by Todd Pheifer

Created on: April 05, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

It is 2008, and the baseball season is underway. Barry Bond, the man who broke Hank Aaron's record for all-time home runs, is sitting at home. That record is probably the most well known record in all of professional sports. Based on his performance last year, it seems reasonable to suggest that Bonds can still play. He is the not the superstar that he once was, but he could certainly compete in the big leagues, even though he is in his 40's. Still, he sits and the phone doesn't appear to be ringing. Therefore, here are a few reasons why Barry should think very hard about retiring.

DRAMA

Despite the fact that Barry can probably still play, teams do not want to have the drama and entourage that surrounds the famous (or infamous) Barry Bonds. Barry will forever be linked with performance-enhancing drugs like steroids, and the federal government is currently investigating him. In theory, men in black suits could swoop into the clubhouse at any time and take Barry away. Is that the kind of publicity that a team wants? Also, Bonds has never been characterized as a "team" guy or a person who brings good chemistry to the clubhouse. If there were a team that was missing that one piece to the puzzle and Barry had a history of bringing teams together, it might be different.

COLLUSION

Recently, there was an article suggesting that the player's union might be looking into collusion involving the owners and Barry Bonds. In other words, someone suggested that the owners might have gotten together and agreed that no one should sign Barry. I suppose that is theoretically possible in this modern time. There are ways to communicate with people without actually "communicating" with them. However, let's look at the situation. Barry almost certainly would have to play in the American League as it is unlikely that he can still play in the field, which means he would have to be a Designated Hitter. That eliminates at least half the teams, not including those American League teams that have an established DH already. Also, Barry is prone to injury and needs days off so he would already be a part-time player. Plus, Barry is not going to play for a paltry sum like $1-$2 million. He would probably want somewhere in the $7-$10 million ranger per year which means it would have to be one of a handful of large payroll club. All of this adds up to an unattractive situation.

Overall, I think Barry Bonds needs to retire. His prospects for playing seem slim and controversy is going to surround him no matter where he goes. He has some amazing records, but it might be best for him to keep a low profile until some of his non-baseball issues are resolved.

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