Barry Bonds is still unemployed for the 2008 season. Here's hoping it stays that way!

Another week has gone by, and Barry Bonds is still unemployed for the 2008 baseball season.  Does anybody care?  Bonds went un-drafted in every fantasy draft that I have read about, or taken part in.  Other than Donald Fehr, who is wringing his hands and gearing up for another collusion investigation, I don’t think anybody gives a damn.  At this point in his career, Bonds really could not play in the National League, and there are only a few teams in the American League that would even consider hiring the man.  Last week, Ozzie Guillen, manager of the White Sox, was asked about the possibility of Bonds playing for him.  He responded with, “He can’t play for me.  First of all, we have a DH.  Second, my club goes by the rules – all 25 guys.” 

Peter McGowan, the man who enabled Bonds for so many years in San Francisco has completely ruled out any possibility of Bonds returning to the Giants.  “No, not this team,” he said.  “We’re going in a new direction, that would not be a new direction.  The time has come to turn the page.”  The Giants have also removed many of the images of Bonds that were so prominent in Pac Bell Park.  The left field wall no longer has the image of Bonds chasing Aaron’s record, and any reference to the number of homers Bonds has hit has been removed.  It seems they are trying for a clean break.  Sadly, we’ll always have McGowan and the Giants to thank for enabling Bonds to smear baseball.

The Oakland A’s were long thought to be a landing place for Bonds.  It’s right across the bay from San Francisco, where he enjoyed a positive fan base.  Bonds could DH in a lineup that is loaded with young players and has beens, and play the superstar of the team.  Obviously, Billy Beane is smarter than people give him credit for.  He has ruled out any chance of Bonds playing for Oakland, and opted instead to have oft-injured Mike Sweeney be his DH, and keep Quad A player, Emil Brown, in left field.  Ouch!

There are several other teams that desperately need a left fielder or DH with power in their lineup.  Each and every one of those teams has made it crystal clear that Bonds is not an option.  In Seattle, the CEO of the team, Howard Lincoln said of Bonds playing in Seattle, “No. No. No.  Not this team.”  The Tampa Bay Rays had internal discussions about bringing Bonds to Florida as a DH.  Fortunately, they came to their senses and decided against it.  The Mets are desperate for someone to play left field while Moises Alou recovers from his latest ailment.  The Rangers are a punch less team that is going nowhere, and will have a hard time selling tickets.  Bonds could put fannies in the seats there.  No matter what the situation of any team, Bonds will never get signed to any team.  As stupid as some owners are, none are stupid enough to sign Bonds.

It’s high time that Bonds do the right thing, and retire from baseball.  He should have retired before the 2007 season, and before breaking the home run record.  His time, and the steroid era that he represents, is over in baseball.  He should crawl back under the rock from which he came, and let the game clean up and heal from the damage that he, and others who used steroids, has caused.  Taking things a step further, Donald Fehr should drop any potential investigation into collusion against Bonds, letting the matter drop.  Even if he could prove a coordinated effort to keep Bonds out of baseball, he would only be enabling Bonds again.  Baseball simply doesn’t need Bonds, and that is the way it should remain.

On Monday, Jose Canseco’s sequel to “Juiced” comes out, deliberately timed to coincide with the start of the season.  Naturally, some of the “accusations” contained in the book are already making their way onto the Internet, and into the newspapers.  Canseco points his fickle finger of fate at Alex Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez in the new book, titled “Vindicated” which is due out April 1^st.  The title references Canseco’s long boasted claim that everything he predicted or said about performance enhancers in baseball has come true.  That may well be true, but some of the accusations in “Vindicated” seem kind of bizarre.  For instance, a blogger in Cambridge, MA claims to have nabbed an early copy and posted excerpts on his website.  Canseco claims to have introduced A-Rod to “a known steroid dealer.”  Not exactly useful evidence of steroid use, but Canseco thinks A-Rod’s body made a sudden change, and that other signs A-Rod exhibited are classic signs of steroid use.  He also accuses A-Rod of trying to seduce his wife. 

When the media approached A-Rod about these accusations, there was no denial.  In fact, A-Rod said something along the lines of “I don’t really know how to react to that.”  I don’t know about you, but I would have preferred that Rodriguez issue a denial.  Make that a strong denial.  His response to Canseco, or lack thereof, leaves the door open for further investigation.  That is the most likely outcome of Canseco’s new book.

Actually, the A-Rod stuff doesn’t bother me as much as Canseco’s claim that he personally injected Magglio Ordonez in the butt.  Remember, Ordonez was essentially out of baseball from midway through the ’04 season until the middle of the ’05 season with a mysterious and unexplained ailment.  Since his return, he has been incredible.  There will likely be an investigation into Canseco’s accusations, but it’s hard to figure out what to expect.  Unfortunately, the whole affair is likely to be a distraction for Ordonez and his team, who are the favorites to beat in the AL Central.  Once again, a denial from Ordonez would have been wise.  However, when confronted with Canseco’s accusation, Ordonez spun a yarn that basically questioned why Canseco would wait for his second book to tell the story.  Because he didn’t deny the story, Ordonez has left the door open for further questions to be raised.

Let us not forget that there was also a bizarre story back in January about Canseco “shaking down” Ordonez over inclusion in the book.  Supposedly, Canseco contacted Ordonez and tried to “extort” money in exchange for removal from “Vindicated.”  Nothing ever came of it, but it sure makes you wonder if it really happened, and if it did, why Canseco would do such a thing?  Is he that desperate for money?  Could he be broke?

If Canseco is indeed broke, perhaps he should seek advice from fellow former juicer, Lenny Dykstra.  Dykstra is a multi-millionaire, not from the income of his playing days, but because he invested his salaries from his playing time in the stock market, and built himself a comfortable nest egg that should sustain him for the rest of his life.  Dykstra is poised to share his investment advice with his fellow athletes, in a new magazine that is set to launch on April 1^st.  “The Players Club” will target athletes in all sports and supply them with information about investing and living the good life, as well as trying to teach athletes the best ways to make the most of the income they will produce during their relatively short career span.  Dykstra apparently has some credibility as an investment advisor, as he has been writing a column about investing for several years now.  He resigned from the writing job recently to concentrate his time and resources to the new magazine.  I remember watching Dykstra in his early career with the Mets, back in the days when he was known as “Nails.”  I wonder if he sits at his word processor with a cheek full of chaw while he writes.

All this ranting and raving in this column, and I haven’t even gotten around to the upcoming season.  Sunday night is the first game of the ’08 season on American soil, when the Atlanta Braves will face the Washington Nationals in the Nats new park.   Can hardly wait.  The rest of the season kicks off on Monday, when the rest of the teams will all be playing.

Then all will be right in the world.  Canseco, Bonds, and steroids be damned.

In next week’s Grumble, I will finally have some box scores to look at and talk about with you.  Box scores are the best part of the morning paper in my opinion. 

Until then, Shake it easy.