All over for Bonds
 

The A's were Barry Bonds' best hope, the team that appeared most interested in signing him.

No more.
The A's, sources say, no longer are considering Bonds, who on Thursday was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.
The withdrawal of the A's interest virtually ensures that Bonds will be without a team to start next season. If the A's won't take Bonds, probably no club will.
Over the past several weeks, the A's had done their "due diligence" on Bonds, sources say, trying to determine whether he would be indicted while also investigating other concerns.
That's as far as it went.
A's officials are still deciding whether to build up or scale back in preparation for next season. Bonds, 43, might have been the centerpiece of Plan A, serving as the team's designated hitter.
Bonds' indictment, however, means he could miss much of next season. His trial likely will start at some point after Opening Day. If he is found guilty, he could be sentenced to prison.
"How can you aggressively pursue somebody when the availability of the player is in question?" says one source familiar with the A's. "How can you put a plan together when part of the plan wouldn't be there?" Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris, declined comment.
The A's, under general manager Billy Beane, frequently value performance over personality. Beane would have drooled over Bonds' on-base/slugging percentage. The Bay Area is perhaps the only part of the country where Bonds is still accepted.

Ken Rosenthal

While I don't pray for Bonds downfall, I do wish he would just be honest. Unless you've never lifted weights in your life, you can't buy the fact that your body changed that much in that time without supplements of some type. You used illegal substances, fine, admit to it so the whole issue can move on. IMO it is the attempt to ignore the issue that becomes a problem. I do think he is getting screwed by the Giants. They *knew* something was up but kept him around to fill the seats. Similar to now NCAA schools casually overlook drug/jail issues with athletes to keep the alum happy.

Side bar: I had a friend who roided up over the summer one year. For people that haven't seen that stuff in action here ya go; he went from 5-10 and around 165lbs (muscle) to nearly 200lbs of muscle in the period of a few months.

I wouldnt go as far as praying for his downfall, But I just hope he gets what he deserves. If proven guilty,I think, he should have his name removed from all records he broke or tied and to be banned from baseball and never inducted into the hall. For the morons who think he is innocent maybe their minds will change when they see him on tv in 10 years making a press conference about how he has a brain tumor or organ failure ala Lyle Alzado, then maybe they will get it.

I have many friends who did/do steriods, as Wagner says the change is mind-blowing, I had a friend who went from 150 to probably 225 in little less than a year, he got so big he literally couldnt wash his own back. After his appendix burst(while we were doing crunches) kidney and liver problems, and had surgery for removing cysts he finally stopped and guess where he is now back to 150lbs. They will slowly kill you and he will probably live a very short life.