SI.com’s Jon Heyman describes Barry Bonds re-upping with the Giants in ’07 as “common sense”.
“He’s going to want $10 million, and there’s only one team I can see giving it to him. That’s the Giants,” one opposing executive said. (Another executive thought that figure was on the high side, that Bonds would need to accept non-guaranteed incentives to get there, even with the Giants. But that executive also sees Bonds staying in San Francisco.)
Giants people understandably want more information before negotiating with Bonds. They want to see how his court case turns out and how he finishes out the season. The legal matter may drag on for a while, what with Bonds’ former trainer Greg Anderson refusing to testify and back in prison for what could be a long time. And as for Bonds’ performance, it’s showing great signs of life. “He’s playing really well,” the competing GM said. Bonds’ slugging percentage is up to .512, his on-base percentage to .459 and his batting average from the mid-.230s to .258 after his 12-for-23 hot streak.
There’s also a growing question as to who else will want him nearly as much as the Giants. While a slim majority of major league executives interviewed here a few weeks ago said Bonds would be able to find a job elsewhere, there’s that question of “Where?” And that bigger question of “How much?”
The A’s and the Angels are the two most obvious places that could offer Bonds a chance to stay on the West Coast and to DH. But I couldn’t find any evidence that either will seriously pursue him.
While Bonds and the Giants — 3 games off the NL Wild Card pace — take on John Smoltz tonight in Atlanta, the Nats have jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over W.C. contenders Philadelphia, scoring a pair in the first inning off Randy Wolf.
Dioner Navarro, good, Dave Navarro, very very bad. For today at least. The former (above) hit a game-tying 8th inning HR off Matt Thornton, and Tampa Bay went on to beat the White Sox, 5-3 in ten innings at the Cell earlier Thursday. Chicago squandered an opportunity to gain ground on Detroit, 6-4 losers to the Yankees and slump-busting A-Rod.
Either David Wells is headed to San Diego or Terry Francona thought starting Julian Tavarez against the Blue Jays tonight would be a good way to see if anyone was still paying attention.
The Reds signed Jason Johnson, most recently of Boston, previously of Cleveland, to a minor league deal. Wayne Krivsky might not win Exec Of The Year, but he’s the most fervent dumpster diver of recent memory.