The Rockies are “close” to reaching a deal to bring back free agent outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). If finalized, the deal would be for a one year term, per the report.
The possibility of a reunion has existed to some extent all winter, but whispers have picked up steam of late. His former teammates have pined for a return for the long-time Colorado star and GM Jeff Bridich has suggested all along it was at least a possibility.
Of course, there have long been some practical reasons to think that Gonzalez’s time with the Rox would come to a close. Though the team did pursue an extension with him last winter, the current roster composition does not exactly scream out for a left-handed-hitting corner outfielder.
At present, the Colorado outfield already features at least two lefty-hitting options in Charlie Blackmon and Gerardo Parra. Two of the club’s most intriguing young outfielders, Raimel Tapia and David Dahl, also hit from the left side. While it has previously been suggested that Gonzalez could slide into first base, the Rockies have a talented left-handed-hitting youngster slated to see time there in Ryan McMahon.
Notably, Gonzalez has struggled particularly against left-handed pitching in recent seasons. He has not posted even league-average production against southpaws in a given campaign since back in 2013.
If the Rockies can figure out a way to spread the playing time in a sensible manner, there’s certainly still reason to hope that Gonzalez can produce at the plate. He limped to a .262/.339/.423 slash last year, with just 14 home runs in his 534 plate appearances. But he did carry a personal-best 10.5% walk rate and likely shouldn’t be counted out for at least a partial power recovery. Over the prior two seasons, he swatted 65 long balls and posted solidly above-average overall batting lines even after accounting for the boost from playing at Coors Field.
Would love to see Cargo stay in Denver
Yep and his declining skills
The guy had a bad year, but so did McCutchen in 2016 and he bounced back. Sometimes stars have a mulligan year. It’s happened many times in the history of the game, Jason Bay and Josh Hamilton come to mind, and a lot of the times they bounce back. No guarantees he bounces back, but no guarantee he doesn’t either.
Why?
Hopefully we’ll find out sooner rather than later how the Rockies plan to utilize him. As a first baseman (unlickely), or as the right fielder with Desmond effectively platooning with McMahon
Yeah and bring Todd Helton back as a shortstop lol
Moose and Cargo look to be stayin’ with their teams.
Moose down. 1 Cargo to go.^^
1 year? What’s a waste.
Soon to be announced…..Cobb to the Rays….Lynn to the Cards and Arrieta to the Cubs. Heard it here first.
explain how
Sarcasm buddy. Wikipedia is your friend
Wikipedia isn’t anyone’s friend. It’s almost entirely full of lies and opinion masquerading as facts.
Ha ha ha!!!
And also, we never landed on the moon, and Elvis is alive and well in Paraguay!
Almost like here.
It has never let me down. Maybe I should have said a dictionary to look up the word sarcasm. But I thought Wikipedia was more modern
Heard it here first……Lol, Lol and Lol!
Arrieta isn’t going to the cubs unless for there’s a serious injury to their rotation and even then probably not
I love how people don’t realize that this is a joke
I wanted to say so but there are people who do still think that for some reason. Good to know
Probably because it lacked humor.
You lack humor
I’m for that!
Lol
Bautista to the Blue Jays.
Bautista 1/1m. Maybe. Lol
Gee Not gonna happen !
Hot stove is lit tonight.
And it’s serving the players leftovers.
Niiiiiice
Championship, print the shirts
Can’t be for more than 1/3. CarGo is a bench bat for this team.
I’d rather see CarGo on the field than Ian Desmond.
Deal doesn’t exactly make sense though. They’ve got a whole squad of young AAAA guys. Surely one of Patterson, Tauchman, Cuevas, and Tapia were ready for a big league job.
Great to see a guy basically play his career with one team. Rare breed these days. If NL had DH I bet he would have signed similar deal sooner.
First season was in oakland. Justifiable that you forgot, it was forgettable.
I knew, but he made his bones as a Rockie. He was traded in Matt Holiday deal.
Humbled Pillow Contract Night at Boras Corp.
Josh Donaldson is not going to like this.
JD and CarGo aren’t really comparable; JD is actually good.
Donaldson didn’t want to see other players “settle” AKA face reality.
Doesn’t make any sense. They have a ton of OF depth.
Plus they could use a right-hand bat. Although CarGo hits far better at Coors than anywhere else, so he makes more sense for the Rox in that respect than most other teams.
Eh, I don’t like the move because COL has younger internal options for 4th OF. I’m guessing it’s a one-year deal for $3-$5M. Incentives would be pointless if they intend to use him off the bench. Take away the sentimentality of the move and you have a couple who’ve decided to delay their divorce another year.
I do not believe his skills are declining quite yet they more than likely will in the next 2 seasons or so—which makes sense why he has had difficulty finding a long term deal. But if he just is going to sign a 1 year deal anyway I’m a little surprised it would just to go back to Colorado.
Exactly @tad they also now have Tapia, Dahl, Parra, Blackmon, and Desmond. He would seemingly fit far better in an AL lineup where he could also be DH vs RHP.
What sort of an extension were they trying to work out last year?
It was rumored around 3/39.
To all the people who criticize the cargo signing … have you not read that the whole team really wants him back? Their best player (Arrenado) was very vocal about wanting Cargo. For a playoff contending team, bringing this guy back into the clubhouse is arguably almost as important as his production. Plus, Cargo is still capable of going on a 2 month tear where he hits like an mvp candidate. That can also help a team contending for a playoff spot. Add in the fact that we all agree he’s presumably not going to sign for much money … and I don’t see how anyone can not like this signing.
The one Boras client doing a slow burn is Holland, not going to get close to what Rockies offered. Glad to see Cargo back, Desmond can now do utility role with Valaika out.
This site predicted 3/39 for Holland, which sounded way too optimistic at the time given his 6.38 second half ERA. Now he’s probably looking at 1/6.
Rockies beat reporter now saying not so fast.
Bartolo Colón Should sign with Marlins he would be their number 1 pitcher.
That dude can pitch.
This is big news. I bet at least 3 people care that an average player in 31 of 32 ballparks with a -WAR gets a 1-year deal
I’ll bet even those 3 people are aware that there are only 30 ballparks in the big leagues.
I like it. CarGo has had many good years in Colorado and is definitely a popular guy in the clubhouse. He may have lost a step in the field but still has a strong arm. He adds needed depth and versatility. Tapia could use regular playing time in the minors. The Rox could use an outfielder (Desmond, Parra, Dahl) as trade bait for pitching help later.