Barry Bonds, one of the most polarizing figures in baseball is a free agent after being used by the Giants during his run to history and the all-time home run record last season. Here are five reasons why Barry Bonds is good for baseball and why a team should sign him.

1) He puts fans in the seats. A team that needs some love from the attendance figures would be wise to sign Barry. The Giants had the 8th best attendance figures last year despite having a 71-91 record. He is also a draw on the road where fans either come to see his ability to hit home runs or to heckle him.

2) Barry provides a great villain. Face it, we love our villains and Barry is one of the biggest in all of sports. Fans love to show up (see above) to heckle him and make funny signs or throw syringes. Sure A-Rod is an easy replacement, but he’s not surly and angry like Bonds. Bonds was polarizing long before BALCO because of his moodiness and ego, and will only carry on his surliness if he comes back.

3) It gives us a reason to hate Pedro Gomez. Pedro Gomez was one of the main reporters from ESPN who consistently covered Bonds during the many investigations and throughout the home run chase. He is to sports reporters as ambulance chasers are to lawyers. Gomez did everything but hide in Barry’s trash cans during the BALCO investigations and during the Grand Jury testimony. I am sure he is just doing what ESPN tells him to do but his incessant “breaking” reports during Sports Center make him look slimy and creepy.

4) Bonds is electric. I have seen the pre-steroid Bonds hit homers in Candlestick (thanks Grandpa!) and I have seen the post-roids Bonds hit homers at Pac Bell, AT&T park, or whatever you want to call it now. Every time Bonds came up, no matter the situation, it seemed as if the ball park came alive. You could literally hear the buzz in the stadium and it felt as if the fate of the world rested on each swing of the lumber. His ability to hit the ball - juiced or not - is simply amazing. I am not making excuses, but Bonds was likely a first ballot HOF candidate before BALCO and he still has that electric ability.

5) He makes Bud Selig squirm. I don’t like Selig. I think he is a rat that was/is just as complicit in the whole steroids era than any of the players. He needed the Sosa/McGwire home run chase after the strike, he needed attendance to rise around the league and he needed his legacy to be intact, and he did it all knowing, or at least not asking, about steroids. If you watched the home run chase last year you most likely saw the cut-away shots of the commissioner as he squirmed in his seat, having to stomach his way through each game as Bonds got closer and closer to Hank Aaron’s record. You know that Selig wanted nothing more than to see Bonds pass the record just so that it could all be over. If Bonds were to come back he would have to start answering questions again about Barry and I think it would help people to keep realizing that Selig was in charge during this whole mess!