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Bonds To First In '08?

I was reading the sports section in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, and came across this article the other day, discussing a possible position change for Barry Bonds in 2008. Bonds has already stated that he is certain that he is going to play baseball again next year, but is scheduled to be a free agent, and as good as his bat still is, he will have a hard time finding somebody to sign him as an everyday outfielder. The most likely scenario is that he signs on with an American League club to be a DH, but moving to first base would give him a chance to stick in the National League and possibly with the San Francisco Giants. Bonds was quoted in the article saying "I can play any position at any time", so he seems like he'd be open to the idea. Even if Bonds were to try and make a transition to first base, it wouldn't guarantee him a return to the Giants, but it would give him his best shot. However, if Barry indeed wants a good shot to get a ring in his final year, returning to the Giants wouldn't be in his best interest. The Giants want to start getting younger, and resigning Bonds wouldn't fit into that philosophy. Either way, it has an unidentified Giants' official "intrigued" with the possibility of Bonds moving to first, but I still call it a long shot.

Noah Lowry's good luck along with Matt Cain's hot streak continued this week. Cain turned in his 7th straight quality start and also provided himself with some offense by hitting his 2nd home run of the season. He wasn't the only Giants starter to go yard this week as Lowry did it as well during his start on Friday night. Lowry went on to win his 14th game of the year in one of his worst starts of the season. Lowry allowed 6 runs in the first 3 innings of work vs. the Brewers Friday, but settled down to get through 5 to qualify for the win. Most of the win has to be attributed to the Giants offense, but Lowry again showed resilience in being able to gut out 5 innings on a night which he had below average stuff. The Giants young trio of Cain, Lowry and Tim Lincecum are getting better by the start and if they are all held intact, they're going to be a force next season. I'm just still waiting to see who is going to emerge as the 5th guy in the rotation.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Bonds' problem has been a knee injury...I don't think going to the infield would help that much. He hasn't played infield his whole life and he's 43...he's still most likely a DH, but an NL team is probably better off with him playing terrible left field than horrendous first base. It's worth considering, but I don't see it working. The Giants' rotation will be pretty good for the next few years...too bad all their hitters are over 30 and they suck (besides Bonds).
4:43 PM
Trevor Cole said…
I agree Kwitt, at this point, staying in the outfield is probably the better than trying to learn first base at this point in his career. His range is the problem in the outfield as it's gotten worse as the season has wore on. But yes, 1st base isn't as easy to play as it sounds and even with the declining range, he's better in left than he'd be at first base.
5:31 PM
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
6:17 PM
Anonymous said…
Also depends on who's playing center...

My example being of course the phillies: Pat Burrell has been hampered with a foot injury and he's also ridiculously slow...Aaron Rowand actually shades over to cover some of pat's territory...and it works pretty well
6:18 PM
Anonymous said…
Silencer76
I don't see the Giants wanting anything to do with Barry next season. They made their money selling seats during the chase of 756, and with his questionable fielding, minimal range, and high price tag, with the fact that the Giants NEED to rebuild, are all reasons why he will be elsewhere. I can't think of a NL team off the top of my head that would want to throw him in LF, too many opportunities for teams to take extra bases either due to his mobility or lack of a strong arm.

If he surfaces anywhere, it will probably be an AL club, where he can being a professional hitter and not have to worry about the field. It all depends on who wants to pay the bucks.
6:42 PM
Trevor Cole said…
I still think The Angels are the best fit. I also think it would be a good move for the A's to look into that. At this point I give him a chance at returning to the Giants but can anyone else realistically see him anywhere other than San Francisco?
10:28 PM
Trevor Cole said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
10:28 PM
Trevor Cole said…
20 percent chance to stay with the Giants that should say.
10:29 PM
Anonymous said…
How about Barry Bonds to share a cell with Michael Vick in 2008?
10:30 PM
Anonymous said…
If he does switch to first base, I don't see him just coming in and making an immediate impact at first, it will take some time, I don't even think he will be good enough to start regularly at first. His best chance is at DH.
10:55 PM
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
5:45 AM
Unknown said…
Nate Schierholtz (MLN FAB50 Baseball 2007 No. 34) http://www.minorleaguenews.com/premium/baseball/features/articles2007/07/15/34.html is being groomed for Bonds position. Bonds goes to 1B or retires. No way he goes to New York. The sports writers there would make him the Al Capone of baseball. The Giants want him to retire in their uniform, even if he's limping along at 1B.
5:45 AM
Anonymous said…
OR - Barry finally gets someone with some sense to make him see that if he continues to play after he has reached his HR milestone it would only be interpreted, by the feds, as a thumb to the nose and casue them to dig in harder and deeper to make sure some grand jury charges stick. The best thing to do would be to bow out gracefully (or as close to gracefully as possible). Any more play after this season will send a message that the feds can't catch me and they will deffinately consider that a challenge.
4:02 PM
Anonymous said…
Barry wants to play shortstop for the NY Yankees but Jeter won't let him so he will have to play third base.
5:03 PM
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