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RINGOLSBY: Bonds' value significantly deflated

By Tracy Ringolsby, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 22, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

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Barry Bonds is asking a judge to dismiss a federal indictment charging him with perjury and obstruction of justice.

Photo by Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press/2007

Barry Bonds is asking a judge to dismiss a federal indictment charging him with perjury and obstruction of justice.

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Earth to Barry Bonds: There is no room at the inn.

The seven-time National League Most Valuable Player Award winner and the game's all-time home run hitter has finally been thrown a curve he is having a hard time handling.

For all that he has done, and as much as he and his representatives are letting it be known he wants to keep playing, there is no line of potential teams with interest.

Spring training has begun, and Bonds is on the outside looking in.

The only team that showed interest in Bonds was Oakland, and that was early in the offseason, before general manager Billy Beane came to the conclusion the A's needed to unload veterans and rebuild from scratch, meaning they had no reason to bring in Bonds.

So why is Bonds suddenly a baseball nomad?

Several reasons.

If even the Giants marketing folks, who had forced Bonds onto the roster the past couple of years, have decided he no longer has value as a ticket salesman, why would anybody else feel Bonds could provide a sudden surge of interest?

He is now a one-dimensional player who has to hit home runs to have value because he is a defensive liability and a base clogger if he doesn't hit the ball out of the ballpark.

He has broken the home run record, so there is no reason to think he will boost attendance.

And he is a full- time clubhouse distraction because of his arrogance, demands and the media circus that follows him.

There was a thought an American League team might be attracted to him as a designated hitter, but they like versatility in DHs so they can rotate position players into the role occasionally to give them a rest.

Oh, and he feels he is offering teams a bargain because he wants only around $10 million.

Overheard

* In addition to the $16.5 million Houston will pay second baseman Kazuo Matsui for three years, the Astros agreed to provide $55,000 annually for Matsui's translator and $75,000 for his personal physical therapist, both of whom travel with the team at the Astros' expense. The Astros also agreed to provide sushi in the clubhouse home and road. Matsui will pick up the expenses for his personal hitting coach and a personal aide.

* Center fielder Coco Crisp said he would rather Boston trade him than keep him as a backup to Jacoby Ellsbury. Crisp apparently hasn't been paying attention. The Red Sox have been looking to deal him since before last season, but a hang-up has been his contract, which guarantees him $4.75 million this year, $5.75 million in 2009 and includes an $8 million team option for 2010.

* Right-hander Jeff Weaver, a key part of St. Louis' pitching in the 2006 postseason, could be returning to the Cardinals.

Readers' turn

Brian Maher writes, "I'm a fan of Josh Fogg's, and I think we will be hard-pressed to find a No. 5 guy who so consistently gives us a chance to win. Is the club convinced there are better candidates?"

Brian, Fogg has wound up in Cincinnati for $1 million. The Rockies made an initial bid to talk to Fogg's agents late last season and then touched base again in December. They never made a formal offer but indicated they were looking at $5 million for one year and were told Fogg was looking for a three-year deal. As a result, the Rockies went another direction. It had an impact on their decisions to sign Kip Wells, Josh Towers and Mark Redman. Now, the Rockies feel they owe those three, in addition to Franklin Morales, a chance to battle for the fifth spot in the rotation. Fogg will be missed in the clubhouse, where he was easily among the most popular players in franchise history, but business decisions were made on both sides and the result was Fogg is elsewhere now.

For responses to other questions or to ask questions of your own, check out the Rockies Inbox at RockyMountain News.com/sports.

Two cents' worth

Andy Pettitte's apology for using human growth hormone seemed sincere. He did create a little confusion, though, when he said he was not trying to get an edge by using performance-enhancement drugs. If he wasn't looking to get an edge, why did he use them?

ringolsbyt@RockyMountainNews.com

NUMBERS GAME

359 games missed by outfielder Rocco Baldelli of the past 486 played by the Tampa Bay Rays. Baldelli said he will take an easier approach to spring training in an attempt to avoid injuries.

SWISHER IN CENTER

The word in White Sox camp is Nick Swisher, an offseason acquisition from Oakland, will be in center field, but there is growing speculation among scouts the White Sox might check out the trade market for first baseman Jim Thome, which would allow Swisher to move to first, his best position defensively.

HE SAID IT

"I don't think anyone in this room is going to tell you we're a championship-quality team."

Jason Bay, Pirates left fielder, ending any pretense of hope for Pittsburgh.

MILE HIGH WATCH

* A year ago, Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki defied the odds by making the Opening Day lineup less than two years after being drafted.

This year, Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria could follow the same path. It wouldn't surprise Tulowitzki, who knows Longoria from playing alongside him at Long Beach State in 2005.

"He's a smart player," Tulowitzki said. "He deals with failure in a good way. It's not like he has had a lot of failure, but you are going to have failure in the big leagues, and it is how you rebound."

Tulowitzki said the biggest challenge of making the quick rise to the majors is "being able to tell yourself you can play with these guys. . . . You are playing against guys you grew up idolizing. You are in awe. Once that goes away and you realize you belong on the same field, you are OK."

Longoria was a junior-college transfer who was converted from shortstop to third base at Long Beach State.

"I sort of took him under my wing a little," Tulowitzki said. "He really has a passion for the game."

* Pittsburgh signed former Rockies right-hander Byung Hyun Kim to work in the bullpen, a role Kim complained about in Colorado. . . . Former Rockies right-hander Josh Fogg signing in Cincinnati means another former Rockies player, left-hander Jeremy Affeldt, likely is headed back to the bullpen. The chance to start was a key factor in Affeldt opting for the Reds. . . . Former Rockies right-hander Shawn Chacon figures to wind up in the Houston bullpen, although he will get a chance to return to the rotation during spring training.

* The Rockies are ranked eighth by Baseball America in terms of players in the farm system ready to make an impact at the major league level. The Dodgers were No. 1 and are the only National League West team ranked ahead of the Rockies. San Diego was 17th, Arizona 20th and San Francisco 29th.

Comments

  • February 23, 2008

    9:21 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    dgm writes:

    "A base clogger"? Please tell me you are kidding. Barry Bonds led the league in OBP and he did it by a huge margin, .046 pts. Baseball people like batters that get on base. In order to score runs, a fairly important component of winning games, you must have base runners. Speed on the base paths is colossally overrated. Bonds scored 75 runs in 340 at-bats. Todd Helton scored 86 runs in 557 at-bats. So, I guess Todd Helton is a base-clogger too? Would you rather have a guy making outs and "clogging" the bench? The base clogging argument is terrible.

    Bonds isn't getting a lot of looks because he has serious baggage, is probably only a DH now and requires a large salary.

  • February 24, 2008

    12:52 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    bb10k writes:

    Here:

    http://www.baseballprospectus.com/art...

    A few excerpts to get you going-

    "These stories all start in the wrong place, which is just one reason why they all end up in the wrong one as well. The notion that Barry Bonds is not a player who can help 30 teams win is deluded. He is still a great player, and the way to reach the conclusion that he is not is to raise things such as baserunning—"clogging the bases"—and defense, calling him a "defensive liabilility," far past their actual importance to a player’s value.

    Last year, Bonds batted .276/.480/.565. Had he qualified (25 plate appearances) he would have the led the NL in OBP by a wide margin and finished in the top ten in slugging. ...using the rule that you can add an 0-for-25 to his stats, he actually did lead the NL in OBP. That’s called dominating the category."

    AND:

    "...[he] can still help 30 teams. ...remains an impact hitter with plate discipline and power, and what he’s lost on defense and the basepaths is just a fraction of what he brings at the plate. ...there’s never been a team in the history of baseball that wouldn’t benefit from a .270/.450/.550 hitter.

    ...the reasons put forth to not sign Bonds. [money] ...Bonds made $15.5 million last season ...Bonds had a higher WARP last year than Andruw Jones ($18 million '08). He had a higher WARP than Eric Gagné ($10 million.) Do I need to bring up Juan Pierre? I could fill a page... in a market that values inferior players at eight figures and more, how can it be that a league leader in OBP has outlandish demands? At his 2007 price, Bonds is a reasonable buy. At $10 million, he’s a bargain. And for anything less, he’s being insulted."

    Of course the point(s) are driven home by the article as a whole.

    Then:

    "The media circus that accompanies Bonds is just that: a media circus. ...he doesn’t enjoy interacting with the media. He doesn’t invite them to cover him, he certainly doesn’t provide good quotes, and he doesn’t make the media’s job easy. Nevertheless, we’ve been treated to a decade of stories about how Bonds doesn’t like the media and what a big meanie he is to the members of such. That’s not news, so why report it? It’s akin to the issues raised above, raising the idea that Bonds creates a media circus far above its importance. Worse, the rationale implicitly blames Bonds for this, when he’s the last person who wants to see a "circus" atmosphere, and would just as soon everyone goes away. Then again, in a media environment in which an erroneous government report gets reported as fact in bold type, but its discovery as an error merely a "typo" mentioned back in the agate, perhaps expecting sports reporters to get anything correct is folly."
    [Joe Sheehan]

    Rationality and non-bias are attributes,
    Rick Lopez
    Erie, PA