Bonds to Tigers? Not seeing it.
It seems that, with the recent struggles of Gary Sheffield (he followed two solid games in New York with an 0-5er in the finale), everyone seems to be speculating a possible reuniting of Barry Bonds and Jim Leyland. They cite the fact that 1) Jim Leyland coached him 16 years ago and 2) Detroit needs a left handed hitter as the reason this marriage might work.
Honestly.. it probably would work. Let’s be clear: I might be slightly biased for Barry Bonds. He started hitting his stride (and by stride, I mean he started to figure out the correct steroid cocktail that worked for his body) when I moved to SF in 2000; this also coincided with the opening of PacBell/SBC/AT&T park. He loved the admiration the fans gave him in left field, and we loved giving him this admiration. He played gritty and inspired baseball.. or enough so that we ignored his issues. Like the obvious steroid abuse. Or the whole “lying to the grand jury” thing. Keeping a mistress, stashing her in AZ, and they lying to her (read “game of shadows” if you want a great history of Bonds). Honestly, the guy perfected the art of “asshole”.
But what does this really mean? Is Gary Sheffield that great of a guy? Probably not. I get it… outside of John Rocker, Bonds might be the ultimate asshole. Actually Jeff Kent apparently is not much of a clubhouse guy either (In a radio interview of a Giants announcer in 2004, the announcer stated that if a teammate of Bonds or Kent had the choice to get a ride home with either player, most players would probably just walk home).
Back to the point at hand, would he help Detroit? Absolutely. A left handed bat that hit an OPS of over 1000 last year while still playing in the field (not well, but still). He could probably DH until he was 137 years old and still outhit Brandon Inge. Would he fit into the clubhouse? Who knows. I’m not sure, with this team, they’re necessarily all going hunting together in the offseason anyway. What about the media? Outside of the sportstalk stations, who cares? Its not like its New York, Boston, Philly… even Chicago.
What about the fans??? A fond memory of mine is sitting in Mr B’s bar in Rochester with the Scott brothers watching hockey. The owner comes out, looks at the TV, and watches someone upend then-blackhawk Chris Chelios. The owner screams “He nailed Chelios! SCREW YOU CHELIOS!” and the bar went crazy. Two years later we traded for Chelios and he suddenly was a fan favorite. Short memories we have when someone can turn us into a winner (also see Coffee, Paul)
So where does all of this logic fall apart (IE why did i spend time writing this when everyone else suggests its a solid move)? Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield cannot co-exist on the same team. Not happening. They HATE each other. They probably couldn’t live in the same state at this point, let alone the same clubhouse. Sheffield was linked to the BALCO investigation via hanging out with Bonds and his trainer (and probably receiving illegal supplements). And Sheffield blames his knee problems on Bonds over-working him one off-season. Yes it seems they had a strange relationship for two rich 35+ year old famous athletes, but who am I to judge. It did, however, prove to be great comedy as Sheffield gets quoted as saying he didn’t take steroids because “they are something you shoot in your butt.”
What’s next? Maybe Detroit turns Sheffield into starting pitching or prospects, though I’m sure they’d have to eat a lot of his contract. And would you really want to trade Sheffield to another AL team (only place he can play) to run into him later this year? This really seems like a large amount of obstacles to overcome.