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To: Cactus Jack who wrote (57795)	12/8/2006 11:17:12 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 104197

jpg: I don't necessary agree with everything that sports writer wrote...I guess he's with the Mercury News. I can understand why San Francisco signed Bonds for 1 more year (yet, I think they overpaid for him as he didn't have many other options). Many of the GMs don't seem to have a lot of discipline when it comes to what they will pay some of the free agent talent out there on the market (and a lot of the marginal talent is going to make a fortune too). The baseball salaries that some of these players are getting sorta reminds me of the late 90s with the internet bubble in the stock market...Lots of folks enjoyed the ride BUT there was a correction and it can deliver some painful lessons. The Tigers are owned by a self-made billionaire who wants to win BUT the GM (Dave Dombrowski) is as disciplined as they come - he rarely overpays when he goes after talent...In the last few years he has totally re-made the team and created a foundation for high performance for many years to come...Dombrowski has stockpiled a lot of very talented young pitchers but his best move was bringing in Jim Leyland to become the Manager -- the culture and the team's performance changed quickly...That's the only way a team like the Detroit Tigers would EVER be able to trade for a player like Gary Sheffield...The Tigers learned some tough lessons in the World Series but they will be a better team next year...I think they have a good chance to make it into the post-season...And once you're in then anything can happen. -s2@OfCourseTheCubsThinkThey'reGoingToWinItAllNextYear.com btw, I do think the Giants have added a very good Manager -- He has proven that with the right talent he can get to the post-season.

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (57795)	12/9/2006 1:50:11 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 104197

Job Search for Bonds Ends Where It Started ______________________________________________________________ By JACK CURRY The New York Times December 9, 2006 Barry Bonds has never had to search for a job during his superb career, but he surprisingly went looking at baseball’s winter meetings Wednesday and found one with his old team by yesterday. After Bonds spent six weeks wondering about his baseball future, he was back where most baseball officials expected he would always be. Now that Bonds agreed to a one-year, $16 million contract with the San Francisco Giants, he will continue his tumultuous march toward Hank Aaron’s career home run record in the place that has been home for the last 14 seasons. The Giants did not announce the deal, but a major league executive said an agreement was in place and a news conference would be held next week. Bonds had 26 homers and a .454 on-base percentage in 130 games last season, so he is still an imposing offensive threat. But he was not a heavily pursued free agent. Bonds was investigated by federal prosecutors in a steroid distribution case and could still face perjury and tax evasion charges, and he can often be an ornery clubhouse presence. Jeff Borris, Bonds’s agent, said as late as Thursday that unidentified teams were still interested in signing Bonds, but the Giants loomed as the only club that was willing to take on the challenging Bonds. For endless reasons, some good and some not so good, Bonds, who turns 43 in July, is like no other major leaguer. Still, the Giants, an aging team, needed a legitimate middle of the order threat, so, after failing in attempts to sign Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Lee or acquire Manny Ramírez, they focused on Bonds. Likewise, Bonds needed a new deal so he could chase history and, in San Francisco, he can do it and be loved. The hometown fans still treat him with reverence. As Bonds, who has 734 career homers, pursues Aaron’s legendary record of 755, it will be awkward for Commissioner Bud Selig. If Bonds was not muddied by the suspicions that he used steroids or performance-enhancing substances, Selig would gleefully celebrate Bonds’s potential record-breaking homer. But the allegations about how Bonds might have hit some of his home runs and the fact that Aaron is a close friend of Selig will make 2007 a delicate season for the commissioner. While it is impossible to predict if Bonds can get the 22 homers he needs to pass Aaron in 2007, for reference, he hit his 22nd home run of 2006 on Sept. 4. When it comes to what Bonds’s ears will hear, the pursuit will be divided into two distinct sounds. When Bonds plays games in San Francisco, every swing is usually cheered. When Bonds plays on the road, every swing is typically chastised. With the Giants, Bonds will once again be the starting left fielder and cleanup batter. If Bonds had found a job in the American League, he could have saved some stress on his wobbly knees by serving as a part-time or full-time designated hitter. Bonds, an eight-time Gold Glove Award winner, is more of a liability in left these days because he no longer plays it with as much boldness or speed. Offensively, Bonds become more of a force late in the season. After Aug. 1, Bonds hit .319 with 12 homers and 32 runs batted in in 55 games. If Bonds, a seven-time most valuable player, reaches contractual incentives, he could make $20 million next season. The sight of Bonds in the lobby of the Walt Disney World Dolphin hotel in Orlando, Fla. on Wednesday was jarring. Superstar players who might one day be inducted into the Hall of Fame are not supposed to show up unannounced at the winter meetings, a haven for general managers, agents, sports reporters and job seekers. Bonds never met face to face with the Giants, but he obviously felt it was important enough for him to fly cross-country to be somewhere he would have rather not been. Borris said Thursday that Bonds flew to Orlando because some undisclosed matters needed to be handled in person. “He’s very comfortable,” Borris said. “He knows there’s interest. He could snap his fingers and get a deal done.” It took more than that to get a deal done. It took the Giants’ boosting their offer near the $18 million that Bonds had averaged the past five years. It took Bonds’s willingness to drop a demand for a vesting option for a second year. It took two parties who need each other to finally agree on that.