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All conspiracy theories are not created equal. It's up to us to evaluate each one of them on their particular merits and decide for ourselves. Do I believe the moon landing took place in a studio in Burbank, California? No I don't. Do I think Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassinating JFK? Absolutely not. Do I think that David Stern secretly suspended Michael Jordan for two seasons in the mid 90's for gambling? Yeah right, the NBA cares about TV ratings too much to suspend Jordan for two games, not to mention two years. But do I think that Bud Selig and Major League Baseball are currently colluding to exclude Barry Bonds from resuming his career? Yes, yes I do. Let's take look at the following facts that lead me to think Barry is being blackballed.

Exhibit A: What are we to make of the fact that Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Big Papi Miguel Tajada and Manny Ramirez are going about their careers free of persecution after failing drug tests. What separates these players from Bonds? Why are they somehow eminently employable and Barry Bonds is a pariah? Giambi isn't even good any more and yet he's allowed to come to the ballpark in Oakland and pursue his craft a few miles away from AT&T Park, the former home of Bonds.

Exhibit B: Barry Bonds is still probably really, really good. By any measurement he was still one of the top 5 offensive forces in baseball when last he played in 2007. Leading all of baseball in walks (despite playing only 126 games) and on-base percentage (.480 though he didn't have enough plate appearances to be considered the official leader). In light of these figures I'm fairly certain that had Bonds been allowed to play last year he would have produced similar numbers and would still be a feared hitter today. In short, isn't a healthy Barry Bonds production at least 80% of a healthy Pujols or A-Rod? If the answer is yes, which I suspect it is, then aren't all major league teams intentionally choosing not to get better by ignoring that Barry Bonds is currently available for pennies on the dollar? Does anybody believe that the Giants have a better hitter currently on their roster? Could the Dodgers be stopped with Bonds and Manny in the middle of the lineup come playoff time? How about, Bonds and Pujols, Bonds and Ryan Howard, not to mention every AL team who has a DH spot that would allow Barry to bat without being a defensive liability. If this isn't blackballing of a player, then I don't know what is.

Exhibit C: They say Barry Bonds isn't playing because no baseball team wants to deal with such a "distraction". Really? Well what if I had one of the largest contracts in sports history, admitted to using steroids, and just for good measure I started cavorting around town with Madonna, all in the media capital of the planet. Isn't A-Rod a bigger distraction than Barry Bonds? Bonds may be a jerk, but nobody showed Albert Belle the door when he could still contribute to a team’s success. So he had his own lazy boy recliner in the Giants clubhouse, who cares. He's never had anything remotely close to the angry flare-ups that Milton Bradley gets involved in for every team he plays for. My point is when did MLB teams start taking a moral stand on players who could help them win games and put fans in the seats? They never do that, unless mandated by a higher authority.

I am throwing in a bonus argument free of charge: Whom amongst us ten years ago considered substances that you could rub on your body steroids? I know I didn't. A steroid was always something that I associated with needles. So is it at least somewhat plausible that an athlete could be taking human growth hormone in the form of a rub on substance and not know he was cheating? (C'mon admit it, you know I'm right)

Exhibit D: Bud Selig didn't want Bonds’ record to become unsurpassable. He and Hank Aaron are good friends. Selig couldn't stop the Giants from playing Bonds when he was still under contract for the Giants, but once his contract was over, the Giant's nor any other of the 29 MLB teams refused to take on the best player of the last decade. At last count Bonds had 762 home runs. By any conservative estimate, a reasonably healthy Bonds would have eclipsed a new baseball milestone of 800 career homers, and put Aarons old record further and further in the distance. I firmly believe that Selig looked and saw that Bonds wasn't going to retire anytime soon and could play well into his mid 40's. He was still effective enough, and if he kept on his current pace, no "clean" player (say A-Rod, who wasn't fingered as a performance enhancement user at the time or Albert Pujols) would be able to catch him in a few years. Thus the all-time home run king for the next 40 or so years would remain Bonds, a less than lovable steroids cheat. Selig thought it was his responsibility to stop this. By the way, this is why I love the NFL- Jerry Jones, Al Davis, and Daniel Snyder don't play that game, if they see a chance to improve their team, they roll the dice, they take the risk. In baseball, everybody falls in line. This is why the baseball owners didn't want Mark Cuban to buy the Cubs. He was too risky; they wouldn't be able to control him.

In light of this evidence, do you think it's possible that Barry is being blackballed? Major League teams have chosen not to get better in defense of a principal that they are already breaking by employing other admitted cheaters. I'd love to see an investigation of this, and there would be one if Barry were more of a sympathetic figure. As it stands, the MLB trade deadline has passed, looks like top pitcher Roy Halladay will remain with the Blue Jays and the best available hitter is waiting for a big league call that will never come.