Barry Bonds is desperate to get back on the baseball field. So much so that his $15-18 million asking price is now down to the major league minimum. His agent Jeff Borris told Ryen Russillo of ESPNRadio that Bonds would play this year for the minimum salary. Borris said, "What other option does he have?"

Is fighter Tito Ortiz going to face a similar fate in the MMA world? This is not to say Ortiz has been involved in a drug scandal like Bonds but the slugger is out of baseball as much for his attitude as the steroid mess. Ortiz may be developing the reputation that he's a guy who is impossible to work with.

For some reason, he went public with the claim that he had a done deal with Affliction. MMARated spoke with Affliction COO Michael D. Cohen and it sounds like the upstart MMA company is feeling some UFC-like frustration.

"I can't disclose that," said Cohen, when asked about how much money Ortiz was looking for. "Let's just say it was more than ANY league could afford. What Tito was asking for was unreasonable and unrealistic."

Even if the two sides could come to a deal, it appears that the Oct. 11 Affliction 2 card is out for a Ortiz debut

"Again, the issue is even if we do sign Tito in the very near future, do we want him to fight on the October 11th card? Tito needs to train, he needs to be in the best possible condition he can be and the longer it takes to solidify the agreement, the shorter the time period is for him to do what's necessary to be in the best shape he can be in.

Cohen didn't seem upset when hearing the news that Ortiz may be speaking with the UFC about a return but did say it was surprising considering the bad blood between the fighter and UFC president Dana White. He added that there's no way UFC would pay Ortiz the amount he had asked for from Affliction.

MMARated's Ariel Helwani also discovered that Ozzy Osborne will fill the gaps during breaks at the Affliction 2 card in Las Vegas.

Ortiz could be making a wise business move by biding his time. EliteXC and Affliction may need an Ortiz infusion if things are headed in the wrong direction to start 2009. Of course, the wrong direction could mean they're out of business. How long is too long for Ortiz to wait to get a huge deal?