The Astros have brought infielder/outfielder Marwin Gonzalez back to the organization on a minor league contract, per a club announcement. He’ll head to the team’s Spring Training complex to work out for now. The Red Sox released Gonzalez earlier this month, and he hasn’t played in a game since Aug. 12, so he’ll get some work in there and perhaps be assigned to a minor league affiliate before being considered for the MLB roster.
Gonzalez, 32, spent the first seven seasons of his career in Houston, never really settling into one spot on the diamond but bouncing all around the field as a versatile utility option. After struggling at the plate through his first two seasons at the MLB level, Gonzalez settled in as a roughly average hitter from 2014-16 before a massive season at the plate in 2017, when he hit .303/.377/.530 with career-bests in home runs (23), doubles (34) and walk rate (9.6 percent).
In four seasons since that time, however, Gonzalez has turned in a pedestrian .240/.310/.376 output, and his struggles have been particularly evident over the past two seasons. Dating back to 2020 — the second season of a two-year, $21MM contract he signed in Minnesota — Gonzalez has combined for a dismal .206/.284/.300 batting line. This season’s 25.8 percent strikeout rate through 271 plate appearances is the highest of his career by about three percent.
There’s little harm in the Astros taking a look at a player they know well — particularly one who can bounce around the diamond and fill a versatile bench role in September when rosters expand from 26 to 28 players. Gonzalez hasn’t shown much at the plate recently, but if he’s able to return to the even average levels of offense he’s provided outside of that 2017 campaign, he’d be a nice addition both for the month of September and for the playoffs. The mere fact that he’s in the Astros’ organization prior to Sept. 1 makes him eligible for the postseason roster — even if he’s not selected to the Majors until sometime next month.
Oh boy, here come the comments.
Brace yourselves, Astros fans.
He’ll be back to his former self in no time with the aid of a few trash cans
As long as we win baby!!! Kills y’all don’t it!
Classy fan, just like your beloved cheating team. I wonder what tune you would be singing if the Dodgers were the ones who cheated and you lost to them.
This tune here…. bang, bang, ba-bang, bang bang!! LOL
Don’t you mean bang bang bang bang BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
And for the record Houston won two games in dodger Stadium when the Dodgers got to benefit from their own cheating and we did not get to use our trash cans.Cry me a river! The Dodgers got out pitched and outhit in that series. Nothing was stolen from them. They got beat!!!
@puhl you’re complete trash
Thank you. I’ll go bang my can now.
Every fan will enjoy seeing stros lose to the dodgers this year.
The Dodgers were doing the same thing.
OtHeR tEaMs ChEaT sO iT wAs JuStIfIeD.
Wrong, not every fan.
And that first win in LA was helped by the tying run that, wait for it, Marwin Gonzalez hit in game 2 in Dodger Stadium. Glad he’s coming back home.
Probably go out and hire one of the best pitchers in baseball that beats the crap out of women and doesn’t think he did anything wrong
So you are saying if the Yankees were caught cheating they would be playing in front of a empty stadium?
No. It just demeans baseball. Because the players and manager and GM all took the heat, but the team and owner skated by.
If I were an owner I’d cheat every time. My team gets a trophy so I get more publicity and more team revenue.
And all I have to do is blame my GM and fire him. That’s too good of a deal to pass up.
Please, it’s ‘yous’. Y’all is improper grammar.
Let’s gooooo! Love Marwin!
Dust off those trash cans.
Got them ready to go!!!
If nothing else he’s a really good position player, throws 90 accurately
This is insurance in case Bregman gets hurt again. This is a good, smart move by Click.
Who could’ve seen this coming
“Go bang on a barrel, you bum.”
We will. All they way to the top!! LOL
ITT: Classless trash stros fans. I wonder what tune they would be singing if say, the Dodgers were the ones who cheated and the stros lost to them.
.530 slugging not .350
Was wondering about that too. With that many homers and doubles, it had to be higher than that…
Agh! Thanks for pointing that out. Updated it.
Cheaters.
Trashtro fans are worse the club/players themselves.
Marwin is looking forward to hearing the soothing sounds of garbage bins being struck again
While not every Astros player participated in the cheating garbage, it’s clearly obvious that Marwin was the single highest beneficiary of it.
Pretty sure it’s been tracked that he had statistically the highest amount of “bangs” that season lol.
Can’t wait for the Yankees to play the stros. and the equivalent of Odor/Bautista 2.0, where Judge knocks pipsqueak Altuve’s block off. Little cheating runt will get DECKED lmao.
I hope the Stros make the world series and lose, and years later we find out that club that beat them was cheating. No punishment either.
Dodgers versus stros. Dodgers sweep
Imagine the irony of getting Trea Turner and Scherzer, only for the Dodgers to not make it to the world series.
Wow 10 posts in 45 minutes. Could be an record!
I could live with another WS appearance, win or lose.
Already happened, when Astros were cheated out of going to the World Series by the Red Sox 2018, they were using Apple watches to relay signs, Cora was the manager, was ringleader in showing Astros how to cheat then did the same with Red Sox
Haha so true!
muted puhl, had enough of the blind stro supporter
Me too
So basically, y’all can dish it out about trash cans and buzzers but you can’t handle it when it gets thrown back at you. Sounds like your butt hurt from getting beat by Houston and all you can say for yourself is well….trash cans and buzzers. LOL
Hey puhl don’t forget your garbage Trashtros lost to the Nationals in the World Series. Also what would you say if the Trashtros cheating scandal was brought to light in 5 years from now and after they lost to the Nationals it came out a year later that the Nationals cheated and the Trashtros we’re cheated out of a world Series title what would your response be? Remember this is after you would have thought that your Trashtros actually won a World Series legitimately.
You want a cookie? You are the one spamming this comment section.
muted
In other words, 8man and Tatsumaki got mad.
another garbage stro supporter muted. piece of trash
Guys are like the Karen’s that get all worked up on Instagram and then someone calls them on their stupidity – they reply “blocked!” Like it is supposed to be some big, grand thing.
Cheer up Dodger fans. Maybe MLB will declare another 60-game season and you can have a shot at winning another championship. As to a Astros/Dodgers WS in 2021… we are hoping for it. In the words of Roger Staubach… “We’ll see you chokers in the playoffs!”
Marwin hit .303 for the Astros in 2017. He hit .327 on the road without trash cans. His giant HR against the Dodgers in the WS was in LA.
When Dodger fans stop threatening and beating the hell out of opposing teams’ fans at their stadium they can call fans of other teams “classless.” Until then just whine amongst yourselves.
This is kind of a surprising move because he’s not going to displace Aledmys Diaz at the super utility role. Of course Gonzalez is still only 32 so it’s a potentially low risk high reward situation.
Thief. He stole $21,000,000 from the Twins never gets that deal without the bangs. Thief
I do not agree with nor condone cheating.
I feel everyone was doing it to some extent but the Astros were at a higher level.
I can not say Astro bashing over this is not fair or deserved.
However be accurate and be fair..
The Twins knew about all that before they signed him.
He did not steal anything.
Of all the Astros on the 2017 roster he and Gattis appear to have benefited more than any of the other players. The rest of the guys were good hitters before and after the scandal. At the end of the day Gonzalez still made 11 million bucks off that season.
True, he may have benefited from the Beltran system. But as somebody mentioned earlier he actually hit better on the road than he did at Minute Maid Park in ‘17. Either way, he doesn’t seem to be the same guy he was previously. It’s been a gradual slide and his numbers this year have really bottomed out.
I don’t know why some Astros fans feel the need to defend the cheaters. Just say “yeah, they cheated. It was horrible. They shouldn’t have done it. It disappoints me as a fan. They should be ashamed of themselves”.
I hear ya. But it’s unrealistic at the same time to think that athletes don’t cheat. That is no excuse of course. If you win you’re probably gonna get caught. I’m just not under the delusion that cheating is not widespread, because as an adult I think you realize that it is. I would love a clean sport. I wish the steroid era never happened. I also wish people would at least attempt to drive the speed limit. Wishful thinking, right? And I don’t think any of us has ever watched a football game where a yellow flag was not thrown. Players know they’re breaking the rules, they do it anyways.
Accepting cheating and saying “no big deal” is a cop-out. And I don’t believe everyone cheats. That’s just the argument used by cheaters and their fans.
Of course they cheated. However, I remember seeing destroyed furniture upon destroyed furniture on the way to work back in 2017. Most of us are a not ok with the fact that they cheated, but we ignore it for three reasons: 1. they lifted our city’s spirits. Don’t underestimate the impact a sports team can have on it’s city by winning it all. 2. before 2017, our city only had 2 major sports championships, with the two being the 1994 and 1995 NBA championships (some people feel like those should have asterisks by them due to Jordan not playing a full season and them not beating Jordan to get those championships. Perhaps it’s fitting Houston’s only baseball title would have an asterisk by it in the eyes of some fans as well.) and 3. we’re just fans. We don’t control what the Astros do. Honestly, most people outside of Houston don’t understand how we feel and they don’t care to understand nor do I expect them to.
I guess y’all did need it. houston is a crime ridden cesspool dump, so i feel for you there.
It really isn’t – for one of the biggest cities in the US, it’s really not so bad. Maybe 20th in crime for major cities. Has some real nice areas. Does get hot and humid…
I think your review was a bit harsh.
And your from Chicago? Murder capital of the United Sates?
Maybe a return to Houston is what Marwin needs to get going. He looked mostly disinterested near the end of his time in Boston. I don’t know if its because he knew it was the end or he just doesn’t have any competitive fire but he obviously must still want to play
But there’s really nowhere for him to play. I think he adds organizational depth and that’s about it. He basically prevents them from having to turn to Robel Garcia in the event of another injury – which truly is a good thing.
He literally plays almost every position and is a bench player so its not like they would be trying to find an everyday spot in the lineup
They already have Aledmys Diaz for that role and he’s doing a great job. Gonzalez is potential organizational depth at the AAA level for use in case of injury
What I’ve learned over the years is that the fans and the team are most hated. The players are hated as well unless they are good and get signed by your team. If a player stays with the Astros, they are to remain being hated no matter what. The only redeemable act is to leave the Astros. This is just my observations. I’m an Astros fan myself, and I know simply stating it makes people hate me already. It’s heartbreaking and inexcusable that my team cheated in 2017, but I’ll always carry the good with the bad. In 2017, we in Houston faced tragedy due to Harvey. The acquisition of Justin Verlander and subsequent playoff run after that gave us a joyous distraction. It felt unreal. I’ve always been an Astros fan and always will. I’m not gonna say your team was cheating too because of that there is no proof, but I do wish other fans could understand what this group meant to us. It’s understandable and fine to hate our team. I can’t measure to what effect the cheating had on our playoff run. Idk if it really did carry on in the playoffs. I’ll always cherish the memories although stained. Marwin, who clearly was a big beneficiary, should be welcomed back with open arms in Houston.
Trash can roll please
I ❤️ mute button
After thinking about this, I’m not excited at all about it. The fact is I wish they hadn’t brought him back in. As an Astros fan I remember that he left to make more money. There’s nothing wrong with that, but he left us, and now he’s sort of washed up. I think we could’ve taken a pass.
There’s also the fact that Aledmys Diaz has more than adequately filled the “super sub” role. I hope somebody in the organization told Diaz that this is not a threat, no disrespect intended. I think the whole purpose was to decide if he is an upgrade over what we have a AAA in the event of an injury.
I also wish the team had not signed him.
Look to the future, not the past.
I am sick of dealing with the cheating issues, but this is not a perfect world.
My opinion is that everyone was cheating HOWEVER just like most things the Astros pushed the envelope and maybe even crossed lines.
That’s the way Luhnow constructed the team and how they operated.
I wish that wasn’t the case but it is.
The team bucked tradition and made enemies throughout MLB. The commissioner and owners desperately wanted any scandal to go away.
The best way to do that was to Investigate and punish the Astros and then announce its over.
They could not punish players because of the CBA and union but also because it would keep the issue alive while various stories and appeals but also open other players on other teams to possible accusations and punishment.
In my opinion MLB and the owners are the real villains.
I acknowledge that the Astros were probably the worst offender, but not alone.
If MLB was brave enough to rip off the band aid and not make the Astros a pariah then we fans would be united and agree with each other rather than divided.
The Astros front office that implanted the cheating program has been fired and punished and is no longer part of the team.
Less than 25% of the current players were on the team then.
In 10 years, maybe 5 none of them will still be Astros.
I have been a fan of the Astros for over 40 years. I’m a fan of the Astros much more than individual players or eras.