The MLB Giants are "gravely concerned with their image and clubhouse cohesion," and President & CEO Larry Baer recently "sounded notes of caution when it comes to acquiring drug-tarnished players," according to Bruce Jenkins of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Baer said, "I'd say we take it on a case-by-case basis. We don't have a blanket policy saying we'll never touch a player that has a PED history. But I'd say that for us, it's a larger mountain to climb than others." Jenkins noted the team was "roundly embarrassed two years ago" when then-LF Melky Cabrera "drew a suspension and essentially fled without fully explaining himself to teammates." Baer: "It's one thing for our front office to be aghast about the PED thing, but in that instance, a player lost the clubhouse. That's a very dangerous way to go. ... You don't want to sign somebody and start wondering, 'Is this guy a fraud?'" Baer noted team officials, including GM Brian Sabean and VP & Assistant GM/Player Personnel Dick Tidrow, "want people with character." Baer: "That's how we've built our clubs. A lot of guys in our clubhouse went through the Melky thing, so they're a little bit wary to begin with." Jenkins notes the Giants "made an exception" for 1B Michael Morse, whose "reputation within the game has been solid since 2005, his rookie season with Seattle, when he drew a 10-game suspension for steroid use." Baer's comments come after Barry Bonds spent a week with the team as a "part-time hitting coach." However, that "recent goodwill mission ... was merely an extension of an ongoing outreach process." There is talk of putting Bonds on the team's "Wall of Fame along the King Street side of AT&T Park" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/19).
