If you came out of nowhere and asked me what my favorite baseball team is, I can tell you quickly without even thinking that it’s the Giants. Ironically, the same team that I love just so happens to have the player whom I hate the most in all of baseball…Barry Bonds.
Yeah, I obviously know that it’s ironic that I hate the best player on my favorite team, but I’m not even going to justify my hatred for him. It’s not the reason why I wrote this article. Why I wrote this article is to express my opinion on why Bonds should retire. Honestly, it’s not the Bonds hater in me talking. It’s the reasonable, loving, rational Giants fan deep inside of me speaking.
First of all, Bonds is literally doing nothing this year for the Giants. To say that Bonds is having a down-year is an understatement. He’s really nowhere near his career averages. Last year, Bonds got a free pass because of the surgery he had to get done on his cranky, old knees, but there isn’t much of an excuse for him this year. As of August 20th, he’s averaging an atrocious .235 with 16 homers, 51 runs and 50 RBIs. Are you serious? .235? The same guy that many people recognize as the greatest living player in baseball today, maybe even in the entire history of baseball, is hitting sixty points lower than his career batting average. Not only that, but Bonds’ slugging and on-base percentages are down from two years ago, when he last played a full season.
The man who once struck fear into the opposing pitcher’s eyes is now the one who is receiving the same glares he used to give. Of course, defenses still implement the “Bonds shift,” but teams just aren’t as afraid of Bonds as they used to be. A few years ago, some of these guys would walk Bonds without any hesitation, and now, they want to challenge him. Heck, what’s so scary about a 42-year-old geezer who’s hitting .235, right?
Suddenly, Bonds’ horrid offense has somewhat caught up to his putrid defense. Yeah, you know, the same defense that makes Felipe Alou substitute someone in for Bonds around the seventh inning when it’s a close game. Of course, Bonds has yet to commit an error, but he’s still a huge liability in the field.
Another reason why Bonds should retire? He isn’t the everyday player he once was. He’s not really a part time player either, but because of his chronic back problems, he needs constant rest, and doesn’t play in day games that occur the day after night games.
As an avid Giants fan, I’ve realized that the management refuses to rebuild the team, but rather retool it. Because Bonds is around, we’re in a desperation mode to win now before Bonds finally retires. And because the team is always in desperation mode, we place more of an emphasis on rent-a-players and paying for over-priced veterans in order to win now, as opposed to building our farm system and developing young players to win in the future.
Now, my absolute last reason why I feel that Bonds should retire after this season is because he’s being paid $18 million per season. With that type of money, we could get a legitimate superstar to build around, or maybe even two to three mid-level priced veterans.
Yeah, I know that everyone in San Francisco loves Bonds and the main reason why Pac Bell…err, oops…I mean AT&T Park sells out is because of him, but sooner or later, we’ll have to start this rebuilding process without him. I’m sure that Bonds doesn’t want to be around for it when it happens, so let’s just leave him out of the plans, ok? I’ll reiterate it again…why pay a guy $18 million a year when he’s clearly at the end of his career?
