RINGOLSBY: Minor stint could pay off big : rockymountainnews.com

Barry Bonds says he wants to keep playing.

Agent Jeff Borris said Bonds has done everything to be ready except face live pitching.

Joe Klein, former general manager in Texas, Detroit and Cleveland and current president of the independent Atlantic League, has a solution to Bonds' dilemma.

The Atlantic League opens its spring training at Tigertown in Lakeland, Fla., on April 14.

Bonds, baseball's all-time home run king, is welcome to attend.

And if he doesn't get a bite by April 25, when the Atlantic League opens its regular season, Bonds is welcome to play for one of the league members.

"We would work to accommodate his needs," said Klein.

Sounds crazy?

It isn't.

"We have had 40 former big leaguers come down here and get back to the big leagues," said Klein.

And these aren't necessarily run-of-the-mill players that Klein is talking about. The list of former big leaguers who found new big-league life in the Atlantic League includes Rickey Henderson, Jose Canseco, Jose Lima and Ruben Sierra.

"Ruben is our poster boy," said Klein. "He came down here after an All-Star career and went back to the big leagues for six years."

Klein has a list of unsigned free agents, and there are several that interest him.

There's no get-rich plan in his league.

"Most of the players who have been starters in the big leagues donate their salaries to charity," said Klein. "We're talking $3,000 a month (maximum salary). Jose Lima said, 'My cell phone bill is more than my paycheck.' But we offer an opportunity to play in ballparks that are new and have great lights, and to be seen by scouts."

If Bonds has interest, Klein said he could have his choice of the eight teams in the Atlantic League, and "we'd make whatever adjustments necessary to meet his needs."

The league does have the credibility of a 10-year operating history. Its eight teams are located in the metropolitan areas of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

"What we offer someone like Barry is a chance to get game action, see live pitching and go directly to spring training," said Klein. "Our stadiums (seating between 4,500 and 7,000) are sold out, so there is atmosphere. He wouldn't have to go to extended spring training."

And the bonus for Bonds is, he could play in the league, get in shape and wait to see where a need might develop with a contending team.

The only real loser would be the person who makes the winning bid on that home run ball Bonds hit at Coors Field late last season, the one that for now stands as the last home run of Bonds' career.

Overheard

* Left-hander Andrew Miller, who came from Detroit in the Dontrelle Willis/Miguel Cabrera trade, is in line to be the Opening Day pitcher for Florida. Miller, a first-round draft choice in 2006, is competing with lefty Mark Hendrickson for the assignment.

* Third baseman Evan Longoria is headed to Triple-A to open the season. Given his successful spring, the move leads to speculation that Tampa Bay wants to send him down long enough that he won't get a full year so that can delay his eventual free-agency eligibility.

* Right-hander Jered Weaver, who has retired 47 of 53 batters faced this spring, seems the logical Opening Day starter for the Angels in light of the fact John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar will open on the disabled list.

Readers' turn

Pat Seeley writes, "Curious about the suggestion that Bud Selig was a major advocate for adopting drug testing for more than three decades when Selig proclaimed he had no idea there was a problem during the '90s."

Pat, the reference to the '90s was on steroids. While steroids and HGH are the hot topics today, baseball has had drug issues for a long time, including amphetamines, and in the late '70s, early '80s, there were cocaine issues. Four members of the 1983 Kansas City Royals actually went to prison. Drug testing was proposed repeatedly in Basic Agreement negotiations, but the players association resisted on the grounds it was an invasion of privacy.

Have a question or comment? Send an e-mail to ringolsbyt@ RockyMountainNews.com.

Two cents' worth

There's something about Juan Uribe that the White Sox don't like.

One of the puzzles of the spring is trying to understand why the Sox traded right-handed pitcher Jon Garland to the Angels during the offseason for shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Even the scouts who like Cabrera say he is only marginally better than Uribe, and there is close to a 50-50 split on which of the two the scouts prefer overall.

For only marginal improvement, it doesn't make sense to give up a pitcher who is 81-66 the past six years, having pitched at least 190 innings in each season.

MILE HIGH WATCH

* Third baseman Andy Burns of Rocky Mountain High School is starting to register on the national scene. Burns, who signed a letter of intent with Kentucky, is ranked No. 40 on Baseball America's list of high school players, and scouts who watched him in a tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz., this week say that ranking is low.

Burns could become the first Colorado high school position player to go in the first round of baseball's June draft since Darnell McDonald was the 26th player selected overall, going to Baltimore in the first round in 1997.

* Manager Stu Cole, pitching coach Bo McLaughlin and trainer Austin O'Shea of Double-A Tulsa were selected winners of the 2008 Mike Coolbaugh Man of the Year Award, which goes annually to a member of the Rockies minor league staff. The award was renamed this year in honor of Coolbaugh, the Tulsa coach who was hit in the head by a line drive July 22 and died.

* Left-handed pitcher Jeremy Affeldt said a key to his decision to sign with Cincinnati was an opportunity to be a starting pitcher. So much for that idea. Affeldt's spring struggles resulted in manager Dusty Baker announcing this week that Affeldt will be in the bullpen.

Affeldt had been the only left-hander under consideration to start for the Reds.

* Right-hander Jason Jennings hit from 84 to 87 miles per hour with his fastball in his most recent outing with Texas, which calmed concerns that developed after he started spring training throwing only 82 miles per hour. Jennings had limited throwing between starts the past two seasons because of elbow problems but said he will increase his between-start activity in hopes of regaining arm strength.

* Left-hander Mike Hampton, headed into the final year of the eight-year, $121 million deal he signed with the Rockies, is healthy so far. Atlanta only hopes he can stay that way after missing the previous two seasons because of elbow problems.

"I feel good with everything - pitches, body, results," Hampton said.

NUMBERS GAME

37 bunt hits in 52 attempts last season for Rockies center fielder Willy Taveras, above, a .712 percentage, tops in the majors for the third year in a row, according to John Dewan. Rockies right-hander Aaron Cook was 13-for-13 in sacrifice bunt attempts, tied with John Smoltz of Atlanta for second best. Shortstop Omar Vizquel of the Giants was 14-for-14.

ALL'S FORGIVEN

Derryl Cousins, one of several replacement umpires hired to work during an umpires strike in 1979, has been named a crew chief for the 2008 season.

Cousins was among the replacements initially shunned by the striking umpires when they returned to work, but he has overcome the animosities and now is a member in good standing of the World Umpires Association.

HE SAID IT

"Let's just give him a chance to get into the season and pitch. This is spring training. Remember that, guys. And for a veteran, that's a lot different than it is for the kids - we hope."

Ron Gardenhire, Twins manager, on Opening Day starter Livan Hernandez, who has a 9.69 spring ERA and has allowed 24 hits in 13 innings.