First, well that wasn't what the discussion was about. It was guys who took a big leap after a few years after having come up early. Bonds is in the discussion.
Second, he hit .777ops with 19 hrs. If he had a high WAR pushed by great D, ok thats great, but he hit 777 with 19 hrs. That is far from superstar. Those years he batted between .223-280 avg with normal to good walks on top, and didn't have more than 25 HRs. He made zero AS games, and appears to have received zero MVP votes, again not quite "superstar" but still good. And remember, this was a much more hitter friendly time. Then the next year he exploded to win MVP and increase his OPS 200 pts. IDK to me, this lines up pretty darn well with what the original discussion point.