played it perfectly (I'm only talking about the legal side of things). It's ridiculous the way this man is treated, seeing as he was one man among god-knows-how-many others doing the exact same thing.

he was one man among god-knows-how-many others doing the exact same thing.

Posted by: Jason F | April 29, 2009 at 11:54 AM

So because everyone else does it, it makes it okay?

I understand what you're saying but it is still very depressing. I think everyone knows he used it. A lot of guys did (and probably still do) but is it worth bringing him back and all the questions with it?

The HR record is already tainted and the closest player is Arod who also admitted to steroid use.

It just sets such a bad example to very impressionable fans.

I actually wouldn't have minded if Bonds played for the Braves, but we already have too many outfielders on the team.

What's Bonds value in terms of wins? 2-4 maybe, if he's healthy, doesn't do anything but hit, and produces at a decent level.

That's a lot of if's. Are teams willing to deal with everything else that Bonds brings to an organization for that marginal value? I'm not so sure.

Again, from a purely baseball perspective Bonds does make a ton of sense for many AL clubs. It's all the other crap that isn't captured in categories like OPS that drag down his value.

Posted by Athletic Domination: "There's absolutely no reason why the Twins, Mariners, Indians, Tigers, Royals, Orioles and even Yankees cant find room as a 4th OF/DH for Bonds. Absolutely none."

Posted by Scribbletone: "Teams like Minnesota, Kansas City, Baltimore, Toronto, and Seattle should really be in on this."

There is no conceivable reason the Twins should have any interest in Barry Bonds. The Twins have four starting outfielders right now (Cuddyer, Delmon Young, Gomez, and Spann) and Jason Kubel is one of the better DH's in the league and an adequate spare outfielder.

Yes, Gomez is struggling at the plate right now but the Twins are not - and should not - take at-bats away from these core players to give them to a washed up Barry Bonds.

For that matter, I can see no reason why any of the other teams mentioned would want Bonds either. He isn't an asset in the clubhouse and yes, and while he might still be able to turn on a lazy fastball, he brings too much baggage for that occasional home run.

Actually, if Bonds is serious about playing in the big leagues again, he needs to go to AAA and show that after a season+ layoff, he can still hit home runs consitantly. Even then, I don't think any MLB team wants the distraction that Mr.Bonds has become.

I have to disagree with everyone who says that Bonds could come back and help a team. Think about it, given his age, the effects of being out of baseball for awhile and no longer having the benefit of using steroids he is absolutely no lock to be able to come back and hit even league average. Just go back and look at the natural end of careers for players before steroids became prominent. The end for them was well before they got to the age Bonds is now. In fact without checking I'd say that there were none, or almost no players his age who were productive.

I think deep down he knows he can't do it anymore and the constant whining about wanting to play and play for cheap is so that he can eventually say "Hey look, I offered to come back and prove myself and no one took the chance, I was great and it wasn't because of steroids and if baseball had listened I would have proven it. I'm not the bad guy, everyone else is!"

Yeah, that's the Bonds we all no.

I agree that Bonds could help the Royals, what I don't agree with is ANYONE ever listening to Whitlock about baseball. Nothing he says or writes is news, it's just inflammatory editorial to rile people up and think, "What's Jason gonna say next?"

Dang, I've wasted too much time on him already.