Bonds doesn't plan to play this year

[mweir145]

Hi smedia agent blew this one though. Announcing you are out for the season the same day they catch Palmeiro further makes everyone believe he is just hiding out from the testing.

Definately. His PR guy or agent or even Bonds himself picked the worst time to release the news. Not a good decision for his already damaged credibility.

Bad timing, that's true.

I still don't believe he's hiding from any testing, though.

[TheYanks04]

This is the agreement in place now that was signed back in 2003. Under Attachment 18, page 168:

The Major League Baseball Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment
Program (the “Program”) is established by agreement of the Office of the Commissioner and the Major League Baseball Players Association (the “Commissioner’s Office,” the “Association” and, jointly, the “Parties”) (1) to educate Players on the Major League Clubs’ 40-man rosters(“Players”) on the risks associated with using Prohibited Substances (defined in Section 2 below); (2) to deter and end the use by Players of Prohibited Substances; and (3) to provide for, in keeping with the overall purposes of the Program, an orderly, systematic, and cooperative resolution of any disputes that may arise concerning the existence, interpretation, or application of this agreement. Except as otherwise provided herein, any dispute arising under this Program shall be subject to resolution through the Grievance Procedures of the Basic Agreement.


That reads to me that only players on the 40 man roster count. There may be some legalese somewhere else in this document to include hurt players in this pool, but I can't find it.

[Rirruto]

This is the agreement in place now that was signed back in 2003. Under Attachment 18, page 168:

The Major League Baseball Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment
Program (the “Program”) is established by agreement of the Office of the Commissioner and the Major League Baseball Players Association (the “Commissioner’s Office,” the “Association” and, jointly, the “Parties”) (1) to educate Players on the Major League Clubs’ 40-man rosters(“Players”) on the risks associated with using Prohibited Substances (defined in Section 2 below); (2) to deter and end the use by Players of Prohibited Substances; and (3) to provide for, in keeping with the overall purposes of the Program, an orderly, systematic, and cooperative resolution of any disputes that may arise concerning the existence, interpretation, or application of this agreement. Except as otherwise provided herein, any dispute arising under this Program shall be subject to resolution through the Grievance Procedures of the Basic Agreement.


That reads to me that only players on the 40 man roster count. There may be some legalese somewhere else in this document to include hurt players in this pool, but I can't find it.

Under MLB's new steroids policy, Bonds and all other players are eligible to be tested between one and five times per year. Even though Bonds has been on the disabled list all season, all players on the DL are eligible to be tested.

[mweir145]

Under MLB's new steroids policy, Bonds and all other players are eligible to be tested between one and five times per year. Even though Bonds has been on the disabled list all season, all players on the DL are eligible to be tested.

Ya, I didn't think he was hiding. He may have taken steroids before in his career(his numbers certainly point towards it), but everyone is innocent until proven guilty in my mind.

[amich1]

so obvs... Anyone who actually believes barry isn't playing for any other reason is in denial. This guy is the biggest fraud in the history of MLB. He doesn't want to pee in a cup. He doesn't want to expose how much the 'roids changed his game. You could call him Barry "Brett Boone" Bonds. Stick a fork in him.... he hardly deserves to break any records anyway. Wake up people. HE DOESN"T WANT TO PEE IN A CUP.
No matter what other reasons he may give, that is the truth.
To any and all Barry fans, you guys cannot honestly believe he didn't know what he was taking?????? You guys are in MAJOR denial. Barroids power was and is drug induced. He is and will forever be a FRAUD. Time to wake up and smell the cream & clear. The last 5 + yrs. of his career are nothing more than a 'roid illusion.

[Rirruto]

Wake up people. HE DOESN"T WANT TO PEE IN A CUP. No matter what other reasons he may give, that is the truth.

He just pissed in a cup this past May

[mweir145]

so obvs... Anyone who actually believes barry isn't playing for any other reason is in denial. This guy is the biggest fraud in the history of MLB. He doesn't want to pee in a cup. He doesn't want to expose how much the 'roids changed his game. You could call him Barry "Brett Boone" Bonds. Stick a fork in him.... he hardly deserves to break any records anyway. Wake up people. HE DOESN"T WANT TO PEE IN A CUP.
No matter what other reasons he may give, that is the truth.
To any and all Barry fans, you guys cannot honestly believe he didn't know what he was taking?????? You guys are in MAJOR denial. Barroids power was and is drug induced. He is and will forever be a FRAUD. Time to wake up and smell the cream & clear. The last 5 + yrs. of his career are nothing more than a 'roid illusion.

Did you read the part about Bonds "peeing in a cup" on the previous page?

Edit: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7985450/

[wrveres]

Found it here:

http://www.roadsidephotos.com/baseball/ ... eement.pdf


Reading it now.

The gentleman who hosted that site passed away two years ago ..
RIP Doug Pappas ... A great baseball historian and SABR researcher


As for Bonds being tested on the DL, yes he can, and has been already this season. Yanks 04 know this since we tell him that seemingly every month, but he chooses just to try and be cute and funny and ignore it.

You'll also notice that he never, ever, ever calls for Sheff, or Giambi to pee in a cup twice a week...

Kind of Hypocritical don't ya think?

[Madison]

It doesn't matter if the player is on the DL or not. Any player can be tested. Here is a story from a few months ago that suggests Bonds has been tested already this season.

I thought I had read somewhere that he had already been tested. Thanks for the link. Really should clear up the "he's hiding from the testing" people out there since he's already been tested this year.

Stinks since I was really hoping for him to return. Not really a fan of his and I hope he doesn't break the home run record, but one of my teams sure could have used some production from him. Still not really sold that he won't come back, and it's not like he hasn't said one thing and done another before. Guess I'll still wait a few days and see just how this looks then.

[Dawgpound 1613]

Honestly - who cares whether he's been tested or not. He admitted, under oath, to using steroids. Now he can allege that he didn't KNOW they were steroids (yeah, right), but he admitted that he used the clear and the cream.

So maybe he is being tested. And when the test comes back that they haven't clerared his system and he's still positive, he has another update on his web site how his rehab isn't progressing as well as he'd hoped and his return is going to get pushed back even further.

His first knee surgery came after his grand jury testimony was leaked. To me, that was simply the excuse he was going to use to serve a one year suspension for the admitted use of steroids. I know 50+ year old women who were 30+ pounds overweight (i.e. not in top athletic shape) who were back to normal and running 5k races and playing softball within 6 months. Bonds is a top athlete with some of the best doctors and trainers and rehab specialists money can by and he's still having trouble 6 months later and thinks he'll need another 2-3 months to recover?!? Please.

In my opinion, he's simply serving a one year suspension under the guise of a knee injury as part of an agreement he and MLB have based on his admitted use of steroids. Can you imagine the hoopla of Bonds chasing and passing Babe and possibly Aaron after his testimony came out? A black eye on baseball. So he serves a one year ban, comes back and tests clean for 2006 and beyond. And if he still breaks the record, MLB can point to the program as showing he did so as a clean athlete.

So I'm not shocked by this news at all. Heck, in ST, Barry even admitted this could happen. Again, I think he knew it would and was giving people a forewarning that this would occur. Why would he have made such a statement in ST if not? It is just too suspicious that every article I read in ST talked about how well he was progressing and was having to be "reinged in", etc. and yet here we are 6 months later and he's still out even though the average person is 100% again.