Barry Bonds will accept Miami Marlins' hitting coach position, per report

Just yesterday it was reported that Barry Bonds had been under consideration for a hitting coach role with the Marlins. Less than 24 hours later, it was reported that the Marlins have actually extended an offer to Bonds and it appears likely that he will become a hitting coach alongside the inherent Frank Menechino:

Welcome back, Barry Bonds. He is close to returning to #MLB as #Marlins new hitting coach. https://t.co/vY49tDtVBv pic.twitter.com/Ubqo7pWvjS

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 1, 2015

Since retiring from the game following the 2007 season, Bonds has mostly stayed away from baseball. He has had some involvement with his former club, the San Francisco Giants, as a special assistant during Spring Training in recent years, but besides that has been mostly out of the baseball spotlight for some time.

The 51-year-old is the all-time leader in home runs(762), intentional walks (688), and walks overall (2,558). Of course, Bonds did have a controversial finish to his career, which most likely led to him being out of the spotlight and unable to land a coaching gig until now. Bonds was one of a few headline athletes, along with Rodger Clemens and Marion Jones, who were at the center of the BALCO investigation surrounding steroid use in the early 2000s. Following the 2007 season, Bonds was indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice based off of his testimony. At the conclusion of the trail in 2011 Bonds was convicted just on the obstruction of justice charge. Earlier this year that conviction was overturned in an U.S. Appeal's court.

Ultimately, hiring Bonds as a co-hitting coach is a move that should come without any repercussions. As a hitting coach Bonds will be out of the spotlight and away from the media in general. As long as the players leave their whatever thoughts/feelings they previously had about him at the door and respect what he teaches, then this could turn out to be a solid hire for a young Marlins club.