March 19, 2006
Gone Back
Juan Gonzalez signed a minor league contract with the Red Sox:
The Red Sox hope the 36-year-old, oft-injured outfielder can bounce back and show the form he displayed when he had three 140-RBI seasons.
He last had 140 RBI at age 31 in 2001. Over the last four seasons, he's had 122 RBI.
The Red Sox don't really expect him to return to that level of performance. They'd be real happy, however, if he returned to his .295/.343/.561 career averages. If he can hit, most likely he'd be a right-handed platoon for Trot Nixon or David Ortiz.
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It's always hard with Juan to tell whether he's that easily hurt or simply doesn't care. Even with just playing 185 games over the past 4 years, he still put up 37 HR and 122 RBI. Looks like a no-lose situation for the Red Sox.
It's easy to point to guys still playing well in their forties these days, but there are still plenty of players like Juan Gone who seem to have been worn out by 33. Or Bret Boone, retired at 36.
Doesn't Juan Gon being a good signing require him not making Griffey look like an Iron Man?
Epsteinhas been rummaging in the bargain bin again. At, what, 300k a pop?, you can throw a lot of guys at the wall in the hopes that one of them will stick. If Gonzales can manage a 260 / 340 / 480 line against lefties, he'll be a useful part to pinch hit for Nixon.