Bonds’ Contract With Giants Raises Issues Around CBA
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Giants Reworking Bonds’ Contract After
Rejection From MLB Commissioner
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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).
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