Bonds, Giants Agree to $16M, 1-Year Deal

By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer

document.write(getElapsed("20061208T120151Z"));1 hour agoUPDATED 1 HOUR 6 MINUTES AGO
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Barry Bonds is headed back to the San Francisco Giants, agreeing to a $16 million, one-year deal just hours after the winter meetings ended with just one major trade and only a handful of free-agent signings.
While most team executives packed up and left Thursday, the Giants kept trying to re-sign the 42-year-old slugger. Bonds has 734 home runs and is 22 from breaking Hank Aaron's record.
Bonds and the Giants wound up with a deal that includes performance bonuses that could make it worth a total of $20 million, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because there had been no official announcement.
Bonds has played 14 seasons for the Giants and is coming off a $90 million, five-year contract. He is a seven-time NL MVP and, despite steroids allegations, is a fan favorite in the Bay Area.
There wasn't a lot of other action before the meetings finished up.
Free-agent ace Barry Zito wasn't close to signing and Manny Ramirez remained with the Boston Red Sox. Kansas City made a big move on the final day, agreeing to a $55 million, five-year contract with right-hander Gil Meche.
Also, reliever Guillermo Mota and the New York Mets agreed to a $5 million, two-year contract that pays him $1.8 million next year and $3.2 million in 2008. Mota tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance and is suspended for the first 50 games of next season _ costing him about $600,000.
Backup first baseman Daryle Ward reached a preliminary agreement with the Chicago Cubs on a $1.05 million, one-year deal, and the Atlanta Braves completed their trade to acquire reliever Rafael Soriano from the Seattle Mariners for pitcher Horacio Ramirez.

All this just so he can break some damn record and have actually no real attempts on his part to help the team win. All he cares about is the record and nothing else.

They are basically giving 16 million to a 43 year old who dropped off significantly last year. Giants should have just said "no thanks" and moved on.

And when he breaks the record nobody outside of San Francisco will care.

Do you think Bonds sells tickets?
The Giants must.

And 16 million is a lot for a non-everday player.
I'd be surprised if he plays 100 games.

Barroid will be healthy again this year, and put up good numbers.

Dumb signing on the Giants part but they know if he breaks the record somewhere else they'll be extremely mad knowing that they weren't going to get the money that would generate.