One of my loyal rocker readers has expressed disgust that the Giants re-signed Bonds, viewing it as a crass economic calculation by the ball club that spits in the face of the right thing to do. (Hope I characterized that accurately.) I agree with him, although I’m less disgusted by the decision than he was.
Anyway, the ongoing Bonds contract drama is pretty interesting, as it pulls the Wizard of Oz curtain back a bit on baseball’s contract process. Apparently teams and players sign letters of intent as to the main terms in a contract, then hammer out all the other terms, which are generally boilerplate. Teams never back out of these letters of intent and players do so only very, very, very rarely, so once the letter of intent is inked, the deal is done for all intents and purposes. However, the “other terms” in the Bonds deal are not your usual boilerplate. The Giants negotiated to remove Bonds’ minions and former drug-pushers from the team clubhouse. They also wanted some CYA provisions so that if Bonds gets jail time for his BALCO-related perjury, they have a contractual out from what is otherwise a guaranteed contract.
So the sides worked their way through these issues, and then this week the commissioner’s office rejected the deal because of a personal appearances requirement…? As SI’s Jon Heynman writes, the appearances requirement is basically meaningless given Bonds’ mercurial personality. Heynman’s explanation by implication, that the MLB corporate office wants the current deal to fall through, is also curious, because I think it’s pretty unlikely that Bonds won’t get a contract offer from another team and thus lose his shot at Aaron’s record (saving MLB the PR headache of a ‘roid rager holding the game’s biggest record). While I’ve read that the Giants were the only ones to negotiate seriously with Bonds during the winter meetings and subsequent time period, Bonds remains an above average player, health allowing, and teams are ultimately driven by performance and economics, not principles.
Finally, the Heynman column talks about Peter Magowan’s letter to season ticket holders. Either this is a candid assessment of the club’s decision making, or it’s a face-saving attempt by Magowan after many expected, based on prior Magowan comments, that the Giants would wash their hands of the game’s biggest PITA.