My guess is that he'll plead out to a lesser set of charges. He'll pay fines, get parole time and do PSAs or some such. The fact that he's been convicted of something will give Selig the perfect opportunity to ban him from the HOF.
Selig can't ban anyone from the Hall of Fame. He can ban them from MLB, for specific cause, and then the Hall can decide whether or not to put him on the ballot.
This is a perjury indictment. It's not Bonds failing a drug test. All it does is make teams even more wary of signing him for next year and give writers justification for not voting for him in '12.
And, keep in mind, he hasn't been convicted of anything...yet.
But the feds are usually pretty darn thorough...and sure...before they bring charges of this type. And they certainly don't do it lightly.
Anyone who testifies before a federal grand jury is told about the enormous consequences of their actions. Somehow, based on his entire arrogant history, I could see Bonds potentially dismissing those warnings.
Jason: 1 - Thanks for the correction. 2 - C&P from the indictment http://assets.espn.go.com/media/pdf/071115/bonds.pdf " 9. During the criminal investigation, evidence was obtained including positive tests for the presence of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing substances for Bonds and other professional athletes."
His stooge . . . errrm . . . personal trainer was coincidently released from jail yesterday, where he'd been serving contempt of court charges for most of the past year .