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Signing Gonzalez "Doesn’t Appear To Be Practical"
The Padres will likely explore an extension with their star first baseman this offseason, but the team’s CEO isn’t optimistic about reaching a long-term agreement with Adrian Gonzalez. Jeff Moorad told Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune that it may not make sense for the Padres to keep Gonzalez after 2011.
“While we’d still love to have Adrian here long-term, it doesn’t appear to be practical from a financial standpoint,” Moorad said. “So I’m certainly not counting on that. But we’ll engage and see if there’s a deal that can be made."
Gonzalez will earn $5.5MM next year in the final year of his contract, assuming the Padres exercise their option. That’s a safe assumption since Gonzalez hit 31 homers this year and posted a .298/.393/.511 line in 692 plate appearances.
“At this point, I expect him to be on our roster next season,” Moorad said. “I think [GM Jed Hoyer is] committed to sit down with [agent] John Boggs at some point and I’m sure we’ll get a feel about Adrian’s view of the future.”
Moorad said the team’s payroll will likely be in the $40-50MM range, so paying Gonzalez market value (likely over $15MM per season) seems unrealistic at this point.
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