The Mitchell Report Is the Kiss of Death

Contrary to popular belief, being on any team owned by Peter Angelos is not the worst place to be in Major League Baseball. It could be much worse. You could be named in the Mitchell Report and, thus, be blackballed from baseball.

Such is the case for Barry Bonds, Jay Gibbons and Nook Logon, as pointed out by Buster Olney in ESPN the Mag:

The agent for Barry Bonds says that no team is interested in his client -- not even for a minimum salary -- and the circumstances for the lack of offers make him "suspicious."

Gibbons sent a letter to all 30 teams last month asking for a chance in the form of a minor league contract. He even went so far as to offer to donate his salary to charity. But he has been offered no opportunities.

Logan, linked to former New York Mets batboy Kirk Radomski on Page 229 of the Mitchell report, is still out of baseball, at age 28, despite having 56 steals and a .268 batting average in 321 games with the Detroit Tigers and Washington Nationals.

The fact that Bonds can’t find any takers isn’t a huge surprise. Sure, he could be an above average DH somewhere, but there is so much of the proverbial "baggage" there. Personally, I think he deserves another shot, based on nothing other than his .480 OBP last season, but I understand why front offices are skurred.

But Gibbons and Logan being unemployed makes little sense. Granted, neither of them are great players, or necessarily “good” players, but they are certainly adequate back-ups, at the least. And both could be starting outfielders for the bottom feeders, as they were for the O’s and Nats. As a D.C. native, I saw Logan play many times in a Nationals uniform, and, if nothing else, he was hands down the fastest ballplayer I’ve ever seen. And you can’t teach speed. Or maybe I’m thinking of height. Whatever. Dude is blazing fast.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.