Bonds’ Contract With Giants Raises Issues Around CBA

Giants Reworking Bonds’ Contract After Rejection From MLB Commissioner

Barry Bonds gave the Giants “the right to terminate his $15.8[M], one-year contract if he is indicted” in the federal BALCO investigation, which “could set off a legal test between the rights in an individual player’s contract and rights under” the CBA, according to Ronald Blum of the AP. Bonds’ agent, Jeff Borris, said that the version of Bonds’ contract sent to the office of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig was not approved, and that the team is “redrafting the agreement to address the provisions in question.” Blum added Bonds also “gave up the right to ask the [MLBPA] to file a grievance if he is indicted and the contract is terminated,” but “nothing would stop the union from pursuing a grievance on its own.” Borris indicated that the additional language in Bonds’ contract “would be unenforceable if the matter ever was litigated because [the CBA] would take precedence.” Borris: “The reporting that Barry will allow the Giants to get out of his contract if he is indicted on the federal steroid investigation is inaccurate. The [CBA] governs the work relationship between the owners and players, not the Giants’ unilateral assertions” (AP, 1/31). The Giants declined to discuss details of the contract, but Giants Exec VP & COO Larry Baer said that “there were some areas in which ‘we had to protect ourselves’” (MLB.com, 1/30).

THE UNION’S TAKE: In N.Y., Madden & Quinn note a union official “argued that clause is ‘unenforceable.’” MLBPA and MLB execs have said that an individual player’s contract “cannot supersede” the CBA in terms of when a team “can terminate a guaranteed contract.” A source said MLBPA lawyers have not yet reviewed the contract (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/31). Borris: “Clubs often times try to put in unenforceable provisions into players’ contracts, provisions contrary to the [CBA]. Those provisions never survive” (L.A. TIMES, 1/31). More Borris: “Standard boiler-plate language in any Major League contract states that if the player is convicted of a crime and is incarcerated, the team will not pay the player. ... When Kobe Bryant was accused of [sexual assault] ... he never missed a game so he never missed a day of pay. That’s the way it is in baseball. That’s the way it is in all major sports” (MLB.com, 1/30).

NO TRESPASSING: Another provision in Bonds’ contract prohibits his personal trainers from accompanying him at team facilities, and during an interview yesterday on KNBR-AM, Bonds “insisted he was in favor” of that clause and indicated that that it “wasn’t solely the Giants’ decision.” Bonds: “Because it’s such a negative output into the public because the media has made it that way, we both agreed that it’s the best situation for everybody.” Sources said that MLB “nudged the Giants into insisting on the separation, though MLB’s stance is that the Giants made the final call” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/31).

THEY LOVE EACH OTHER? ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser said the Giants re-signed Bonds “for the very simple reason that as he gets closer and closer to Hank Aaron’s record, they want him approaching it in a Giants uniform. This is about ticket sales.” ESPN’s Michael Wilbon, on the Giants: “It looks like a Barney Fife move. Let me flex now when it’s too late. It’s a face-saving effort” (“PTI,” ESPN, 1/30). ESPN’s Jayson Stark said the Giants “have always had mixed emotions” about whether to resign Bonds, but there is a “very simple reason why he’s back: they needed him and he needed them” (“SportsCenter,” ESPN, 1/30).