SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Barry Bonds insists he holds no ill will toward the Giants.

A day after they announced he wouldn’t be back next season, Bonds said his 15 years in San Francisco were the best of his life and that he’s ready to move on to another team.

“I can walk out of here with my head high and I’m very proud,” Bonds said Saturday. “I know that when I was in left field in San Francisco there was no one better. … We had fun. For 15 years we had a great time.”

Bonds’ absence will be evident all over the Giants’ ballpark. From the corner of the clubhouse that has been his domain all these years, to the missing kayakers in McCovey Cove who will have no milestone homers to chase, to the empty seats after years of sellouts, it will be a new era in San Francisco.

The biggest void will be in left field and the cleanup spot in the lineup, where Bonds anchored the Giants for so many years.

“All eras come to an end at some point,” owner Peter Magowan said. “Everybody had to go at some point, whether it was Hank Aaron or Ted Williams or what. It didn’t mean that the Red Sox went bye-bye or the Cubs went bye-bye when Ernie Banks left. We’ve been around a hundred years and we expect to be around another hundred years.”

After finishing first or second in nine of Bonds’ first 12 seasons in San Francisco and making the playoffs four times, the Giants have had losing records for three straight seasons as injuries and age have slowed Bonds down.

San Francisco has been out of contention most of this season and is assured of its first last-place finish since 1985. The Giants were able to give their fans the chance to watch Bonds set the all-time home run record this season, but little else from their decision to bring back Bonds.

“If we’d all known this season was going to be as bad as it turned out to be, we might have gone in a different direction with a number of decisions we made in the offseason,” Magowan said. “But I don’t think we can blame Barry for what he did, how he performed. He performed at least up to our expectations.”

Despite turning 43 this season, Bonds remained San Francisco’s best offensive player. Not quite the imposing hitter he was earlier this decade when he began rewriting the record books, Bonds has still managed to hit .279 with 28 homers and 66 RBIs.

In a sign of the fear he instills in the opposition, Bonds still leads the majors with 132 walks, his .483 on-base percentage is the best among players with at least 50 at-bats, and he is slugging .570.

And his presence helped the Giants top 3 million in attendance for an eighth straight season despite being mired in last place in the NL West for most of the season.

“My understanding as far as business and corporations go is if you bring value to a company, you normally have a job. I believe I brought value to the company,” Bonds said. “Like I told Peter, ‘This is your business and I respect your decision.’ You don’t have to let me in your car, it’s your car. That’s business and that’s life. I’m not disappointed in that at all. I’m not mad at that, I’m not angry. Like I always said, baseball is a business.”

No other Giants player had hit 20 home runs through and their cleanup hitters when Bonds sits are batting just .224 with five homers and 24 RBIs in 205 at-bats entering Saturday’s game.

“He’s produced and done everything I’ve asked,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “The decision was made, and it’s time to move forward. We proved this year we can’t ride Barry’s back any more.

“You take Barry out of this lineup and there’s a hole. We need to fill it.”

The Giants are building around their young pitching staff, led by Matt Cain, Noah Lowry, Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito. General manager Brian Sabean has talked of surrounding the rotation with younger and more athletic players in hopes of being able to manufacture runs in the pitching-heavy NL West.

Bonds made $19.3 million in 2007 and while Magowan said the payroll would likely remain close to what it was this year, it’s unlikely that money will be spent on one big-ticket free agent. The top hitters eligible for free agency this offseason include Andruw Jones, Torii Hunter and Mike Lowell – good hitters, but not the type teams can build a franchise around.

Alex Rodriguez could opt out of his deal with the New York Yankees and go on the market. While A-Rod has expressed his love for San Francisco, it’s unlikely the Giants would increase their payroll enough to be able to sign Rodriguez.

“To get that kind of threat in here, I can’t guarantee what’s going to happen,” Sabean said. “It’s going to be a mix-and-match job. I can’t say there’s going to be one name player who’s going to come in here and soften the blow.”

Shortstop Omar Vizquel, third baseman Pedro Feliz and first baseman Ryan Klesko are also eligible for free agency and might not return. The Giants have about $33 million committed to veterans Ray Durham, Dave Roberts, Randy Winn, Rich Aurilia and Bengie Molina for next season. Add in Zito’s $126 million, seven-year contract and it will be difficult to overhaul the team with high-priced players.

The future for Bonds is just as murky.

While he said he wants to keep playing and continue his quest for a World Series title, it’s uncertain how many teams will be interested in an aging slugger who struggles to play the field and is still being investigated by a grand jury for perjury and tax evasion.

“I don’t have to worry about that at this moment in time right now,” Bonds said. “I’ll leave all that speculation to reporters and media.”

One possible destination would be Texas, where owner Tom Hicks took a chance on Sammy Sosa this season and was in attendance in San Diego when Bonds tied Hank Aaron’s career home run mark. The Seattle Mariners also could be interested since they are tied for last in the AL with only eight home runs from their designated hitters.

“He would be the perfect DH, one of the best in the game,” Bochy said. “He could play more and he still has that great bat speed and a great eye. They still walk him. Barry still has a lot of playing time left.”

It just won’t be with the Giants anymore.

AP-ES-09-22-07 2012EDT