Report: Barry Bonds loses collusion case

After pursuing a collusion case against Major League Baseball, an arbitrator has ruled against Barry Bonds, who believed the league owners conspired against him to keep him from playing after the 2007 season.

This ruling was first brought to light by Jon Heyman of CBS Sports and was later confirmed by Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Bonds had an outstanding year in 2007 playing for the San Francisco Giants. He hit 28 home runs, had a .480 on-base percentage and a 1.045 OPS. Therefore when he couldn’t land a job with any team the following year, Bonds came to the conclusion that the league owners colluded against him from finding work.

However, the arbitrator ruled against Bonds, citing a lack of a “smoking gun.”

“…there was said to be no smoking gun in the case,” Heyman wrote, “and the arbitrator apparently didn’t find the case compelling enough. While Bonds was still one of the better hitters in the game in 2007, perhaps the arbitrator believed there was leeway to wonder whether all 30 teams independently decided they didn’t want an aging superstar such as Bonds, with serious baggage.”

Obviously Bonds’ perjury and obstruction of justice indictment in November of 2007 had a lot to do with him not being able to find a job. Furthermore, teams likely didn’t want to deal with the negative media attention he would generate afterwards.

After it’s all said and done, Bonds may still find himself with a job in San Francisco.

Schulman reports the Giants and Bonds could could be working on a deal that would give the former slugger a “formal role” with the franchise.