Who would you rather on your team: Clemens or Bonds

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by Zen653

If I'm the GM of the Oakland A's, Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles or Tampa Bay Devil Rays, I'd sign him for 1 year/$5 million. He'd boost local attendance and push an otherwise uncompetitive team into respectability.

He will want more money than that. He's going to be thinking the sort of money Clemens got last year.


And he would not push any uncompetitive clubs into respectability because everyone will know it is a one season gimmick, that if their club suddenly radiated the aura of a respectability for a time while they had Bonds, then when he was gone, so was the respectability. It would be foolish for any of those bottom dwelling teams to throw money at Bonds since he isn't going to make them into contenders, and he isn't going to be around the next time any of those teams could hope to be in contention. Why not give that playing time to someone who can learn his job and be a help in the future?

Despite the fact that he can still hit at his advanced sports age, Bonds is still subject to the much higher risk of injury which comes with older players. A club could easily wind up shelling out huge money for a year of Bonds on the DL.

I know for certain that you may rule out the A's, they have already stated for public consumption..."Not a chance."

[Zen653]

He will want more money than that. He's going to be thinking the sort of money Clemens got last year.

If that's the case, then he doesn't make sense for any team. But if he were willing to accept $5 million or less, he'd be worth it for the attendance spike alone. His presence would attract thousands of extra fans per night. Plenty of bottom dwelling teams sign veteran players for that amount of money.

Also, on moderately competitive teams, Bonds could be the difference between a playoff spot and no playoffs at all. Imagine Barry Bonds as the DH of the Cleveland Indians (with Hafner shifting over to first base and Garko platooning.) Imagine Barry Bonds as the DH for the Seattle Mariners. He'd help either one of those teams immensely.

Despite the fact that he can still hit at his advanced sports age, Bonds is still subject to the much higher risk of injury which comes with older players. A club could easily wind up shelling out huge money for a year of Bonds on the DL.

I think the injury risk is overstated. If Bonds were not being indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice, and if his name had not been sullied by the steroid probe, do you really think he'd be out of a job right now? He'd probably be looking at 2 year deals for $30 million. Plus, insurance covers most season-ending injuries.

I'm disappointed that no team has shown the guts to sign him. He's one of the best players in the game, with or without steroids. He's still a top 10 hitter as he heads into his mid-40s. I want to see him continue as long as possible. While there's always the risk of negative publicity, some teams could use any kind of attention.

If there aren't any major league teams interested in Bonds, I'd like to see a Japanese League team tender him an offer. He'd put up tremendous numbers in Japan and would probably break the single season homerun mark. He'd also likely make better money in the Orient.

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by Zen653

I think the injury risk is overstated. If Bonds were not being indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice, and if his name had not been sullied by the steroid probe, do you really think he'd be out of a job right now?.

If the above were the case, he would still be a Giant.

[Triad]

I think Bonds will settle for less than $12 million if no one bites right away. As it gets into the season, he'll realize that he's not adding to his career home run total by holding out for more money. He'll always have enough money, but he won't always be able to hit more home runs to try to hold off A-Rod or any other future home run hitter. He's going to get desperate enough to just get in a uniform so he can hit about 25 more homers this year, and then he'd need only 13 more to reach 800.