Monday, January 29, 2007

Bonds Excited; Helton Unmoved

Barry Bonds

Sabean did the deal. From "Bonds passes physical, gets one-year deal from Giants" at ESPN.com:

SAN FRANCISCO -- Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants completed a $15.8 million, one-year contract Monday night after the slugger spent hours at the ballpark being examined by team doctors.

The club announced the deal, which was finalized nearly two months after the sides agreed on financial terms Dec. 7, the final day of baseball's winter meetings. Bonds had to pass a physical, and the parties had to work out complicated language regarding Bonds' behavior and what would happen if the slugger were to be indicted....

There is a protection in Bonds' contract that says if the player is indicted in connection with the BALCO case and is suspended by the league, it will be treated as any other league suspension, meaning Bonds will not be paid during that period, ESPN's Pedro Gomez reported....

Bonds can earn another $4.2 million in performance bonuses based on how much he plays. If he matches last year's effort -- 493 plate appearances, 130 games -- he would receive the whole amount.

"I'm very excited and very happy we got it all done," Bonds said. "I'm just glad to be on the team and glad things worked out. I think we should be talking about team. We've got a good team that's got a chance to do something."

With the Bonds trade complete, MLB Trade Rumors forecasts the performance of the Giants' lineup.

Meanwhile, the Todd Helton trade talks between the Rockies and Red Sox fell apart. First the Angels, now the Red Sox. Helton might be grumpy next season.

UPDATE: Robothal has an unusually sarcastic take on the Bonds signing. Perhaps Robothal has been hanging with Ken Gurnick?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can't pick up the Rosenthal link (it may be my blackberry). What did he say?

Orel said...

Let's see, it's titled "Bonds will be lonely man in San Francisco"; it references Akon (the Senegalese hip-hop star), Bobby Vinton, Madagascar (the island nation, not the movie) and Britney Spears; he calls Bonds "The Flaxseed Kid" and "Mr. Lonely"; and the phrase "Bow down, serfs!" is used.