As the Barry Turns

When we last left our story, our protagonist, Barry Bonds, had gotten his physical and finally signed his contract with the San Francisco Giants, the financial details of which were agreed upon nearly two months ago, but which legalese, clauses, and codiciles were holding up the signing (as it did with all the other signees). Finally with agreement on both sides, the signing was done and the happy press conferences and media interviews commenced with great huzzah.

Skreeecht! Today, the needle went off the record, as it was disclosed that the powers who be in the MLB management would not allow a particular clause, which the Giants had granted Barry to allow him to capitalize on his march to Aaron by permitting him more freedom to do personal appearances, as it appears to violate a part of the collective bargaining agreement.

In addition, in a snarky rejoiner from Barry's agent, Borris noted that Barry is not only not signing the revised, new documents, but, in fact, all the reports that the Giants could terminate Barry if he is indicted is incorrect because it violates the CBA and thus is unenforceable. The Merc's article on this confirmed this with an interview with a former MLB executive who is a lawyer. The Giants, and league officials, however, think that they "could win if taken to arbitration over the issue."

Someone also speculated that the Giants might have done the clause, full knowing it might not be enforceable, in order to present the image that they are trying to do something about it. That they want to publicly appear to be dealing with Bonds's issues and not giving him free rein, and not just his willing enablers, as, ironically, they are being presented on the Merc. Thus they put in strong language even though they know it might not hold up in court when push comes to shove because they want to show that they are doing all they can to limit Bonds.

Giants Thoughts

And the unspoken word here is that the Giants might also be trying to show the world that "hey, our hands are tied by the CBA. You can say we are enablers and bending over to the superstar, but there are limits to what we can actually do to Bonds because of the CBA. If you have problems with that, bring that up with the commish the next time the CBA is set to expire."

The Giants have clearly been worried about image before, with Magowan's infamous "feud" with Dusty Baker because Baker took all the claim for success of the team when Magowan thought it was a team effort and thus chafed under Baker's self-promotion. It is clear from Sabean's press conference releases of information that the Giants want to shape public opinion and present a certain image of what they are and what they represent. Sabean is always on guard and never says anything that the Giants don't want to release, he is always careful about the phrasing of his statements and about what info he releases. So it would not be surprising to me if the Giants did the contract knowing that it might not be enforceable.

But in the end, despite posturing by both sides, Barry isn't going to get this type of money anywhere else and the Giants need a hitter like him batting 4th, for this season. This contract will get done by spring training and everyone will be all hugs and smiles again. And all will be forgotten once the season starts.

However, if Klesko comes back like Bochy says he will, and can hit 900+ OPS, despite Barry's interest in playing in 2008 (I think he wants 3,000 hits) and interest in remaining with the Giants, they will have a viable option in Klesko for LF (assuming he doesn't sign elsewhere, I assume the Giants will try to sign him to an extension once they think they have the real thing) and Barry won't have the Giants stuck with relying on him. Lots of "ifs" and there's the example of Frank Thomas leaving the A's, but it's something to think about.