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A Barry bad way to go out

Barry Bonds has no job, and no prospects. And his agent, Jeff Borris, conceded he appears to have no future as a major league player. "It's an unfortunate ending,'' Borris said. "He doesn't deserve to exit the game this way. It's not fair. He deserves better.''

Bonds is at home in Beverly Hills, Calif., the realization surely setting in. "Nobody wants him,'' Borris said.

Borris is a prominent agent in frequent contact with major league teams. He spent months trying to sell Bonds. Now no one's mentioned him in weeks in his many conversations with baseball executives. "They never bring up his name,'' Borris said.

"It feels very strange being at an All-Star Game and Barry not being here,'' Borris also said. "He was an All-Star in 2007,and he could have repeated his performance in 2008 but for the conspiring against him.''

Conspiracy is a fancy way to say collusion without saying collusion. The union may have more to say on that later -- though all of Bonds' baggage may make that a tough case.

Bonds favorite and Mets closer Billy Wagner wouldn't comment on the conspiracy theory (a first no-comment ever for Wagner, which shows you how touchy the subject is). But he did say, "I hate not seeing him here.''

Boras: From miracles to mediation

There appears to be détente between Boras and superstar Alex Rodriguez. Boras spent two long days in discussion with Rodriguez and his wife, Cynthia, in Toronto on his way here for the All-Star Game. That couldn't have been the agent's favorite assignment. One thing about Boras' relationship with A-Rod; he's earned every penny of that $25 million or so in commissions from A-Rod's two mega-contracts.

A-Rod was composed in his comments at Monday's All-Star media day, deftly handling the one passing reference to Madonna by saying, "Look, everyone has distractions. Everyone goes through personal issues. Mine are on the front page of the papers. I'm fine with it. ... You have to deal with that, challenging times."

It appears Boras was requested to help mediate the divorcing couple's financial situation. "He's still their lawyer,'' one person close to Boras said to explain the surprise meeting. One reason why Boras could undertake this undesirable task to mediate for the two is that he is said to have an excellent relationship with Cynthia. Of course, she has to like him a heck of a lot better than she does A-Rod's newest agent, Gus Oseary, the longtime Madonna rep.

Until the Toronto meeting it is believed that Boras was communicating with A-Rod through a middle man. Perhaps by now, though, Rodriguez recalled that Boras helped make him the richest athlete ever, thanks to the ingenious opt-out clause in his initial $252-million contract (though A-Rod's talent didn't hurt, either). It's only since getting together with Oseary that the need for dividing up assets came into play.

Around the Majors

• One GM didn't think the Braves would trade Teixeira. "They like their team,'' that exec said.

• It's hard to believe the Angels have let K-Rod get within months of free agency. "It's something I can't control,'' Francisco Rodriguez said. He didn't sound all that disappointed, however. "The market's going to change. Every year it goes higher and higher,'' he said. One baseball exec predicted K-Rod would get $15 million a year. "He's better than Rivera,'' that exec opined. I'm not sure that's possible (even K-Rod wouldn't agree -- "I have a lot of work to do to be compared with him,'' he said), but he's pretty good.

• Even if Holliday stays put, the Rockies will probably trade reliever Brian Fuentes, who's drawing a lot of interest in a weak relief market.

• The All-Star press conference brought back memories of the announcement of the Mitchell Report, which was held in the very same room. That event, held last November, was certainly more memorable. Though starting pitchers Cliff Lee and Ben Sheets were suitably humbled by their appointments. Sheets remarked that NL manager Clint Hurdle was "probably the most popular man in Louisiana right now.''

• Milton Bradley outdressed everyone and did everything he could to make a nice impression at the press conference. Meanwhile, Manny Ramirez made no impression, as he didn't show for the press conference. On the plus side, he didn't rough up any senior citizens.

• The AL has some big advantages in its quest to win an 11th straight All-Star Game. One is all its great closers, from Rivera to K-Rod to Jonathan Papelbon to Joe Nathan. Another is that NL pitchers Brandon Webb and Tim Lincecum pitched on Sunday and may not be able to provide much help. And Edinson Volquez threw a tough eight innings on Saturday.

• Josh Hamilton ... wow. That's all I'll say about that. OK, maybe one more thing: How does Justin Morneau go home with the Home Run Derby trophy if everyone knows that Hamilton outdid him by about a mile (in home-run distances)?