MLB Rumors: Barry Bonds...in Tampa Bay?!

The Tampa Bay Rays, being those of infinite wisdom who signed Jose Canseco and Victor Martinez, are reportedly interested in pursuing Barry Bonds. 

You just read that correctly.

Barry Bonds could possibly be donning the Tampa Bay gray.

Honestly, I thought Barry Bonds would next be in Tampa to be in a retirement home, not to be playing baseball. 

Manager Joe Maddon even acknowledged his interest in the career home run champion, shocking the massive Tampa fan base.

"A minor discussion was thrown out there a little bit, and it's really not gone any further than that," Maddon said after Monday's workout at the team's spring training facility. "That's all it is right now."

Maddon seems to know less about this than anyone, but he seems less than enthused to be the next potential manager of the biggest ass in sports.

Look at this quote from the St. Petersburg Press:

"It's hard to conjecture. ... I don't know this man. I only know what I read, and I'm very much open to meeting people and drawing my own conclusions about people. I don't necessarily believe everything that I read," Maddon said.

Forget the fact that he could possibly be facing jail time—he's also a team cancer.

Taking a risk on a person that is proven to be a loner is something that shouldn't be done for a team that's never proven themselves in their 10 year existence.

It could be just a way to sell tickets, but that seems low, even for the desperate owners of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Ponder this scary thought for a moment: If Barry Bonds hits 38 more home runs, he will be the first man to ever hit 800 home runs.

And he'll be doing that on the grandest of stages: Tampa Bay, home of old people and scary tourists.

For now, it's just a rumor of something that could be, and hopefully won't happen while Barry Bonds is still walking the streets.

But it is scary to imagine him being a veteran leader to a bunch of top prospects that are just learning the game at a big league level.