Home run King Barry Bonds pleaded not guilt to 4 counts of perjury and 1 count of obstruction of justice at the Philip Burton Federal Court Building in downtown San Francisco on Friday.

ByrnesBlogger1 was on the scene and has filed a 10-minute report you can hear as a podcast on this blog. Further written commentary on the case will be posted by San Francisco resident and Giants fan Elizabeth “Tigger” Frantes.

The next court date is February 7th, but Bonds doesn’t have to be there. He also waived his right to a speedy trial so chances are good that he will not have to disrupt the 2008 baseball season for court dates. But that will be confirmed on February 7th when scheduling is done. There may not be a trial at all if a motion to dismiss is granted.

While we wait for the wheels of justice to slowly turn, we can speculate on Bonds’ baseball future. Susan Slusser, Oakland A’s beat writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, reported that an anonymous GM told her at the Winter Meetings that he expected the Oakland A’s to sign Bonds. There is a certain sense to that. The A’s have a history of signing sluggers near the ends of their careers: Mike Piazza and Frank Thomas are the latest examples. Bonds still has the best on base percentage in baseball by a longshot. The Moneyball A’s treasure that stat above all. He also still has pop in his bat–28 homers last year–and A’s are chicks who definitely dig the long ball.

A move across the bay seems to make sense from Bonds perspective also. The San Francisco Bay Area is the one place in the major leagues where Bonds has a lot of fans. A colleague of mine at KPFA who recently relocated here from New York City thinks the Yankees could use him, but could you imagine Bonds dealing with the New York press, especially during this time of legal difficulties for him. But the America League does seem to be his baseball destiny, so that he can finish out his playing days like many sluggers before him…as a DH.

But there’s arguments against it too. The tightfisted Oakland GM Billy Beane may not want to pay Bonds what Bonds thinks he’s worth. There is also Bonds’ stated goal of a World Series ring. With the A’s listening to offers, including offers from the Diamondbacks, for their ace Dan Haren, even though there is no financial pressure to unload Haren–he’s under contract for the next three years at $16.25 million for the entire contract–less then what Bonds made last year alone–it appears that the A’s are conceding the AL West to the Angels. We’ll know more about that if and when they trade Haren and what precisely the deal is.

As far as the Diamondbacks are concerned, the original talk of Haren in return for 4 to 6 minor leaguers has turned to Haren and first baseman Dan Johnson for Conor Jackson and Carlos Gonzalez. The latter deal suggests the A’s want players more useful at the major league level now or in 2009 as opposed to players who might not be major league ready until their new stadium is ready. So maybe the A’s figure they can climb into to wild card position even without Haren, who went 15-9 with a 3.05 ERA last year. Perhaps, although if Barry wants a World Series ring, he probably has a better shot with the Angels…and he has a home in L.A. to boot.

As for the Diamondbacks, Haren would make a nice No. 2 starter.

So what do you think?

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