SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Barry Bonds is back with the San Francisco Giants just as the club had hoped.
Bonds, who spent a one-season stint as Miami's hitting coach last year before being fired, will serve as a special adviser to CEO Larry Baer.
The home run king was scheduled to help coach at spring training beginning today in Scottsdale, Ariz. He will work with the minor league teams, something that had been in the works for a couple of months. General manager Bobby Evans mentioned it last month at FanFest.
"We are delighted to welcome Barry back home to the Giants," Baer said. "As one of the greatest players of all-time, Barry's contributions to our organization are legendary. He joins Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda and other distinguished alumni who help advise the club and we look forward to working with him again."
Now an avid cyclist at age 52, Bonds also will represent the organization in the community and at various Giants events.
"I am excited to be back home with the Giants and join the team in an official capacity," Bonds said. "San Francisco has always been my home and the Giants will always be my family. I look forward to spending time with the team, young players in the system as well as the Bay Area community."
Bonds received 53.8 percent of the vote in the 2017 Hall of Fame ballot by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, up from 44.3 percent the previous year. He got just 36.2 percent on his initial ballot appearance in 2013.
The seven-time NL MVP spent his final 15 seasons with the Giants and hit 762 career home runs.
In July 2015, federal prosecutors dropped what was left of their criminal case against him after a nearly decade-long steroids prosecution, something the slugger said lifted a huge weight from his shoulders.
Bonds broke Hank Aaron's career home runs record of 755 on Aug. 7, 2007, in the last of his 22 big league seasons.
All along, he's said he knows in his heart he's a Hall of Famer - regardless if he is ever enshrined at Cooperstown.