Former San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds has his eyes on fellow Bay Area native Aaron Judge.
Now an independent contractor with the Giants, Bonds told Sportico that Judge should "go for it" as the New York Yankees star tries to break Roger Maris' 61 home run mark.
“The way he swings he might as well hit one a day and get past me. I don’t care. Why not?” Bonds said.
Judge signed a one-year deal worth $19 million and is set to become a free agent by season's end. The outfielder on his way to a Triple Crown season could be set for one of the biggest pay days in the big leagues, miles away from the seven-year, $213.5 million he was offered last year.
Bonds, who holds various home run records but will be forever tainted as one of the main actors in the controversy of MLB's steroid era , doesn't have a say in who comes in and out of the Giants' roster. However, the 58-year-old admitted he'd like to see Judge in San Francisco.
“I hope he signs here,” Bonds said. “Can it happen? I don’t know. It depends on what the Yankee payroll is. But we would love to have him, I’ll tell you that.”
Bonds is also watching Albert Pujols in his chase to 700 homers calling him "one of my guys" and "a master of that art.”
The Cardinals slugger is sitting at 698 home runs with 11 games to go in the regular season.
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.