Tainted Barry is back as Fish hitting coach
Barry Bonds is joining the staff of new Marlins manager Don Mattingly as hitting coach. The media-shy, steroids-tainted home run king agreed to a rare conference call Friday, raising his profile as balloting is under way for 2016 Hall of Fame voting.
“I’m a Hall of Fame baseball player with no doubt in my mind, no doubt in my heart,” said Bonds, 51. “God knows that. That’s all that matters to me. I’ll leave the voting process up to you guys.”
Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria first suggested hiring Bonds, according to team president David Samson. Mattingly seconded the idea.
“I’m extremely impressed with Barry’s willingness to be part of this team, and with his excitement about being back and teaching,” Mattingly said.
In 2015, when the Marlins finished 71-91, they ranked next to last in the majors in runs and home runs, and last in walks — an area where Bonds excelled. Bonds is the career leader in home runs with 762 and a seven-time NL MVP. He has privately tutored several players, including Alex Rodriguez.
l The Cubs and righthander John Lackey, 37, agreed on a two-year deal, acccording to multiple reports. Lackey went 13-10 with a 2.77 ERA with the Cardinals last season.
l A person familiar with the negotiations says former Mets lefty Oliver Perez and the Nationals agreed to a $7 million, two-year contract.
l The Tigers reached a $16 million, two-year agreement with ex-Met righthander Mike Pelfrey, 31. He went 6-11 with a 4.26 ERA with the Twins in 2015.
l The Braves acquired hard-throwing righthander Jose Ramirez from the Mariners for a player to be named later and/or cash considerations. The 25-year-old Ramirez was a combined 1-0 with a 12.91 ERA in eight games with Seattle and the Yankees in 2015.
DEVILS FALL IN OT
Matt Read scored on a 2-on-1 break 3:24 into overtime, and the Flyers beat the Devils, 4-3, in Newark for their season-high fourth straight victory. Mike Cammalleri, Stefan Matteau and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Devils (13-10-3).
Jakub Voracek set up power-play goals by Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux for the Flyers (11-10-5).
SPIETH JOINS LEADERS
Jordan Spieth rallied for a 6-under 66 that gave him a share of the lead with Jimmy Walker and Bill Haas going into the weekend at the Hero World Challenge in Nassau, Bahama. All three are 11-under.
LOCAL COLLEGE HOOPS
Iona shot 63% from the floor in a 101-66 pounding of host Marist... Siena beat Manhattan, 89-54, dropping the Jaspers to 1-4... Canisius (3-3) beat visiting Monmouth, 96-86. Monmouth, which had previously beaten UCLA, USC and Notre Dame, is 4-3.