SF Giants history: Barry Bonds "was very close" to choosing the Yankees
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There is no way to tell the story of the SF Giants without Barry Bonds. The eventual Home Run King was the best player in Major League Baseball for more than a decade and was the face of the franchise from 1993-2007. The son of former Giants outfielder Bobby Bonds and the godson of Giants legend Willie Mays, it seems predestined looking back that the Riverside, California native would star in the Bay Area. However, during an appearance on Sunday Night Baseball, Bonds revealed it nearly never came to be.
“It was very close, for about 15 or 20 minutes,” Bonds explained to Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez on the broadcast. “What happened was, and I tell people the true story, the Yankees offered me the same contract I think Ryne Sandberg had at the same time, or a little bit more than that. And, unfortunately, they said you have until 2 o’clock this afternoon to make a decision and my agent said, ‘I’ll get back to you about it.’”
In the winter of 1992, Bonds was the best free agent in the league and at the top of every team's wish list. He had already emerged as a star with the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning the MVP in two of the past three years and finishing second in MVP voting the other year. That season, Bonds had recorded 36 doubles, 34 home runs, 39 stolen bases, 127 walks, and just 69 strikeouts with a .311/.456/.624 triple-slash.
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The Giants eventually swooped in and signed Bonds to a record-setting six-year deal, $43.75 million contract. Prior to Bonds' deal, Cubs infielder Ryne Sandberg had the contract with the highest annual average value in the league at $7.1 million. However, Sandberg only had a four-year deal, suggesting the Yankees' offer was somewhere in the four-year, $30 million range.
The Yankees offer was the best one he had received up to that point, but Bonds was not willing to succumb to their deadline. Bonds was nervous for a bit that he had passed on the best offer he would receive, but the Giants quickly made him forget about any missed opportunity.
“By the time I got to the place to get something to eat," Bonds recalled, "my agent called me back and the San Francisco Giants offered a higher contract and I said, ‘This is great, I want to go home.’”
Imagine how different MLB history would be if Barry Bonds had signed with the New York Yankees? How many World Series rings would Bonds have won as a part of their dynastic run in the late-1990s? With more media attention in New York, would Bonds have never been as frustrated by the lack of attention that ultimately led him to use PEDs? If he follows that path, is Babe Ruth still the all-time MLB Home Run King? Or does playing his home games in Yankees Stadium allow Bonds to break the record anyway?
Obviously there's no going back, and the SF Giants are surely happy about the way things played out. Still, it's always fun to look back at the most pivotal moments in sports history and think about how easily things could have gone differently.
