Juan Gonzalez Signs With Cardinals

MONDAY, 4:24pm: The minor league deal is official for Gonzalez.  Joe Strauss says his base salary is less than $1MM, even if he makes the team.  Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina pushed for this, apparently.

SUNDAY, 10:59pm: According to Ken Davidoff of Newsday, Juan Gonzalez is "set to sign a minor-league deal with St. Louis."  Igor has been the source of many comeback rumors over the past few years but nothing ever materialized.

The Cardinals already have a slew of outfield candidates, so Gonzalez is definitely a long shot to break camp with the club even if he is healthy.  His best hope is to get a couple hundred Triple A at-bats and absolutely rake while waiting for an opportunity.

Comments

[Devlsh]

Good Lord, what has that franchise become?

Over under on at bats before JuanGone pulls, tears or tweaks something: 8

[stlredbirds]

i pray he doesn't even get that many

[ozziethesaint]

I'll give this a less than zero chance he breaks camp with the team. best possiblity is he rakes at Memphis and has some trade value. Most likly is he gets cut at the end of ST

[Gleebo]

Kenny Lofton is still available and they go after this?

Wait...Julio Franco is still alive and they go after this?

[ksesxe]

When you're looking at Skip Schumaker, Rick Ankiel, Chris Duncan, & Ryan Ludwick as your main outfielders -- Juan Gone doesn't look like such a bad option if he's usable. Consider the fact that Duncan, Ankiel, and Schumaker are all left-handed & there you have it -- a complementary right-handed OF bat to plug in the lineup.

[MikeMeyer]

Cardinals needed a new connection now that Signature Pharmacies is kaput. Signing makes a lot of sense.

[Laputian]

Am i drunmk or did we fall though a portal to 1996? Actually, that was when the last Super Bowl was hled in Arizona! OH GOD WHOHT IS HAPEPNING!?!?!

[Fish&Mets]

"there you have it -- a complementary right-handed OF bat to plug in the lineup."

wow ksexe, your right there you have it, the answer to all the problems, thanks for spreading the light.

For anyone else that instead of seeing a "complementary right-handed OFer" that sees a 40+ yr old that cant stay healthy and has been out of the game for 8 years.
I will say his upside is about Sosa but a quarter of his ABs because of injuries. I.E. 30 ABs 2 HR .200 avg then injured reserve.

[boomshwa12]

relax guys, i think juan-gone is done too, but they only signed him to a minor league deal. it's not like theyre mortgaging the future for him or anything. if he has anything left in the tank at all then it'll be to the cards' benefit. if not, you'll never hear about it again

[ksesxe]

Whoa there, I was in no way condoning the Juan Gone signing. I was just trying to provide a little encouragement to the Cardinals fans out there that want something to put a little hope in considering their team should finish near the bottom of the NL Central. Chances that he makes an impact? Little to none. Chances he plays a MLB game? Little to none. I took the "optimistic" approach & apparently some of the repliers didn't care to be THAT optimistic about it.

[stlredbirds]

if he does hit and can contribute, great. but my hope is he's not the one of the cardinal's 5 best outfielders that come out of spring training

[2cndbagger]

"Good Lord, what has that franchise become?"

-2006 Boston signs Igor to minor league deal. Discuss.

[PDubs]

Remember when Juan Gone turned down a ten year, $140 million contract with the Tigers???

Best thing that ever happened to the Tigers.

He must feel pretty stupid that he turned that down.

[Gleebo]

God remember his awful season in Comerica's first year?

I knew it affected his numbers but didn't realize how bad until know when I compared his 2000 with his 1999 for the Rangers and 2001 for the Indians.

And barring some miracle fluke the end of his career was marked by getting sent back to the Rangers.

[darkstar1661]

“Remember when Juan Gone turned down a ten year, $140 million contract with the Tigers??? Best thing that ever happened to the Tigers.”

…that reminds me ~ wonder what Justin Thompson is up to these days...

You know, all these pre-Arb contracts players are getting today should come with a warning label with something to the effect of: "Remember Justin Thompson"

...Or maybe we should take it a step further and go Leonard Shelby style ~ make every GM have it tattooed on their hand!

[Something Profound]

Juan Gone walks again from the grave! He lives. HE LIVES!!

When he goes up to back we'll have to hold him off of the catcher as he screams 'Braaaaaiiiinnnz!'

[grantgreat]

has anyone on here actually done any research on Juan Gonzalez? This guy did not do roids. He is just hated on by the media because he is shy and he sucks at English. If you are familiar with his history and his stats at all it is pretty clear there are not quick inflations or drop offs in his stats. Yes, his first few seasons he was pretty dang skinny. But the guy was 19 years old his rookie season! I mean seriously, everybody knows that males continue to develop physically up until the age of 25. His first full season he hit 27 bombs and then in his 2nd full season at the age of just 22 he hit 43 and he was probably the biggest size if his career. Guys can easily fill out at the age of 21 or 22 years of age. It's not uncommon, and even early scouting reports at the age of 16 say that he had a big and strong upper-body (for his age). Also his personal history is an issue here. Growing up in Puerto Rico he was given two options, do drugs or get beat up. He chose not to, partly because his older brother died early on in life because of drug abuse. Juan is also a vegetarian. How many vegetarians do you know that are roid-heads? He's not like Barry or Sammy who's, bodies grew tremendously in their early to late 30's. In fact he actually slimmed down a little in his 30's. He also had no big drop off in stats, he just couldn't stay healthy. And not just later in his career, he had always had health issues, they just became more detrimental as his age increased. It's not like this guy played in 162 games for 6 years and then lived on the disable list. I mean he only played in 150 games or more twice in his career. As far as the stats aspect goes: In '03, the last season in which he was healthy a decent amount of time, he hit 24 hr's and had 70 rbi's in just 82 games, stats that would equal 48 hr's and 140 rbi's throughout a whole season. Nothing shabby there, he was also leading the majors at one point with 19 hr's. In '04 he played barely over a month and wasn't terrible but wasn't real great either. But honestly, you can't make huge judgments on a player over one month. Everybody know the '05 story in which he had 1 AB. His name does not appear in the Mitchell Report except for the 01 incident which was thrown out right after it occured by MLB and those investigating it because of a lack of evidence. Also someone else claimed the bag. This just recently (a couple of years ago) re-surfaced and people for some reason seem to think there is a validity that is not there.

Is his career in the majors over? probably. but i just can't stand that people assume that every big guy that hit homers was on roids. Unless there is an obvious increase or drop in stats and obvious head size different please don't hate on people just because... It's not fair to those (although there may be few) who actually played the game right. I mean, in America people are innocent until proven guilty right?

[stlredbirds]

"I mean, in America people are innocent until proven guilty right?"

unfortunately, not in the court of public opinion, and with the celebrity worship occurs these days, it usually means more than an official ruling.

[darkstar1661]

“Also someone else claimed the bag. This just recently (a couple of years ago) re-surfaced and people for some reason seem to think there is a validity that is not there.”

Actually, no one else ever claimed the bag. Juan constantly said it was his trainers bag and he had no clue what was in it (which would still be a questionable thing to say, but whatever), while his trainer kept repeating that it wasn’t his bag and could prove it by the fact that he want on the flight it was found (it was a team flight and entourages are not allowed) and would never have anything to do with Gonzalez’s luggage. Eventually the trainer might have admitted to knowing what was in the bag and all, but it was still Juans trainer! (that’s everything I know on the situation, if you can show otherwise I would love to see it)

Nothing was ever done about it because the chemicals were not banned by baseball at that time, there was no steroid testing to be done and it was the last 3 games of the season for a guy that wouldn’t be back the next year anyway… the Cleveland org did have a hard time with the Toronto customs though that did not like the event but eventually didn’t pursue the matter further because it was obviously just connected to the team and its short trip.

I would think it be more naive to believe Gonzalez was completely clean though. We not only have that incident, but also the Canseco book. Although I am one of the last people that want to believe Jose, I do have to admit he has been correct on many things in that first book. (the second I will give less weight too though). Does it mean Juan Gone was always a juicer? No, but I think there is enough to point to it being a strong possibility…

I agree way too many people are persecuted for things which are pure speculation; I don’t think Gonzalez fits that bill though…

[grantgreat]

"Actually, no one else ever claimed the bag. Juan constantly said it was his trainers bag and he had no clue what was in it (which would still be a questionable thing to say...."

Angel "Nao" Presinal was the trainer at the time. He claims the bag was not his but it was then later proved to be his. He claims the contents were vitamins which could be bought over-the-counter in the dominican.

"• Soladek, a painkiller.

• Dolo-neurobion, a vitamin B complex used in fighting the flu.

• Clenbuterol, a stimulant similar to ephedrine, which is believed within the bodybuilding community to promote muscle tone and weight loss.

"In 2001, this stuff was not forbidden, but now it is forbidden," Presinal says. "You can buy it in the Dominican Republic over the counter."

Indeed, those three substances are available for purchase without a prescription at a Santo Domingo pharmacy."

"Remembering the incident, John Hart says(Indians GM at the time), "We flew into Toronto. I think at some point, they went through the luggage. We came in at 2 or 3 in the morning. They went through the luggage. I got a call that said that there had been a bag that went on the trip with us that had something suspicious in it. Listen, it was in the hands of the authorities. We paid attention. At the end of it, nothing came out of it. It wasn't attributed to Juan."

Presinal was then not allowed in clubhouses starting in the 02 season. People have been leery of him since. And have you seen a picture of this guy? he's ripped outta his mind and he's 54. he appears to be the user here. People generally hate Gonzalez and want him to be guilty so they take anything that refers to him and claim he is guilty.

Gonzalez fired Presinal after the 02 season when he was no longer allowed in MLB clubhouses and has not talked to him since according to ESPN.com

[darkstar1661]

you left off some the the more interesting parts of that article, and chose an article from a defensive stance which provided no real connection to any evidence.

Anyway, here ~ other quotes from that article:

From Hart:
"He was a great guy," Hart says. "I did a one-year deal with him. Ultimately, I didn't go into this with any idea that there would be anything that had to do with drugs. And obviously, at that time, we couldn't test [players]. I don't know. I don't know who was doing what. I don't think anybody did. Did you suspicion certain things? I think by that time, the world was getting more aware of what was going on, or what potentially could be going on. But how do you prove it? How do you know?"

From Presnial:
In 2001 with Presinal by his side, Juan Gonzalez hit 35 home runs with 140 RBI.
"I go to Toronto on a commercial flight and Gonzalez was on the Indians' plane. I can't put a bag, or another guy's brother or family can't put his own bag on the [team] plane. This bag was for one guy from the club -- Juan Gonzalez. It is Gonzalez's trouble. Gonzalez has a special assistant for clothes, for bags, for baseball stuff. This guy put all Gonzalez's stuff in this bag. Gonzalez says it is vitamins. And when the customs [agents] talk about having some substance that is not allowed in Canada, this guy who works for Gonzalez says, 'This bag is for another guy coming in on another plane.' They say it is for Nao.

But I never take a bag for players, because it is not my work. My work is to get the player in condition. Not carrying clothes, taking care of food or something like that. All my life, I work with natural medicine, and natural vitamins. I don't work with chemical medicine. I say this to Juan Gonzalez before I start working with him."

And Presnial is the one who called the drugs “over the counter” stuff from the DR. Canadian officials called it illegal in their country, hence the reason it was ever mentioned to begin with.

And this is what has also been reported:
“Three weeks after 9/11, with airline security tightened like a tourniquet, Canadian Border Service agents at Pearson International Airport in Toronto noticed that a gym bag coming off a Cleveland Indians charter flight had no label on it, nothing to identify the owner.

That was an instant red flag, and when agents unzipped the bag they found five ampules of anabolic steroids, pills of the anabolic drug clenbuterol, along with hypodermic needles. Agents notified Toronto police and Cleveland personnel, and they allowed the bag to proceed to the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, where the club was staying, to see who claimed it.

***According to the seizure report***, when agents stopped Presinal he said the bag and everything in it belonged to Gonzalez, then an outfielder for the Indians. Agents questioned both men for four hours before deciding they didn't have enough evidence to link the bag to either of them. Gonzalez and Presinal were allowed to go free, and the bag was confiscated.

Five years later, the former companions still have opposing takes on what happened that night, and they are still tossing the bag back and forth like a hot potato.”

Like I said, it’s a little too much to completely deny and I don’t believe there would be years worth of fighting over whos bag it was if it only contained over the counter drugs which would be reasonably used products…

[grantgreat]

I agree that it is not really cut-and-dry. I do think it's interesting however that Presinal was banned from MLB clubhouses and his name has been tainted by the incident.

Yeah, I meant that Presinal was the one who claimed they were "vitamins." I think Presinal could have had the steroids for another client or possibly even for himself.

I just think that based on Gonzalez's life that it would be totally contradictory to take steroids. Especially after being confronted with drugs on the street at an early age, and watching his brother die from it. And then there's the fact that he is a vegetarian. I know he is very intelligent and highly involved in politics especially in Puerto Rico. EX: He visited President Bush in the White House this past December. It just doesn't seem logical at all that someone with that history/intelligence would choose that path, but I could be wrong. Stranger things have happened.