Because I Can

Barry Bonds signed a $15.8 million contract with the San Francisco Giants, much to the amusement of anyone that is not a Giants fan. There was some stalling, though, in the gap from when it was agreed on and when it was signed. Bonds has some rather special circumstances, though.

For one thing, he tested positive for amphetamines last year. In the course of that, he blamed a teammate for the substance - a very Bonds-like thing to do but despicable nonetheless.
Bonds is also an admitted steroid user, having claimed before a grand jury he thought he was getting "flaxseed oil" from his trainer. It is very possible, then that he could be indicted not only on some drug charges, but on charges of perjury as well.

We already knew that, but what is particularly interesting is that Bonds' contract contained an escape clause for the Giants in the event that he was indicted. Major League Baseball rejected the contract, apparently to save the Giants. Here is Bonds' agent Jeff Borris.

Borris said that the additional language in Bonds' contract would be unenforceable if the matter ever was litigated because baseball's collective bargaining agreement would take precedence. Because of that, Borris said the inclusion of the added provision is meaningless.

"Although it is not my policy to comment on the specifics of an individual player's contract, the reporting that Barry will allow the Giants to get out of his contract if he is indicted on the federal steroid investigation is inaccurate," he said. "The collective bargaining agreement governs the work relationship between the owners and players, not the Giants' unilateral assertions."

From this we can conclude that Brian Sabean's IQ is a bit short of Bonds' single-season home run record. I mean, seriously, if it turns out that it's no big deal and that part of the contract is invalid, was Sabean tricked into thinking it would hold up? And in such an event, would he think he could get away with such a thing?

One comparison which could potentially be drawn by the MLBPA is Kobe Bryant, and how he played despite the rape trial going on. Of course, there was nothing in Bryant's contract about rape indictments, nor did Bryant have a reputation as a rapist beforehand, so that weakens the analogy. After all, Bonds' head got bigger - literally.

The saving grace for San Francisco is that Bud Selig rejected the deal. The question is whether or not the Giants will continue to cave, or what other concessions will have to be made to get the contract signed, because this is a very stupid deal. I don't know if they're without a choice because they agreed in principle or something, but either way, that's just screwy.

Labels: Economic Stuff, MLB