At first, I allowed my dislike of Barry Bonds as a person and the fear he would taint the Astros brand of baseball to blind me. Why would the Astros allow the King of the Steroid Era to come into our wholesome town and play for the "good guy" Astros, an organization that has built this reputation over the past 2 decades by having players such as Craig Biggion, Brad Ausmus, and Jeff Bagwell? But, then it dawned on me, or rather my repressed memories came out of the dark. The Astros have already been tainted by steroids. Anybody remember a guy named Roger Clemens? And, oh yeah, our starting shortstop Tejada was a proud member of the group of players named in the Mitchell Report. Now, the Astros have always seemed to have more respected and upstanding citizens on their team, but to think they are better, or less tainted than any other MLB team when it comes to the Steroid Era, is just not true. So public perception aside, why else does the signing of Barry Bonds make sense?
So, by now every Astros fan has had a chance to process the injury to Carlos Lee and what it means for the rest of the 2008 season. While many have written the season off and don't care what the Astros do to fill the void in left field (or more importantly, the no. 4 hole in the lineup), there have been some, including ESPN.com, which have suggested the Astros should sign Barry Bonds (a FA) to fill in for Lee. Now, I must admit, my initial feelings about Bonds joining the Astros were not favorable, but, after some time to think it over and analyze the Astros situation, I say, "why not?"
