1986-92: 10th in HRs Barry Bonds, 11th. Danny Tartabull - .510 SLG%
1993-2004: 1st in HRs Barry Bonds, 11th. Mark McGwire - .675 SLG%
Historical numbers suggest that "elite" position players typically enter the beginning of their peak around age 27 and begin an often rapid descent around age 33. So, the fact that in 1992, at age 27, he started producing at the best levels of his career to that point--that's neither unusual nor unexpected. And his performance during that period of time from 92-98 was remarkably consistent.
Then, something happened during or after the 99 season that led him to produce like no one before him had ever done. Which, again, totally jives with all the investigatory evidence we have about Bonds as well as the wealth of anecdotal evidence. There's really three distinct periods of his career and you're condensing them into two in order to suit your narrative.
Bonds is a turd and I don't particularly care to defend him. But the statement that "he was a HOFer before he started cheating" seems objectively correct to me (and I'm not a kid, ha).