Tony La Russa tried to convince his bosses in St. Louis to sign Barry Bonds this offseason
but they put the kibosh on it. There are two good reasons for that (1) Bonds probably needs to DH these days; and (2) a Bonds signing may be very unpopular with the wholesome, middle American Cardinals fan base. Not that those were the reasons given, however:
This time around, a philosophical stance by the organization stopped the idea before it got very far. The Cardinals have a slew of talented young outfielders, and general manager John Mozeliak wants them to play. "The whole idea of what we tried to do this offseason was to give some of these younger players a chance to play," he said.
The reporter must have arched a dubious eyebrow at that point, because Mozeliak immediately felt the need to explain away the presence of Juan Gonzalez in camp:
Obviously, when we brought in [Juan] Gonzalez, [he was] highly recommended, but there was no risk on our part. I think that's the one guy we'll give it a shot with, and other than that we want to give these younger players a chance to play.
Tell me: if you're only taking a shot with one old outfielder because of a youth movement, is Juan Gonzalez your first choice? He's not mine, no matter how "highly recommended" he came. Why can't Mozeliak just say that he doesn't like that bad old Barry?
Tony La Russa tried to convince his bosses in St. Louis to sign Barry Bonds this offseason but they put the kibosh on it. There are two good reasons for that (1) Bonds probably needs to DH these days; and (2) a Bonds signing may be very unpopular with the wholesome, middle American Cardinals fan base. Not that those were the reasons given, however:
1 comment:
Interestingly, Joe Sheehan put the idea that Bonds is detrimental on the base paths or in the outfield to the test yesterday, and pretty thoroughly trashed it.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7174
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