Shortly after Kenny Williams makes a move I like, he just may have
made a move that I wouldn't like, if it were true. From the Boston Globe:
Former Red Sox shortstop Alex Gonzalez has received a three-year $15 million deal from an undisclosed team.
Major League sources indicate that the team could be either the Chicago
White Sox, who are looking for an alternative to Juan Uribe, or the
Cincinnati Reds. The Red Sox did not make an offer, nor did the Toronto
Blue Jays, who also covet Gonzalez.
Caveat: I learned from the 2004-05 offseason to not judge a Kenny Williams deal by the first move. I thought he was playing his own game of good-cop-bad-cop when he acquired Scott Podsednik (thumbs down), Jermaine Dye (thumbs up), Dustin Hermanson (thumbs down), and declined to offer Magglio Ordonez arbitration (thumbs up). It turns out all four of those moves benefited the White Sox because he had a wider scope than I did.
If this alleged move means that Gonzalez's presence (for three years, $15 million, supposedly) will allow Williams to deal Uribe -- once he's officially cleared of the whole shooting incident -- for a quality backup catcher, bullpen help and/or solid prospects, I'll soften my stance accordingly.
Here's where I'll start: On the surface, Alex Gonzalez for Juan Uribe in and of itself makes little sense, and the numbers spell it out. Three-year averages:
| Name | BA | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | HR
| RBI | ZR | $$ |
| Uribe | .257
| .296 | .454 | 27
| 4 | 20
| 72 | .862 | $4.2M
|
| Gonzalez | .249
| .294 | .397 | 28 | 2 | 12
| 58 | .859
| $5.0M
|
Did I mention Gonzalez is two years older?
The White Sox have their reasons to be upset with Uribe, who didn't look very...coachable last year. As bad as Uribe seems, he's almost better in every single facet of the game in comparison to Gonzalez to put it generally, so I'll hold my tongue until I see how Kenny spins this, if this report is the truth. In summary: Gonzalez for Uribe = bad. Gonzalez for Uribe and a backup catcher who can hit = better.
(I can't wait to see what Julio Lugo gets, though. Now there would've been a definite upgrade.)
UPDATE: Thank you, Kenny.
"I will say for the record it's absolutely untrue," Williams said. "And
I'll answer that question because there has been so much speculated
that is completely off-base. I don't want our fans fooled."
UPDATE 2: It was the Reds, after all.
ESPN's Peter Gammons is reporting that free agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez has negotiated a three-year, $14 million contract with the Cincinnati Reds, pending a physical.