Former big league player Marwin González announced he is retiring, through a press release from the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball, the club he’s played with for the past two years. Yahoo Japan had reported on his retirement plans prior to the official announcement.
“After two amazing years in Japan, it’s time for me to say goodbye,” González says in his statement. “I’m incredibly grateful to my teammates, coaches, and fans for welcoming me with open arms. Despite the language barrier, we formed a bond with ease, making every moment on the field special. Playing here has been a life-changing experience, especially getting to share it with my family. Japan will always hold a special place in our hearts. I’m filled with gratitude for the opportunity, the memories, and the friendships made along the way. Thank you for welcoming me into your world and for the endless support. You have all my respect. Arigatou gozaimasu.”
González, now 35, got his professional start when the Cubs signed him as an international amateur out of Venezuela and he made his minor league debut in 2006. In the 2011 Rule 5 draft, the Astros had the first pick since they were rebuilding at that time and lost 106 games that year. They used that first pick to take Rhiner Cruz from the Mets but also apparently had their eye on González. With the 23rd pick of the draft, the Red Sox took González and promptly flipped him to the Astros for Marco Duarte.
The second of those pickups ended up being far more impactful for the franchise, as Cruz tossed just 76 1/3 innings for the Astros, posting a 5.31 earned run average over the 2012 and 2013 campaigns before going into journeyman mode for the rest of his career.
González would eventually become a solid multi-positional piece for the Astros, though not right away. In 441 plate appearances over 2012 and 2013, he hit just .227/.266/.323. That production translated to a 59 wRC+, indicating he was 41% below league average. The Astros didn’t seem to mind much as they were still quite bad at that time, losing 107 and 111 games in those two seasons respectively. González was at least able to provide them defensively versatility, spending time at second base, third base and shortstop.
He was able to break out in 2014, hitting .277/.327/.400 for a wRC+ of 110. He also added first base and outfield to his defensive repertoire that year. He would continue to produce in roughly similar fashion in following seasons as the Astros emerged from their rebuild and became the perennial powerhouse that they still are today.
From 2014 to 2018, González got into 643 games for the Astros and stepped to the plate 2,265 times. He slashed .271/.328/.438 in that time for a 111 wRC+ while bouncing all around the diamond, playing everywhere except the battery.
He also got into 30 postseason games in that time, including 18 as part of the 2017 club’s World Series run, though that title is now mired in controversy with the revelation of Houston’s cheating scandal. Data from the scandal points to González as one of the biggest users of the trashcan-banging scheme. His 144 wRC+ and 4.4 wins above replacement from FanGraphs that year are both easily the bests of his career, as he otherwise never topped 111 wRC+ or 1.8 fWAR. Though he later apologized for the team’s actions, the first position player on the club to do so.
He reached free agency after 2018 and signed a two-year, $21MM deal with the Twins going into 2019. His bat dipped a bit in his first year in Minnesota, at least relative to the league. His .264/.322/.414 batting line was fairly similar to his previous five years, but 2019 was the “juiced ball” season with huge offensive numbers around the league, so González’s production led to a 94 wRC+. It fell more significantly in the shortened 2020 campaign, with González slashing .211/.286/.320.
Going into 2021, the Red Sox gave him a $3MM deal, hoping that his most recent performance was just a small sample blip in the odd circumstances of the pandemic. Unfortunately, that bet didn’t pan out, as González hit .202/.281/.285 before being released in August. He then returned to the Astros but hit just .176/.222/.441 in 14 games for them down the stretch. He signed a minor league deal with the Yankees going into 2022 and got into 86 games for that club, but hit .185/.255/.321 in those.
After three consecutive rough seasons in the majors, he headed overseas. He signed with the Buffaloes going into 2023 on a deal that paid him $1.5MM. He hit .217/.266/.385 in 84 games for that club last year. He returned for 2024 but dealt with injuries and only got into 23 games, per Yakyu Cosmopolitan on X.
González will primarily be remembered for that strong run with the Astros, which will provide fond memories to some fans while others will dismiss his accomplishments due to his involvement in the electronic sign-stealing scheme.
Regardless of how one feels about that, the record books have him with 3,882 plate appearances in 1,139 major league games. He collected 888 hits, including 183 doubles and 107 home runs. He scored 420 runs and drove in 415. He slashed .252/.310/.399 for a wRC+ of 94. FanGraphs considered him to have been worth 10.9 wins above replacement while Baseball Reference credits him with 14.3 WAR. B-Ref lists his major league earnings at just over $37MM, with González likely getting that up to around $40MM with the money he made in Japan. MLBTR salutes him on his unique career and wishes him the best in whatever comes next.
cheater
@CubsWin108
Baseball’s culture is about cheating.
Wtf are these conspiracy theories
Wha
keep on crying
@FemboySportsFan
Jays cheated in ’92/’93. No way a bunch of Canadians with hockey sticks win America’s pastime!
I meant to comment on cubs not you lol
@york
sometimes I forget you have to @ people
@FemboySportsFan!
I know you were directing it at someone else. I was just poking some fun at your Jays.
oh!
@york
We suck this season lol.
And he eventually played for Alex Cora. Birds of a feather.
Letit: Good thing is it’s 1 less of Alex Cora’s finished buddies won’t have to see in Boston again. his ex houston buddy system really does stink and worst thing is.. The guys he likes really are gawd awful, like marwin.
john – Nobody benefited more from the 2017 scandal than Marwin.
.687 OPS from 2012-2016, then .907 OPS in 2017, then immediately back down to .703 OPS the following year.
Bloom was an absolute idiot to give him $3M after a .606 OPS season.
Sosa
The GOAT at Being Everywhere! If versatility had a Hall of Fame, he’d be inducted.
His HR off Kenley Jansen in the 9th in Game 2 at Dodger stadium was unbelievable. But I’m guessing he had Luhnow implant a Manchurian Candidate style sign stealing tech into his brain. Because thats the only reason we’ve gone to 7 straight ALCS and 4 World Series.
So again…it’s not that everything afterward was a result of cheating it’s that the consequences of cheating for other organizations have, at other points in baseballs history, crippled organizations. That the Astros basically were allowed to go on as if they had not cheated is the problem and THAT is what taints everything they accomplished afterwards.
When has cheating ever crippled a baseball organization’s future? The only team I can think of that has paid a harsh penalty is the Astros. There was no penalty after “the shot heard around the world” and miraculous comeback for the New York Giants pennant winner was aided by a coach with a telescope stealing signs. Cleveland won its last World Series when they used a guy with a sniper scope to steal signs. Zero consequence for that cheating. The A’s and Yankees paid no penalty for having players on steroids on their championship teams. Yankees and Red Sox paid zero or minimal penalties for their recent sign stealing schemes compared to Astros. Astros lost draft picks and had to fire their GM and manager, leading to a period of less stability and bad baseball decisions, but they still kept winning.
The Red Sox were given a minimal punishment because MLB’s investigation of the 2018 Red Sox went on for months and uncovered no evidence of cheating. They admitted this in their report when they said they have a “factual dispute”, “largely have no direct evidence” and “no written record, recording or other contemporaneous evidence of the underlying events”. There was no evidence and the conclusion of cheating “on at least some occasions” was clearly based on speculation as MLB’s investigation failed to document a single occasion of cheating. The report is still on mlb.com.
Hex – Nearly EVERYTHING you wrote is wrong!
Red Sox lost their 2nd-round pick, which if you didn’t know is their 2nd-most valuable pick in the draft behind their 1st-round pick.
Astros were NOT required to fire Luhnow, he was given just a 60-game suspension and if there hadn’t been a 2020 season then he wouldn’t have had to serve ANY suspension.
Same with Hinch, just a 60-game suspension and ZERO requirement to fire him. The Astros could have brought back both the following season, just like the Red Sox did with Cora.
C’mon Hex. Don’t let your actual facts get in the way of other fans victim / blame narrative.
That was an epic moment. My other favorite memory of his Astros career was when he broke up Yu Darvish’s 2013 opening day perfect game attempt at 8 2/3 innings. I was behind home plate at that game, celebrating like it was a playoff win, because everyone knew the Astros were going to lose 100 games again that year.
Gurriel, is that you?
well that’s weird, if I knew my team was gonna be terrible losing 100+ games and am at a game with a chance to see a no hitter thrown even against my team, I would love to see something like that, at least it makes the losing more interesting
credsox – Depends on who the opponent is.
I was right behind home plate when Carl broke up Moose’s perfect game with 2 outs 2 strikes in the 9th, it was a glorious moment and would have been even if the Sox were on pace for 120 losses.
You never cheer for an arch-rival against your own team.
Not the same hitter without a trash can.
@Mustard Tiger
You’re just jealous that you didn’t think of it first.
I’m a lifelong Dodger fan…about 45 years now and I have hated the Astros for just as long. But even I’m tired of listening to you sad people living in the past bringing up the cheating scandal every chance you get. Get over it. It’s done and it’s boring as hell that it still gets constantly rehashed. Why bring it up? It’s not gonna change a damn thing.
Should we stop talking about the steroid era and treat Bonds & company and the records they achieved as normal?
What about Pedo Pete Rose and his gambling.
fans, no. Bonds cheated and his stats are b.s.
Is that because of all the cheating the Dodgers are doing with financial chicanery?
Every team can do so too. Not like the Dodgers operate with a different set of rules from the other 29 teams.
YBC – And it’s not cheating if you’re playing by the rules.
Fans who believe opponents have some kind of “moral obligation” to control their spending crack me up … and my team has been one of the cheapest in MLB the past 5 years.
Darth – Rosie Ruiz is a name that’s been remembered since 1980. She didn’t just cheat, she stole from those who were impacted by her cheating. She lived and died with that shame, and she deserved it.
The 2017 Astros didn’t just steal from the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers that year … they stole from those fanbases as well. There are Dodgers fans who have been waiting 36 years for a legit championship, because of the 2017 Astros.
What you are saying is all wrongs should never be mentioned and should instead be simply forgotten just because “nothing can be done about it”. The day we stop holding evil actions accountable is the day evil triumphs.
I can see how you selected your handle.
Still bitter over 2017, but can’t hold grudges for that long. Cheating is a part of baseball.
It’s pretty simple/easy for me: as long as there’s still any of those cheaters playing, I’ll keep holding it. Once they’re all gone, that’s that.
Another “10 yr club” member rides off into the sunset.
And if we get caught cheating we should be called out for it.
That two wrongs make a right is a weak argument.
@Joe says…
So, it’s acceptable to cheat as long as you’re not caught?
Hard to get called out if you don’t get caught.
Twins should have filed suit against Gonzalez to recoup a portion of the salary they gave him. He defrauded the team. If he was the player that used the cheating system the most then he should pay. Misrepresented his actual skillset, making people think he could hit. Split the penalty between all twins minor leaguers.
@8======D
Twins had an opportunity to develop their own garbage can system. What went wrong?
Twins recycle
I appreciate you taking the time to type out my username. Full shaft and all.
Copy/paste…
I reject that assertion and will instead continue thinking you typed it out, making sure to get the exact length of the shaft right.
Don’t play coy with me.
@8======D
Curious, why would anyone want to be a Twins fan? That just seems like a bad idea. Why not pick a real team to cheer for?
It’s because of the Midwest charm. Also, Little Big League winning back to back to back Oscars (94,95,96) for best picture didn’t hurt growing the fanbase.
I’d threatened to go Brewers due to the Twins never putting all their chips in to win while the Brewers were getting CC and Greinke at the deadline. But who doesn’t love Joe Mauer?
It’s all about the shaft. Not the shift, the shaft.
Ignorant – Shaft was actually the full name of a TV show. LOL!
No sympathy. Marwin was what he was and Twins werent paying attention.
Agreed but it goes back to the old “buyer beware” I guess.
I remember being surprised Marwin was on the market for so long. He could play so many positions and carried an above average bat but he didn’t sign until camps were open.
There were already rumors about the Astros cheating swirling in MLB.
Halos – I agree!! It’s similar to Theo acquiring Eric Gagne even though Theo knew that Gagne juiced with the Dodgers.
No common sense.
Riding off into the sunset, side by side by his favorite trash can :’)
frog, and that makes it okay?
I Congratulate Marwin on being an Incredible Journeyman, who gladly played any position asked, and did it Above Average with the Defense(You were the modern version of Billy Spiers) one of my Favorites!!
As a life long Astros Fan, I am grateful for Who you Are as a Man, a Teammate- we shared the good,the bad and the ugly-
You were one of the first pieces to Building the Golden Age of Astros Baseball!!
Your Always an Astro to me #9❤️❤️❤️❤️
May your next venture with your beautiful family be blessed by God’s hand….
Not for anything near the stakes of MLB money
That man straight up stole money from the Twins. He knew there was no way he could hit without cheating yet signed the contract like he would.
That 2017 season is a ridiculous outlier on his stat sheet for a reason.
Cheating fraud. Good riddance
Just like the rest of the league… we know other teams we’re going over the line as well, get over it.
At least he’s going out with a bang.
40 mill us greens pre tax says he don’t give a hoot what you all internet trolls think
poo – I’ll see your $40M US pre-tax and raise you $50M US pre-tax that you don’t understand what a troll is.
I’m bummed. He was my crown jewel in this offseason’s “Full Throttle.” I wanted him, Jonathan Papelbon and Jim Rice to usher in the next wave. Who needs a Cy Young-caliber pitcher when we can bring back Rick Porcello? Full Throttle baby. It just never gets old.
P.S. – J. Henry….PLEASE sell the team to someone who genuinely cares about the product. This isn’t St. Pete’s north.
Ghost – I desperately wish Henry would sell, but he won’t until after the Corners is completed.
Our only hope is enough investors unite to force Henry to lose his controlling interest.