During a Netflix broadcast appearance Wednesday, Barry Bonds claimed he rejected the New York Yankees in 1992 after George Steinbrenner issued him a hard deadline to sign a contract making him the highest-paid player in baseball.

Bonds made the remarks as the San Francisco Giants hosted the Yankees on Opening Day.

"I would've been a Yankee, but Steinbrenner got on the phone and he called us, and he told me 'Barry, we are going to give you the money (to make you) the highest paid player at that time', but you have to sign the contract by 2 o'clock this afternoon, and I said 'Excuse me?', and I just hung the phone up," said Bonds.

Bonds says he left for lunch to weigh his options. San Francisco called during that window. "And I said, 'I'm going home.'"

Multiple published accounts, however, offer a different version of events. In Joel Sherman's "Birth of a Dynasty," the Yankees needed Danny Tartabull to clear the expansion draft before making a substantial offer, which was something that never occurred.

Jeff Pearlman's Bonds biography, "Love Me, Hate Me," states New York withdrew from negotiations after submitting a five-year, $36 million proposal. Bill Pennington's "Chumps to Champs" quotes GM Gene Michael saying Bonds "said no thanks" to an offer that would have made him baseball's top earner.

One additional detail potentially complicates Bonds' account: Steinbrenner was formally banned from baseball during the December 1992 negotiations. Michael operated without interference from ownership during that stretch, a freedom that allowed him to assemble the foundation of New York's championship core.

Bonds ultimately signed a then-record six-year, $43.75 million deal with San Francisco. The Yankees won four World Series titles between 1996 and 2000.