Report: Barry Bonds has tentative plans to become Marlins hitting coach
Barry Bonds is one step closer to returning to baseball. The Miami Marlins have offered Bonds a job as a hitting coach and he reportedly has tentative plans to accept.
It’s not official just yet, but here’s the latest from Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
Bonds, 51, would have to leave the Bay Area, where he lives and played for years with the San Francisco Giants. But if he’s looking for an opportunity to return to MLB in a full-time capacity, it sounds like the Marlins would be happy to have him and give him a bigger role than the Giants have in recent years.
The coaching hierarchy as it’s been reported has Bonds as a second hitting coach alongside Frank Menechino, who has been with the Marlins since 2013. New Miami manager Don Mattingly and Menechino are said to be “all in” on the idea, according to Peter Gammons.
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Bonds needs no introduction. He’s baseball’s all-time home-run king, with 762 in his 22-year career. That career is also marked with controversy, as he’s been tied to performance-enhancing drugs for years, thus making him one of the most notorious players in MLB history as well.
Homers and PEDs aside, there’s no doubting Bonds’ acumen as a pure hitter. He knew and executed the mechanics better than almost anyone in baseball history. His approach at the plate, his eye, the way his hands move through the zone — these are things that couldn’t be enhanced by drugs. And they’re the things that would make Bonds a fantastic coach if he’s able to pass them on to the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Dee Gordon and the rest of the Marlins.
Bonds has gotten closer to baseball in the past few years, helping the Giants as a spring training hitting instructor and offering tutelage to players such as Dexter Fowler and Alex Rodriguez. He’s also opened himself up on social media and has been seen at various Giants games. He even partied in the streets of San Francisco with Giants fans after the 2014 World Series.
Count A-Rod as one of people who think Bonds will do well as a hitting coach. He told Joel Sherman of the New York Post:
“You know how much I think of Barry. He has a brilliant baseball mind. I think he’ll be good for the team, the hitters. I’ll be really excited to see what (Giancarlo) Stanton will do with Barry there to develop (him).”
The last couple years have showed us that Bonds wants to be accepted back into baseball again — like Mark McGwire has been, like Manny Ramirez has been. McGwire has been a hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals and is expected to become the San Diego Padres’ next bench coach. Ramirez worked as a hitting instructor for the Chicago Cubs.
[Elsewhere: Johnny Cueto turned down six-year, $120 million offer from Arizona]
The Marlins might be a challenging fit. It’s a sideshow of a team at times, with an owner prone to hasty decisions and meddling in ways most owners don’t. It’s also a fanbase that isn’t as familiar with Bonds and likely is not as sympathetic as the fans in San Francisco.
Still, every comeback needs a first step. And for Bonds, that looks like Miami.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
