By Jordan Long
Outfielder Carlos Gonzalez has a new home. He agreed to a Minor League deal with the Cleveland Indians. Gonzalez can earn $2 million if he is added to the 40-man roster this year. He can make $1 million more in performance bonuses.
The Indians are taking a chance on Gonzalez. His offensive numbers weren’t great last year. He hit .276 with 16 home runs and 64 RBI’s. His biggest problem was strikeouts. Gonzalez wasn’t patient at the plate and swung at pitches outside the zone, ending with 113 strikeouts. In the National League Division Series, Gonzalez had 12 plate appearances with a .167 batting average. He didn’t learn to not swing at pitches in the dirt with 5 strikeouts.
The Indians know if he makes the roster Gonzalez is going to be a backup outfielder. He has proven he can play any position in the outfield, but is more of a right fielder. Gonzalez appeared in 117 games at the position last year. He rarely dropped the baseball when a ball was coming to him with an impressively low 2 errors. Runners couldn’t advance on him because of his arm. They knew if they were to run on him, Gonzalez would throw them out moving up on the base paths. He totaled 6 outfield assists.
The problem with the Indians agreeing to a contract with him is his age. Gonzalez is 33 and he hasn’t played at an All-Star level in a few years. He may not help this team win ball games this year. If the Indians feel Gonzalez isn’t a fit and won’t make the team, they could always let him go.
The Indians are hoping Gonzalez can help this team. It is possible if he is called up during the year, Gonzalez could be the DH. This would take the pressure off of him to use the glove and he can focus using his bat offensively to score more runs. Time will only tell what happens with Gonzalez this year. fffffffffffff
Leave a Reply