Will Bonds’ Collusion Grievance Mean His Return to Baseball?

By Joe Pietaro
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Updated: October 23, 2008

Players’ Union and Commissioner’s Office Reach Agreement

Now that the obvious has been admitted, will it mean that baseball’s home run king will return to the game? It was blatant that collusion took place last summer as offenses struggled and Barry Bonds was sitting home. No team had the guts to sign him or go against their brethren by doing so, even if the addition of his lefthanded power would have made a difference for a postseason berth.

If his case is proven, will that open the door for someone to give Bonds a look next spring? It will be difficult to admit a conscious group effort to keep a person out of the game and then have it happen again.

Recently, the Baseball Players’ Union has proven through evidence that teams acted in concert to leave Bonds without a job. They then reached an agreement with the commissioner’s office in delaying the filing of an official grievance, no specific date being set. One has to surmise that nothing will be done until after the World Series is completed.

By coming to the decision with the union, Major League Baseball didn’t exactly dismiss the charges, ones that their attorneys have repeatedly denied in all prior statments. Jeff Borris, Bonds’ agent, has claimed to have “numerous things that occurred” that made him believe that “clubs were acting in concert,” and he further stated that when he has the opportunity to testify, will “delineate each and every one of them.”