Giants "going in another direction"

The Giants have finally washed their hands of Barry Bonds, and it's about time. Owner Peter McGowan was asked if the Giants would consider bringing Bonds back at a reduced price, to which he responded "No, not this team. We're going in a new direction, that would not be going in a new direction. The time has come to turn the page. With Barry Bonds gone, this is a club at the beginning of a new era."

Not only is the clubhouse going to have a different feel to it, but also AT&T Park is removing anything that had Barry's face on (ex. left field wall) as well as the "756" that was posted towards the Right Center area. The Giants did say however, through a team spokeman, that they would post a plaque where Bonds' last HR with the team landed.

Even though the Giants are picked to finish dead last in the NL West division by just about every major sports network, the team is headed in the right direction to putting together a very good team for year's to come.

Now that they're out from under the distraction that Bonds was, they can finally become a team again.

Olney: Mets should look at Barry Bonds

With injuries to Moises Alou and Carlos Delgado, ESPN's Buster Olney is of the opinion that the Mets should turn their attention to Barry Bonds.

Though Olney does admit that bringing a player like Bonds into the Mets clubhouse will create even more of a media circus than he did in San Francisco.

Though the Mets will never make a move like that, Olney does give legit reasons for why they should argue for the move.

LaRussa wants Barry Bonds?

According to Matthew Leach of MLB.com, Cardinals' manager Tony LaRussa apparently suggested the front office go after former Giants' slugger Barry Bonds, if for no other reason than to be protection for 1st baseman Albert Pujols.

When I first read that, I didn't think LaRussa was actually serious, thought he was being sarcastic. Turns out, he's very serious. When asked LaRussa responded "What I've said each of the last two years is that when you're looking for somebody dangerous to hit behind Albert Pujols, Barry was a guy that I thought," La Russa said.

He continued "And for whatever reason, at the general manager or ownership level, they didn't agree that he would be a guy that they thought we should add. I understand. Organization chart -- they're my bosses. That's exactly what happened."

So, let me get this straight, he's upset at his boss' for not bringing on a guy who would start the worst PR nightmare in team history? They've already dealt with 1 steroid issue in Mark McGwire....allegedly, bringing on Bonds would really piss the Cardinal fans off.

A's considering Bonds?

In an article today by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, the A's could sign free agent outfielder Barry Bonds, despite his legal problems.

The problem that A's GM Billy Beane will face is, the reaction of their fans by signing a player who's under a huge steroid cloud. One thing that the A's seem to do is bring in players toward the end of their careers (ex. Piazza, Frank Thomas, David Justice, Eric Karros), maybe Bonds' name will be added to that list.

Bonds wants to play in 2008

So Barry Bonds wants to play another season, even with his legal troubles. According to his agent, Jeff Borris, "There should be no legal conflicts that prevent Barry from being available during the 2008 season."

I think his agent missed the part where signing Bonds would be a bad P.R. move by any team, though Borris said Bonds' name did come up during conversations in Nashville during the Winter Meetings.