<div><p>NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home run record holder Barry Bonds will not be returning to Major League Baseball, his agent said on Thursday, effectively confirming the player's retirement.</p><p>Bonds, who faces charges that he lied to a grand jury about steroid use, has not played in the past two seasons but had never formally retired.</p><p>His agent Jeff Borris told The San Francisco Chronicle though that he saw no chance of a return for the 45-year-old slugger, who technically is still a free agent.</p><p>"It's two years since he played his last game, and if there was any chance he'd be back in a major-league uniform, it would have happened by now," Borris said.</p><p>"When 2008 came around, I couldn't get him a job. When 2009 came around, I couldn't get him a job. Now, 2010 ... I'd say it's nearly impossible. It's an unfortunate ending to a storied career," he said.</p><p>Bonds has a record 762 career home runs, seven National League MVP awards and in his final season for the San Francisco Giants had a .276 batting average with 28 home runs in 126 games.</p><p>Borris said that he was sure that despite his age Bonds would still be capable of performing at a high level but that no team wanted to be associated with him.</p><p>"I'm sure if they gave him two weeks in a (batting) cage, he'd be hitting amongst the best in the game right now but Major League Baseball will never give him that chance.</p><p>"If they would have let Barry play baseball until his on-base percentage dropped below .400, he probably would've been playing until he was 56," Borris said.</p><p>(Reporting by Simon Evans in Miami; editing by Kevin Fylan)</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=65240599&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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