Red Sox fans around “the Nation” will rejoice at the news that the defensive wizard that graced the grounds of Fenway Park’s infield in 2006 has been re-acquired today by the Red Sox. Alex Gonzalez is coming back to Boston. After clearing waivers, the Red Sox moved quickly to bring Gonzalez back to Boston ending the Chris Woodward era before it had a chance to blossom.
Details on the package returning to Cincy are unknown at this time, but this move fills a need that they desperately needed to address.
13 Comments to “Red Sox acquire SS Alex Gonzalez from Cincy”
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[...] contract was marred by injuries, and he was shipped back to Boston in August at which time he exploded, again providing great defense while being [...]
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Oh good lord.
Welcome back Alex, here’s to fresh starts.
Can anybody here use defensive metrics to get a feel for how his range has held up? I remember him gobbling up anything he could get to, with the caveat that his range seemed average at best. That was almost 3 full seasons and several injuries ago. But he can’t be much worse than Green I suppose.
Ummmm…no.
This isn’t the same Alex Gonzalez you guys may remember. I’m a Reds fan, and you aren’t going to like this Gonzo.
Besides the fact that he is probably the worst hitter in the majors, he is also below average defensively now. The injuries have KILLED his lateral movement.
Wait until you see balls rolling past him left and right because his legs look like they are stuck in cement. Reds pitchers were frustrated all year because he has no lateral movement anymore. NONE.
He’s a decent enough guy, and he’s trying the best he can. He just isn’t a major league player anymore. The injuries have finished him.
I’m so glad he’s gone I could almost scream.
Green beats AGon in most defensive metrics this year. I’d cut and paste, but it is easier just to go to fangraphs and look him up. The glossary is useful if you don’t know the categories.
Yes, Green has made some bad plays at unfortunate times, but at least he gets to the ball and can use his arm to try to sell the difficult plays that Gonzalez won’t even get to.
Great, let’s add a guy with negative WAR value.
Okay, I’m going to try to be positive about this since we’re not giving up a whole lot, and we are getting cash back in the deal, mitigating some of the contract.
Gonzo has been injured quite a bit and had to deal with intense family issues. I almost used the fact that he’s been playing for a non-contender, but then remembered that one of the oft cited reasons he couldn’t hang in Boston was the pressure. Then I looked at the amount of time he has been injured and thought about the fact that mobility and quickness are pretty essential parts of the only thing he brings to the game: defense. UZR is down on him, and yes, it is a small sample size, but really, is Nick Green not better in WAR or eyeballs or whatever metric you want to use?
There, that was my attempt at optimism.
Jimmy, on the face of it you are what I have heard anecdotally the entire year. However defensive metrics (which may be flawed, I’m not saying I live and die by those) say that he’s got ~5 UZR/150 in the field. We need that. Desperately.
With the bat, A-Gon is like Nick Green, so no big loss there.
Alex: The value here is in the fielding, which has been disastrous for us thus far.
I hope on the days Gonzalez plays, Varitek and/or Ortiz don’t play. That’s all i have to say.
SEABASSSSSSSS
what’s that? … we got A.Gonz! wow, how awesome! we’ve been trying to get him since before the deadline! … huh? … oh, I see. Alex Gonzalez, not Adrian … I guess that’s okay too. *sigh*
yeah great let’s add another automatic out to the lineup that should help while Texas passes us for the WC
Evan as you said UZR can be flawed, but I generally trust it, and it has Green’s UZR/150 as 8 vs. a 4 for Gonzalez. These numbers support my view that gonzalez has lost a step while Green continues to improve as he adjusts to playing shortstop. With this to go with better hitting for Green, I see Gonzalez as good depth but not our new everyday SS.