Alex Gonzalez to Sign With Jays

by Tom Dakers on Nov 26, 2009 10:51 AM EST in News Comment 42 comments

Ken Rosental has a tweet that shortstop Alex Gonzalez will be signing with the Jays, not the former Jay Alex Gonzalez but the former Marlin, Red, Red Sox Alex Gonzalez. I don't know, he's a glove first SS, much like Mac, has a little power and gets on base a little better but not a lot better. He hit .284/.316/.453 for the Red Sox in 44 games last year, far worse for the Reds. I guess we won't be resigning Scutaro, though they have to offer him arbitration if they want the two draft picks. Makes you wonder who will be leading off this year. He made $5.375 million last year, so I'm wondering what we will be paying him.

Likely there are more shoes to drop.

And Happy Thanksgiving those of you in the States. Have a great day and enjoy the football.

Update: I'm going to put in the Jay's press release. Basically he's getting $2.73 this year and there is a $2.5 team option. Seems cheap. Puzzles me further about McDonald. I figured we'd be getting a good bad/average field guy, but Alex could win a Gold Glove, if Jeter wasn't the only name the voters knew how to spell.

BLUE JAYS SIGN ALEX GONZALEZ

The TORONTO BLUE JAYS have signed shortstop ALEX GONZALEZ to a one year contract worth $2.75 million dollars for the 2010 season, with a club option for $2.5 million in 2011.

GONZALEZ, 32, split last season between Cincinnati and Boston, posting a .238 average with eight home runs and 41 RBI. The Cagua, Venezuela native has 11 major league seasons to his credit, accumulating a career high 23 home runs and 79 RBI with the Marlins in 2004 & recording more than 10 home runs on four occasions. The right-handed hitting shortstop has played for Florida (1998-2005), Boston (2006 & 2009) and Cincinnati (2007 & 2009), winning a World Series with the Marlins in 2003. Is a career .247 hitter with 114 home runs and 521 RBI.

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Huh?

Yet another move that screams “we have no direction”.

Although at least he’s better than Johnny Mac for 2 years.

by Jevant on Nov 26, 2009 11:05 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

It's a little premature...

to say the Jays have no direction. To me this screams that the Jays have a Roy Halladay deal in the works that will land them a SS prospect who is a year or two away from contributing (Devaris Gordon from the Dodgers or Jose Iglasias from the Red Sox?) and AGon/Johnny Mac are insurance policies until that player is ready.

If that is the case then this move isn’t all bad, paying 2.75M for AGon (plus the comp picks) is better then double that for Scutaro and no comp picks. AGon plays as good or better D then Scutaro and who really cares if he can’t hit when the Jays likely won’t be in the mix for a playoff berth during his tenure at SS.

It’s possible that there is no direction here, but I highly doubt that and we need to see the rest of the off-season moves before judging this one.

by bunner on Nov 26, 2009 11:34 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree, this is not indicative of a lack of direction

by aagoodfella on Nov 26, 2009 12:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Why do we need 2 no-hit SS on the same roster? Doesn't that take the spot of a prospect?

I can sort of understand one of them. But only if you’re signing them to be the backup and giving someone else the job. What’s the point of that being the SS tandem? Unless you are about to acquire a blue chip SS prospect you want to play at Vegas for the year. But if that’s the case, why not just play him with the big club? What could it hurt?

by Jevant on Nov 26, 2009 2:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Alex is a far better bat...

but yeah I don’t understand it. I was kind of looking forward to Mike McCoy getting a shot at the job. He looks like the type that could take a bunch of pitches and hit at the top of the order. It seems to me that if you are saying this isn’t the year, why no take a shot on someone that could surprise you. The only surprise I’m thinking you’ll get from Gonzalez and McDonald is when they start showing age.

by Tom Dakers on Nov 26, 2009 2:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

well, JM can play any infield role (and maybe catcher LOL) which may prove useful for injury prone EE and perhaps he can be used in late inning leads if EE does not get a handle on his propensity for throwing errors.

by aagoodfella on Nov 26, 2009 3:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

sigh

by aagoodfella on Nov 26, 2009 11:09 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

roster implications

Having signed AGon and JM, 2 gloves with soft bats, I would think that moving Overbay becomes much more of an imperative and extending Bautista becomes just impractical. The Jays are going to need some extra bat strength in the rest of the lineup to offset AGon and JM.

by aagoodfella on Nov 26, 2009 11:15 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Here's the figures

10:11am: The Jays will pay Gonzalez $2.75MM in 2010, according to Bastian. They also hold a $2.5MM option for his services in 2011.

by bunner on Nov 26, 2009 11:26 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

phew, that is reasonable

by aagoodfella on Nov 26, 2009 12:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I actually like the AGon signing

but it makes the Jmac signing even more puzzling.

by ayjackson on Nov 26, 2009 11:40 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

This definitely makes it look as though the Jays’ are going to offer Scutaro arbitratration, and are basically forcing him to decline it since he knows there is no longer a spot for him on the team. Good strategy to get the comp picks, but seems a little too business-like after the excellent years Scutaro has given us.

This must mean that we have our eyes on both a very good SS prospect and a power-hitting first-baseman. Because with the other 8 in our current batting order we can’t afford to field a weak-hitting SS for 162 games.

by jonnybluejay on Nov 26, 2009 11:47 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

The thing is there are still options here...

Jays will offer Scutaro arbitration…he’ll decline it more then likely and hopefully find a place to sign as a starting SS on a multi-year deal. That would be best case scenario…and the Jays get their compensation picks.

But, if Scutaro doesn’t find a spot to sign because of the draft pick cost the Jays could also bring him back on a 1 year deal and non-tender EE allowing Scutaro or AGon to play 3B and the other SS. Not an ideal situation but still not he end of the world.

by bunner on Nov 26, 2009 12:13 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

what about EE?

does not sound like a good plan to me

by aagoodfella on Nov 26, 2009 12:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Can't non-tender EE

He signed a multi-year extension with the Reds. He’s owed $5M for the year.

They're not just hitting home runs. They're doing the little things, like hitting doubles.

by Torgen on Nov 29, 2009 11:25 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that's true

I bet we could find a taker for him, though, in a straight salary dump.

"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman

by hugo on Nov 29, 2009 3:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Perhaps Scoots has indicated Toronto just doesn’t have the money to sign him?

by Woodman663 on Nov 26, 2009 12:19 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

With the season Scoots had there’s no reason a team won’t pick him up. He’s a very good SS and was one of the only Jays to hit consistently throughout the season.

by Civilizedworm on Nov 26, 2009 12:27 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

contract year

by aagoodfella on Nov 26, 2009 12:34 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Only guaranteed for one year, and not expensive by any means either. With no one in the pipeline at SS this is a good move. Gonzo’s better second half could’ve been better because he was recovering from injury after missing most of ’08 that led to his crappy first half.

Funny they wouldn’t goto two years guaranteed with Gonzo but they did with J-Mac.

Writer for Examiner.com covering the NH Fisher Cats
http://www.examiner.com/x-23587-New-Hampshire-Fisher-Cats-Examiner

by teejay1324 on Nov 26, 2009 12:34 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

maybe it was the only way JM would sign

by aagoodfella on Nov 26, 2009 12:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

But surely light-hitting good glove shortstops shouldn’t be that hard to find? I mean, that pretty much describes Alex Gonzales 2.0, and it looks like the Jays will sign him.

by siggian on Nov 26, 2009 1:17 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If it was the only way he'd sign, walk away from the table.....

by Tom Dakers on Nov 26, 2009 1:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The Grass Is Greener...

I think it is wonderfully ironic that over in Red Sox blogs, people are howling about Theo Epstein’s stupidity for not re-signing Gonzo for 2010.

by dexfarkin on Nov 26, 2009 1:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I've got a deal for them...

Well, now that it appears that the Jays have two light hitting shortstops, perhaps we can trade JMac to them.

He’s excellent in the clubhouse and well loved by the fans. As an added bonus, he’s coming off a new high for power and he’s clearly been working on his batting by having his best year at the plate in the last four years. This shows he’s not aging at all and will be able to provide valuable contributions. Plus, you can have two guaranteed years!

Waddayahsay, Red Sox nation?

by siggian on Nov 26, 2009 1:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

sour grapes ;-)

by aagoodfella on Nov 26, 2009 1:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe the Sox are going for Scutaro?

Man, that would really suck, unless he sucks.

by siggian on Nov 26, 2009 1:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That Was Always The Case, I Thought

The Red Sox have been named as the most likely destination for Scutaro since playoffs started. They seem to have real doubts about Lowrie, weren’t going to pick up Gonzo’s option, and they’ve got some very hot prospect but he’s 19 and in low A ball right now.

Marco for them makes a lot of sense; they want a stable SS option with strong fielding and decent hitting. They can afford to extend a 3-4 year contract at $3-$5million a year, expecting that the last couple of years of it, Scutaro will be just an expensive bench player. The Red Sox also have a couple of injury prone aging players, which Scutaro can fill in, and it’s about the only park that he’d make a defensively average LF in if needed. Also, if Wagner declines arbitration and they don’t sign him, they’ll get back the pick they lost if they sign Scutaro.

by dexfarkin on Nov 26, 2009 2:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You have to think that the Jays are getting a SS prospect for Doc now.

Onions Baby Onions

by ohmybosh on Nov 26, 2009 2:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

we've had patchwork shortstops for years

why would this indicate a change?

by ayjackson on Nov 26, 2009 3:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

JP isnt the GM...

Onions Baby Onions

by ohmybosh on Nov 26, 2009 3:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm beginning to think that AA isn't either...

by siggian on Nov 26, 2009 3:58 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

oh, SNAP!

by aagoodfella on Nov 26, 2009 4:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Seems like most Bosox fans would have preferred to keep Gonzo, they don't want Scoot.

by JayLo Biafra on Nov 26, 2009 4:45 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Link...

http://www.overthemonster.com/2009/11/26/1174962/a-very-gonzo-thanksgiving

by JayLo Biafra on Nov 26, 2009 4:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I actually like this signing. He had a lousy season last year with the bat, but was good after the Red Sox picked him up, and had his usual good season with the glove. He is young enough that he could easily have a bounceback season with the bat, and should continue to contribute with the glove, so at an affordable deal I’m all for it.

My guess is that Scutaro has already told the Jays he was going to decline arbitration so that they could move forward without having to worry.

But why in the world did we extend Johnny Mac?

"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman

by hugo on Nov 27, 2009 8:31 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think that's where I am now

This is a decent signing, not that I would have minded seeing Mike McCoy get a chance, but makes the McDonald signing all the more strange. This idea that having Mac sitting on the bench will some how help attendance just doesn’t make any sense.

by Tom Dakers on Nov 27, 2009 10:42 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Can we officially use 2.0 as the nickname for Alex Gonzalez?

I’m OK with this signing if we couldn’t get Vespa signed to a shorter term contract.

I think the key moves now are to unload Overbay at first so that the Jays can move Lind to 1st (full or part time) and to get a lead-off type player in CF or RF. I’m not sure I want to see a Snyder-Wells-Lind OF on a constant basis.

I’m OK with seeing what we get out of EE at third. I saw enough last year to think that he could end up being a quality player at 3rd (in value vs his contract). I don’t ever see him being Rolen-esque in defense but I’d be happy with competent defense and 25+ HRs.

by siggian on Nov 27, 2009 11:21 AM EST reply actions 0 recs