Keep on raking

Barry Bonds is not a good fit for the San Francisco Giants. Bonds is too big a portion of their payroll, especially if he isn't playing 140 games. Bonds, the player, misses the protection of Jeff Kent and can no longer patrol left field at Gold Glove level.

The place for Barry Bonds is Anaheim as the Angels' DH. The Angels missed out, just barely, on Paul Konerko returning to California and didn't make a big splash in the off-season. They might have to wait a year, but save a spot in the line-up right in front of Vlad Guerrero. Guerrero is his own protection. He'll swing at anything and he'll hit it hard. He'll also protect Bonds. Are you going to pitch around Bonds with Guerrero on-deck. Not nearly as often as you will with Moises Alou due up.

The end of last season showed that Bonds is still a great hitter. Given two years (after this one), hitting in front of Vlad, Bonds might be able to shoot for 850 HR's. Bonds is the greatest player of my lifetime. He was great defensively, on the basepaths, and, definitely, at the plate. His 2002 playoff run was absolutely amazing. Sure, he can be surly with the media and his teammates. And, I guess it's possible that he's knowingly used steroids. But, we'll miss him when he's gone, even if it's just because we love to hate him.