SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. _ The last time Giants fans saw Barry Bonds, he was coasting by AT&T Park at FanFest on his bicycle and stopping to sign autographs.
Bonds is going to have his own parking space now.
The Giants announced they have agreed to an arrangement with Bonds on a front office position as a special advisor to CEO Larry Baer. The seven-time National League MVP will arrive at the club's spring training home in Arizona on Tuesday to begin a weeklong stint as a special instructor.
Bonds also will spend time as a coach and mentor in minor league camp. During the season, he will serve as a major asset to the club's marketing, community relations and promotions departments. In a news release, the Giants said that Bonds would "represent the organization at various community and organizational events in San Francisco."
"I am excited to be back home with the Giants and join the team in an official capacity," said Bonds in a news release. "San Francisco has always been my home and the Giants will always be my family. I look forward to spending time with the team, young players in the system as well as the Bay Area community."
It's a role that the Giants long wanted to establish with Bonds, but negotiations were contentious ever since former CEO Peter Magowan declined to re-sign him after the 2007 season when he broke Hank Aaron's all-time home run record.
Bonds spent last season as the hitting coach for the Miami Marlins, but was not retained.
"We are delighted to welcome Barry back home to the Giants," Baer said in the news release. "As one of the greatest players of all-time, Barry's contributions to our organization are legendary. He joins Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda and other distinguished alumni who help advise the club and we look forward to working with him again."
Bonds, 52, had a 10-year personal services contract tacked on to his last extension as a player with the Giants, with an annual salary of $1 million payable to the Bonds Family Foundation, but he and the club delayed the activation of that contract as he was under federal prosecution for his role in the Balco case and then spent several years appealing a conviction for obstruction of justice. Bonds eventually won his appeal and overturned his felony conviction.
It was not immediately known if the Giants and Bonds were beginning the personal services deal. More likely, they agreed to a new agreement, the terms of which weren't immediately known.
Bonds has gained some acceptance with the passage of time since the height of baseball's steroid era, and has built some traction among Hall of Fame voters in the past two election cycles.
It's possible that his formal reunion with the club could pave the way for Bonds to be added to the club's Wall of Fame, and eventually, have a statue built at the ballpark that he helped build the momentum to erect.
