Toronto manager Thomas Sheridan is at it again, completing a second deal within the week. As has been the case in his deals in the past, draft picks are on the move. Here are the particulars:
TORONTO send Alex Gonzalez (FLA) to
ARIZONA for the Apaches 2001 1st round pick and their 2002 2nd round pick
Gonzalez is the only player involved in this deal. It needs to be noted that this is the Alex Gonzalez that played for the Florida Marlins in the 2000 season and not the one who was playing for Toronto at the same time, although in this case, Arizona manager Tom Morse might be wishing it was. The Alex Gonzalez in this deal was coming off an All-Star year in 1999, his first full season in MLB. But in 2000, he managed to hit only .200 with a dismal .229 on-base percentage. His OPS for the season was only .548. His OPS+ was a career low of 40. With 100 being the league average OPS+, you can see how poorly this Gonzalez performed at the plate in the year 2000.
Gonzalez did have a long career in the majors though, playing as a regular in the league through the year 2011. But he never was much of a hitter, compiling a career triple slash line of .245/.290/.395. His defense improves in 2002 to the point where you could call him a good, or even a very good fielder at the shortstop position. But again, his offense is consistently sub-par. His career best season was in 2007 when he had a batting average of .272 and an on-base percentage of .325. Mind you, these are CAREER BEST numbers. He never once cracked the 100 mark in OPS+, meaning in essence he was never at the league average offensively.
Gonzalez only played in nine games for Toronto prior to the trade, collecting six hits in 17 at-bats.
Alex Gonzalez Career Statistics:
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DEAL SUMMARY
This deal is a hard one for me to figure out. I realize that Tom and the Apaches are in desperate need of a shortstop for now and in the future, but is Alex Gonzalez that guy? Apparently in Tom's mind he is, but I have to wonder. I don't see how Gonzalez cracks the Arizona lineup this season. His defense is poor, and his offense, as documented above, is atrocious. I see both Craig Grebeck and Felix Martinez ahead of him on the Apaches depth chart. Of course, Grebeck has limited at-bats, and Martinez is flat out unplayable against left handed pitching, so I can maybe see Gonzalez seeing some action later in the year out of sheer necessity. I'm assuming he will take over full-time at the position in 2001, but again, his offense is below average at best. His excellent defense doesn't kick in until the 2003 season. Trading two high picks for this guy seems like a real reach in my opinion.
Of course, for Thomas and the Redcoats, this is a downright steal. Gonzalez, in my estimation, was a borderline cut candidate for Toronto. Mark Loretta and Melvin Mora were both capable shortstops ahead of him on their roster. Gonzalez was drafted in the 30th and final round of the dispersal draft, so his roster spot was never guaranteed. To land a 1st and 2nd round pick for him is akin to grand larceny. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure that Tom is thinking that he will be picking at the end of the round, and that assumption is probably a safe one as Arizona is one of the better teams in the league for sure. Regardless, I think this draft will be fairly deep. I'm almost positive that a player with better credentials than Gonzalez will be available even with the 24th pick in the 1st round. Adding a future 2nd round pick is just gravy.
Toronto now has acquired two additional 1st round picks, to go along with their own, in the upcoming draft, having picked up Miami's initial selection in the deal that sent Will Clark out of town.
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