Has Barry Bonds been blackballed from baseball?

Probably not, but these days it's looking more and more like it.

The Giants don't appear to want him back after heavily pursuing Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Lee, and Manny Ramirez this offseason until they signed with the Cubs and Astros, while Ramirez remains on the Red Sox at least for the moment.

"They had so much interest in those other guys, and they've got so much interest in Manny," says an executive of one club that has talked to the Giants, "that clearly, they don't want to bring Barry back."

Bonds has played the last 14 seasons in a Giant uniform. Many around the league don't feel that he will be on the Giants next season if any team at all.

"I'm starting to buy into the theory that no one is going to sign him," said one assistant GM. "When Tom Hicks in Texas comes out one day and says, 'We'd be interested,' and then two days later says, 'No way,' you have to wonder if somebody somewhere said something to him. Don't you?"

Others feel that he might not be worth the hassle regardless of what he may provide a team on the field:

"Obviously, the guy can still hit," said one AL executive. "But is the payoff worth the headache? If you sign him, you start by having to answer questions for a month about 'How can you bring this guy into your organization?' Then you have to sit there all through spring training and deal with 15 ESPN reporters hanging around every day."

For now Bonds remains unemployed and with the Baseball Winter Meetings underway you have to wonder if someone will take that chance. Has Bonds done himself in with is actions in the past in the clubhouse and with the media? The man is 22 home runs away from breaking Hank Aaron's all-time record of 755. However, he did make $20 million last season and if someone is going to take a chance on him and his antics, at least to pack in some seats, they probably won't have to pay him that much, especially at this point when no offers are on the table.


What happened to Barry Bonds? - ESPN