very receptive to helping them out or does he do his own thing?

this would be an interesting situation if it did happen, but likely a sell out by A's ownership trying to get more $$ and fans

there are rumblings of a kotsay salary dump to braves, so maybe they use some of the savings towards the bonds budget.

here's an interesting question could the "rebuilding" A's offer more lineup protection w/ Cust/Chavez/Barton/Buck/Suzuki etc in 08 than bonds got in 07 w/ feliz/molina/durham etc?

that said, unless bodns is willing to take a paycut and with all his baggage, it seems like a long shot still

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/01/slusser-on-barr.html#comments

Slusser On Barry Bonds Possibilities

We recently named Susan Slusser Rumor Royalty for the A's.  She is the team's beat writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.  As part of the feature she answered a few questions for us.

MLBTR: Could you see any team beside the A's signing Barry Bonds?  In your estimation, what's the most the A's would pay for a year of Bonds

Slusser: An insider told me at the winter meetings that two other teams besides the A's had asked about Bonds, so it's impossible to rule out. If he plays - and that seems to be a pretty big if -- Oakland has the best shot, but estimating a salary is really tough. If there's no other interest and Bonds really wants to play, considering all the issues that surround him, the price tag could be pretty cheap, say $5-$6 million. If there's more interest, it could go up. The A's did pay Mike Piazza $8 million last year.

Do the A's really want Bonds, though? There are good reasons to sign him, and equally solid reasons not to. They need to put fans in the seats after moving their most popular player, and they don't have much in the middle of the order right now. On the other hand, they might alienate much of their fan base with Bonds, and a team that is in "full bore'' rebuilding mode might not be looking to spend on a 43-year-old free agent with lots of legal problems and an iffy clubhouse reputation. There is no doubt it has been discussed internally, however.