Hello there. As you may have noticed I didn't cover Barry Bonds historic #756 after having covered pretty much every home run he's hit leading up to it. Why? I was on a week long road trip, I just got back home last night.

I was actually in Atlanta watching the Giants game in an Atlanta bar when Barry smacked #756. I had a real feeling that he may do it in that at bat after the way he solidly smacked the first 2 hits of the night. What was the reaction in Atlanta? Not as negative as you would imagine. Possibly because the bar we were at was in sort of touristy section of Atlanta. There were a couple of people screaming out anti-Bonds stuff but for the most part people were cheering. They even turned up the sound (they normally have the sound off on the TVs in the bar there) to listen to Barry's speech.

At first I was feeling a bit bad I didn't get to do a writeup here at Big Show Baseball for #756 but the amount of coverage it received EVERYWHERE else makes it seem not too necessary.

Somehow all of this madness leads me to start thinking about Bonds next season. Perhaps that's because of the fact that the Giants season is essentially over.

Bonds has given the impression recently that he will indeed play next season. The question is more now where will he play next season? Obviously he will not be as loved anywhere else as he is in San Francisco but the fact is he's not a very good fit for San Fran at this point. The Giants have to be going into a rebuilding stage as they are going nowhere fast. Bonds should also move to the AL so he can DH. Below I will look at some of the AL teams it seems he could end up hitting #800 for next season:

Oakland A's

The perfect fit would probably be IHateU's A's except for the fact that they don't seem to have much in the way of money and Barry seems to appreciate money quite a bit. But Bonds is an OBP machine, exactly the type of player that the A's love. Oakland is also very close to San Francisco which makes it the perfect location for him to play in the AL. The A's are also a better team than the Giants (although they are struggling this year as well.) If (and that's a big if) the A's are able to pay him the kind of money he will want they seem to be a decent fit.

LA Angels

I get the feeling that Bonds would want to stay on the west coast. The Angels are a half game off the best record in the majors right now so obviously they are the kind of team that would give Bonds the chance to win the World Series he has yet to win. They are also the kind of team that could really benefit from the production of Bonds. Imagine Vladimir Guerrero being protected by Barry Bonds?

Seattle Mariners

The Mariners could be a good fit. They are a good team, currently tied with the Yankees for the AL wild card, that could get a real boost from Bonds' bat. Somehow I don't think Bonds will want to play in Seattle, but maybe I am wrong.

New York Yankees

This seems like a real long shot but if the Yankees lose A-Rod they will need to replace that pop in their lineup (ARod is hitting a home run every 10.9 at bats this season, Bonds is right behind that at a home run every 11.4 at bats.) The Yankees in general seem to have no problem signing (and paying big money) to aging stars, so in that way Bonds is a perfect fit in NY. On the field I am sure he would shine with the Yankees, it's the off the field stuff that could become a concern. Bonds is used to being cheered at home and it's hard to see him getting cheered by Yankees fans, unless perhaps he wins the World Series with a walk off home run... ...

What would Bonds do as a DH in the AL?

Playing on a team like the Yankees it would be very interesting to see how Bonds would perform in a situation where he can no longer be pitched around and where he doesn't have to worry about playing defense. Bonds would most likely see more plate appearances and more at bats. I think it's entirely possible that a healthy Barry Bonds hitting in the middle of the NY Yankees 2008 lineup could hit 50 home runs.

Bonds is Great

With all of the hoopla over #756, people are forgetting that despite some cold slumps Bonds is having a really really great season at age 43. Consider these facts:

- Bonds is leading the entire major leagues in OPS right now (1.086)
- Bonds has 118 walks to just 46 strikeouts.
- Bonds is leading the majors in walks and intentional walks.
- Bonds leads the majors in pretty much every Sabermetric statistic invented.
- Despite having 150 less at bats than most of the people in the top 10 (including A-Rod and Prince Fielder), Bonds is 9th in the entire majors in home runs with 24.

If one were to look just at Bonds statistics this season and forget all of the other nonsense he would be a huge free agent pickup this off season for an AL team looking for a big addition to their lineup.

Maybe Barry will stay in San Francisco?

All indications seem to be that the Giants want to move forward with a youth movement next season but the facts are that Bonds continues to fill the stands in San Fran. Bonds is still easily their best player. They are unlikely to challenge for a World Series next year regardless of what they do in the off season so maybe they will stick with Bonds in LF another year?

Labels: Barry Bonds