Barry Bonds is one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, which is why the Miami Marlins were excited to bring him in as their hitting coach back in 2016. The partnership lasted just one season, however, and now we have a better understanding of why.
Former Marlins president David Samson discussed Bonds’ tenure as the team’s hitting coach during his weekly appearance on “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” show. Samson said there were issues from the time Bonds began negotiating a contract with Miami, as he refused to take a salary that was any lower than $1.5 million, which is well above what most MLB hitting coaches make. The coaching itself was apparently a nightmare, too.
“He had fun as a hitting coach because he would hang out with [Giancarlo] Stanton and give Stanton some pointers. But he was ineffective, completely,” Samson said, as transcribed by Jesse Pantuosco of 97.5 The Game. “He would sleep in the clubhouse. He would not pay attention during games. He did not work hard. It was a complete disaster.”
Samson said the Marlins paid most of Bonds’ salary off the books by secretly depositing money in his private holdings company. He said Bonds was an “absolute pain in the a– about pay” and that other staffers would have quit on the spot if they knew what the former slugger was making.
It was obvious that something was amiss when the Marlins chose not to bring Bonds back after the 2016 season. This isn’t the first we have heard about him not getting along with players, and there were even reportedly some issues between him and Stanton.
Bonds, of course, is one of the most controversial figures in sports history. Him not getting along with people is nothing new, but it sounds like the situation in Miami was worse than previously reported.
