The Marlins, looking to juice up their offense, have designs on bringing in controversial home run king Barry Bonds as their hitting coach. Bonds, the all-time home runs leader (762) and single-season home run leader (73), is going to join Frank Menechino on the Marlins staff, and likely be charged with improving the already super human Giancarlo Stanton.
Barry Bonds, with negotiations not yet finalized, tentatively plans to accept the #Marlins offer to be hitting coach with Frank Menechino.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 1, 2015
A-Rod Snubbed For Comeback Player Of The Year
For anyone skeptical about whether Bonds’ own hitting prowess – he was considered a lock Hall of Famer long before steroid questions began dogging him – he has one powerful name that can serve as a testimonial to his teaching talents. That man is the equally controversial Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, who spoke with Joel Sherman of The New York Post about the Bonds hire.
A-Rod worked last offseason with Bonds. So I asked A-Rod what he thought of Bonds potentialyl being hired by #Marlins (Cont) #Yankees — Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 1, 2015
A-Rod: “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. (cont)
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 1, 2015
A-Rod on Bonds continued: I'll be really excited to see what (Giancarlo) Stanton will do with Barry there to develop (him).” #Marlins — Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 1, 2015
MLB Commish Has Kind Words For A-Rod
Get your chuckles out … are you finished? The obvious parallel to draw here is between Rodriguez’s admitted steroid use and Bonds’ “suspected” history of using PEDs. Rodriguez’s 2015 campaign is a testament to Bonds’ ability as an instructor, though.
A-Rod, who played in just 44 games in 2013 before missing the entire 2014 season on suspension, returned in 2015 to be arguably the Yankees’ most productive hitter. Despite a second-half swoon, Rodriguez slashed .250/.356/.486 with a team-high 33 home runs. He was a significantly better overall hitter in the first half of the year, but he maintained his power stroke during the second half (15 home runs). His slow down can be attributed to being a 40-year-old man; it’s unlikely that Stanton, 26, will suffer from such fatigue.
Stanton, a six-year pro, already has swatted 181 home runs in his career, and has never hit fewer than 22 homers in a season.
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