The Braves have formally released Adrian Gonzalez, tweets Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Gonzalez was acquired over the weekend in a stunning five-player salary dump and immediately designated for assignment. As David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes, being designated and immediately released into the free-agent pool was actually a prerequisite for Gonzalez to waive his no-trade protection in the first place, as doing so gives him more say over where he’ll spend the 2018 campaign.
Gonzalez, 36 in May, was limited to just 71 games this season because of a significant back issue that has also clearly sapped his productivity at the plate. In the 252 plate appearances for which the five-time All-Star and former MVP candidate was healthy, he batted just .242/.287/.355 with three homers and 17 doubles. That, of course, is a far cry from the production Dodgers fans had come to expect after he hit .282/.344/.465 with 95 homers in 2577 plate appearances from 2013-16. Gonzalez ended his Dodgers tenure with a bang, though, belting a home run in his final plate appearance of the season (and, presumably, of his Dodgers career).
The release of Gonzalez underscores that Saturday’s blockbuster was a financial move for the Dodgers and Braves more so than a move that was motivated by interest in the players that changed hands. Gonzalez is still owed a total of $21.5MM for the 2018 season in the final year of a seven-year, $154MM contract and will be available to any team that has interest in him for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum (for any time spent in the Majors). That sum will be subtracted from the $21.5MM for which Atlanta is on the hook, but the remainder of the deal, nearly $20MM, will come out of Atlanta’s pockets regardless.
Of course, the Braves are fine with that outcome. The trade allowed Atlanta to dump Matt Kemp’s contract onto the Dodgers, freeing Atlanta of a multi-year albatross and paving a path for ballyhooed prospect Ronald Acuna to join the big league club once he’s deemed ready. Meanwhile, the Dodgers were able to dump a significant amount of 2018 payroll in exchange for spreading out that salary over the life of two seasons — and in doing so dramatically reducing their luxury tax payroll (which is calculated by average annual value).
Here comes the pie!
I did not see that coming
I’m pretty sure the rest of us saw it coming after he was DFA’d
Yeah about that…
Didn’t see that sarcasm coming tho did ya?
That’s the problem on here though. I’m thinking that really was sarcasm but others claim it when they were being serious.
Giants should pick him up and platoon he and panda at 3rd for the cheapest 3rd base combo in baseball.
Adrian Gonzalez at 3B ? What world are you from
Especially since you know… he is left handed
Worked for a couple of games by Don Mattingly. The Yankees actually played lefty Don at 3B early in his career!
I’m a lefty and I played a little third. I also got in a little time at second and spent a season as the starting shortstop. Third wasn’t too bad.
Sure, this was Little League, but it’s not like I was a world class athlete lie these guys are.
I don’t about him, but you seem to be from the world of no jokes.
I’d play him in Center. maybe trade for Pujols to play left field too
I prefer Pujols in Center maybe shift Gonzalez too short
Literally made me laugh
He’s left handed
Yeah, because his handedness is the biggest problem with this scenario.
How many lefties play third?
How many lefties are bullpen catchers?
My old man was lefthanded and played 3B for the Hunter Ford Rockets. Good field and he could hit too.
Left handedness isn’t that big a problem for 3B. Play two more steps off the line and you’re set.
Dodger fans would love to see gonzo playing 3B for the giants. That would really improve their defense
I’ll raise a better option. Put Agon behind the plate to give Posey more reps at 1st.
Lol or put him CF
I’ve heard he’s comfortable handling short as well, you almost couldn’t tell the difference between he and Andrelton Simmons.
Well you can, Simmons pales in comparison
hahahaha. 3rd base. C’mon man. I would write more but everyone already made better responses to this crazy thought.
Cardinals should pick him up for a cheap backup at first. They need lefthanded pop
Left handed pop is not Adrian Gonzales anymore until he proves it again. Cards should be in on Hosmer, he’s not a power bat but is a solid bat and good defense which is how the Cardinals have always won
Last season he went through a bout of tendinitis in his elbow and then the back issue. Both can clear up with rest and are less likely to recur if he isn’t playing every day. He’ll get picked up, if not by the Cardinals then by somebody else.
Facts
I doubt Agon is gonna outperform Jose Martinez or Luke Voit next year.
Left handed option unlike Martinez and Voit
That’s the last thing the Cards should do!
Padres sign A-Gon, sell some tickets. They trade Myers and Solarte, Hand to to the Yankees for Ellsbury, Frazier, Torres and Betances and eat all of Ellsbury salary, and Yanks take on Myers salary. Then flip Ellsbury and eat half his contract. Then trade Spang, Naylor, Luccessi and Renfroe for Yelich. Sign Hosmer. 2019 lineup looks like OF of Frazier, Margot, Yelich
3rd Tatis SS Urias 2B 1B Hosmer
C Hedges. Pitchers Espinoza, Lamet, Lauer, Quantrill, Perdomo/Mitchell etc
Yates Middle Reliever
Maton Set up
Betances Closer
Hmmm. Would Yanks and Marlins do this?
What? No Ellsbury
Myers stays
We basically pay $30mil for Frazier and Torres, and get rid of Myers contract before it balloons from 5.5mil 2018(Gives them a high upside quality 1B to keep payroll under luxury tax this year), to $22 mil the next 3. Plus we could easily flip Ellsbury at $10 mil a year for a decent return. Also flip Headley. Ive been saying this for a while. We might as well buy prospects like we did in the intl signing, but w out penalties, but taking on unwanted salaries.Be cheaper to buy Torres and Frazier, two of the best prospects in the game, for less than half of what we paid for More Jon, Ona, Almanzar, etc.
Clearly rambling here but seems like good deals and keeps our farm still deep while Fielding a very young and crazy talented team for the next 5-10 years
You say “we could easily flip Ellsbury at $10 mil,” no-trade clause and all?
Cashman and probably nearly every other GM out there beg to differ on that point.
Three-way trade. Assuming Ellsbury accepts one to a team he prefers.
If nothing else, it’s a pretty cool idea
Doesn’t seem The Padres are going to overpay for Hosmer. If we can get him for 6/$130, I’d do that, and get rid of Myers. I don’t want an admitted lazy player who will never be a leader. It seems Free agents come here to have a chill life and get paid. Hosmer from what I’ve heard is different, and Hopefully would embrace that roll. It wasn’t fair to Myers to expect that from him when that’s not him.
No neither team would do that! If the Yankees part with either Frazier or Torres it will be for an ACE…not fielders…
Your package for Yelich will probably have to start with MacKenzie Gore!
You got Torres for 1/3 a season of Chapman. Hand, while not as dominant, has 2 years of cheap control. I’d say that’s def worth more. The 4 guys for Yelich is a great offer. Marlins we’re high in Naylor before trading him to us, Luccessi was stellar last year in the minors, and Spang is a former high first rounder who can run, hit, and really out together a good second half. Of course I dont want to give up Gore tho!
Doesn’t matter what Torres was acquired for. He is now the #1 prospect in the game. Yanks aren’t going to deal him for anything less than an ace with multiple years of control left. He’s penciled in the starting lineup for this upcoming season right now, at either 3B or 2B.
Frazier is a definite possibility to be traded due to the surplus of talent in OF for the Yanks now.
I understand that, but I believe Torres was a top 5 prospect at that time. Now he is #2, not #1. That’d be your boy Ohtani
Taurus increased in value significantly since that trade
he was I think in the twenties at that time
Ohtani and Acuna are ahead of him and possibly/probably others.
By having Tommy John? I dont think he increased as much as the other prospects graduated. When he went to the Yanks, it was a big deal that they got one of the best prospects, for a rental.
Don’t quote a return, because you can’t quantify a team not having won a WS in 106 years. If you’d like to present Miller as a comp then that’s acceptable, but fact remains the cubs were significantly different place than any other team. Let’s just be honest here the depth of the inf and young infield talent was what lead them to essentially caring more about wining a WS than holding onto Torres. Bryant occupied 3rd and had Calendario. At SS the cubs had Russell/Baez. At 2nd Baez, Zobrist, and seemingly their hope for Happ. So yes they traded Torres, but their inf youth/depth made it made it more than palatable for them to part with Torres to collect their finishing piece for a WS run. So no a TDL doesn’t mean it’s an acceptable comp for hand. Like I said Miller on the other hand might be a very acceptable comp. But again just because it’s an acceptable comp doesn’t mean the return is going to line up.
Torres isn’t the top prospect in the game
Isn’t Frazier a free agent?
Short answer…no
Is the longer answer “Hell, no!?” 😉
Interesting thoughts, but that will not happen. Would be pretty funny if the Yanks got Solarte back after giving us Headley back, though.
Lmfao why do you think Hand would command the Yanks #1 (and also MLB #1) and #2 prospect. Get real dude.
Essentially we’d be paying for them by taking on Ellsbury. Frazier doesn’t have a position, and Didi is a pretty dam good ss. Torres at 2b would be a waste of talent. Might as well grab the man the myth the legend, Brad.Hand.
Yankees don’t want to give away their top prospects in exchange for salary relief when they’re already below the tax line that is idiotic and I’m a freaking twins fan and I can see that
You are also asking for Betances in the deal as well… So getting Hand and giving up Betances would weaken their bullpen…not strengthen it!
Yankees need to jettison ellsbury and his contract asap.
May not seem like an issue now, but 2020 is when stanton will opt in and in 2020 and 2021 the yankees will be paying over 50 mill each season between stanton and ellsbury alone.
Factor in arb for players like judge, sanchez, bird, severino etc thatll be close to 100 mill alone just for 6 to 7 players. Plus whatever other financial obligations they make in 2018 and 2019. They wont have much room financially those two years.
Attaching torres is a long shot.
But, trading for hand and attaching Frazier and perez, abreu, and sheffield is a possibility for the padres to take 3/4 of the financial commitment to ellsbury.
If the yankees want his money gone completely then its hand for torress and ellsbury contract.
No way would we take on $65 mil for Torres, while also giving up Hand. Even if we flipped him and paid $30 mil for Torres, we would have still given up Hand
other prospects would be included but theyd be lesser if torres is involved and we are taking ellsbury contract.
id rather get frazier, Sheffield and the others for 3/4 the contract of ellsbury. doesnt even need to switch teams just send them cash to pay his salary for 3 of the 4 years.
I don’t think Tatis will be a true ss, and will fill out. He’s pretty thin and has a ton of power. Kinda like an A-Rod. He’d be a nasty Third baseman
Point me in the direction of your dealer??
You ever seen the back of a $20 dollar bill…on weed man?
Seeing as Tatis was in A ball last year, that would be a terrible thing to do
2019 lineup homeboy
more like 2029
Hahaha. Really? Give up our two best prospects for a first baseman/outfielder we do need, an infielder we originally traded and a relief pitcher? We would be down grading just to give up ellsbury? We would rather eat the contract.
No, we are not trading for Ellsbury.
Don’t for get to sign Bruce Jd Martinez and trade for kipnis Salazar and carrasco
Marlins maybe. Not Yankees.
You mention the Marlins were high on Naylor before they traded him. I’m not so sure that’s even true, otherwise they would have been a little more reluctant to trade him. Besides that point, the Marlins are under new ownership and fired half their scouts just in case you missed it. never mind the whole little fiasco where another Marlins prospect missed half a season because Naylor stabbed him in the hand in a “prank gone wrong”. but yeah, I’m sure they’d be more than willing to accept him in a trade for yelich
I swear every Yankees fan is clamoring to trade Ellsbury, and it’s a colossal waste of time. Ellsbury has a no-trade clause and doesn’t want to leave, especially to go from a potential WS champ to a potential last place team.
You guys are stuck with that contract unless you hook him up with some sort of massive incentive.
It’s funny everyone wants a big glorious contact and then they get one and then once signed, the team is trying to get rid of it later that year or a few years down the road, even when there is so called TV money!!!
SMH at big contracts, they are a #MeanSpiritedJoke!
Except Gonzalez signed his big contract in Boston, and was traded to LA before Friedman and Co. took over. This current front office has nothing to do with giving Agon that type of money. Cmon now
I think he was talking about Myers
Before the rumors even start, Preller was on High Heat today and Russo asked him if they would entertain signing Adrian and his answer was: “We aren’t going to move Wil Myers to the OF for the sake of doing it, only if it is for a player of Hosmer’s caliber would they do it.
AGon would obviously be Myers’ backup, not slide him over.
why would he sign to get back up on a bed team but have to give him a starting role for him to consider
Because nobody is going to give A-gone a starring role.
I know he didn’t have the highest regards for Boston, but aren’t the Red Sox a good fit this time around? Contender, Sox have a need at 1B, and he definitely wouldn’t play every day. Seems like a decent fit to me
My thoughts too. Definitely put up some of his better career numbers the year he spent at Fenway. Seems as good a place as any to try and rebuild value.
Never mind… they just re-signed Moreland.
He put those numbers up despite having a really bad shoulder injury that altered his follow-through. Imagine if he had been healthy!
Pretty sure that bridge was burned
“God’s will.”
Oy…..
Well there you go, Sox are committed to losing in the first round of the playoffs and leading the league in doubles
Im hoping white sox sign him and platoon him with Abreu he would also be a good mentor to the young hitter for the White Sox
Why would you want to platoon Abreu?
Too funny I thought the same thing a .300 30 HR hitter consistently and he wants to platoon him, by straight definition Gonzo would be playing a majority of the time (against RHP) and Abreu would see his ABs slashed like 2/3rds lmao
Depending on his cost I wouldn’t mind him in Milwaukee. Thames can play OF and that would give you that much more flexibility to trade an OFer for pitching. Having a lefty/on base guy off the bench would be nice too. If he’s cheap enough of course.
Braves are paying for him this year. Pretty sure his cost is .5 mill
What a joke. Just poor management. Paying the player to do nothing. Then releasing him to your rivals. Just incredible.
How is this poor management? From the deal standpoint seems pretty solid to me, what you would rather them waste the roster spot to have him sit the bench and never play?
they had to agree to release him for the deal to get done otherwise he wouldn’t have waived his no-trade clause
CLE remains in need of a first baseman, and plugging Gonzalez in as the starter for a year at league minimum makes a ton of sense for them EXCEPT for the fact that if Tribe can’t unload Kipnis this winter he’ll most likely become the default 1B. Always a fly in every ointment.
So essentially it’s Matt Kemp for Culberson, Kazmir, and Mccarthy. And you save money next year.
Kemp will get flipped too. It’s only a matter of time Kemp is gone and the Dodgers pick up some other pitcher with a horrible contract
I already called it when he got dealt to the Braves…he’s going to end up back with the Padres and then he’ll stick around with the organization in some capacity afterwards…he’s heavily involved in the community in both SD and Mexico so IMO that would be his best move at this point…loved having him in LA for those years and his help in getting.us to where we are now but it’s a business and now 1B belongs to Mr. Bellinger hopefully for the next 10 years plus
Just occurred to me, I witnessed three historic moments at Dodger Stadium this year: both Ethier’s and Gonzo’s last ABs and RBIs as Dodgers, and Turner’s NLCS walk-off. Can easily decide which one I enjoyed the most.
This will come down to the Mets, Indians, and Padres. All can offer him starting 1B job.
He would fill nicely in the role Carlos Beltran served for the Astros. Astros can use Adrian as a DH/backup 1B. A left handed bat in a well protected lineup can be very useful. I prefer Kemp for the DH role if he becomes available but can settle for Gonzalez.
Shame how the Dodgers treat their vast Mexican American community. First they build their travesty of a stadium atop of the homes of working class Mexican American families, then they exploit the great Fernando Valenzuela and now they just toss aside Adrian like he is nothing. Braves had to do the Dodgers dirty work. Hoping Latino players are taking note of this.
Thats the dumbest thing i ever heard. They didn’t toss him aside like nothing. He did not fit on the team anymore. He waived his no trade for a reason. You are clueless
Agree with you on history of stadium but it’s not a travesty. It’s easily a Top 3 ballpark for watching baseball.
Re AGon, it’s a pure business/baseball move. Nothing to do with Mexican heritage. Verdugo and Urias are still on the team if you’re looking for strictly Mexican players. They’re also playing a game in Monterrey. I saw them play in CDMX in 2003.
Re Latino players, Dodgers bolstered the entire Cuban market by throwing wasted money at them the past several years. Plenty of Domincans on Dodgers for past several decades.
Lastly, did you not see Fernando honored during the World Series? Pretty sure Vin called him to the mound to throw a first pitch.
you do know that Gonzalez waived his no-trade Clause meaning he agreed to the deal right? lol
I respect history as much as the next person and probably a whole lot more than most, but even I know when it’s time to stop talking about 1958 as if it was just yesterday.
Agon to Yankees backup 1B, Big left handed part time DH to aim short RF porch.
WS bound team to earn the ring.
This reads like a newspaper headline written by someone on some really hard drugs.
I was thinking either Yankees or Padres
He was a good Brave. I’m sure they’re going to miss him….
I wonder if they will retire his number???
I’d give him a shot at DH somewhere. He won’t cost anything. He’s only 36.
“only 36” in baseball terms, he’s nearing the end of his career.
At some point, teams have to stop signing 30+ year old players to 20 year contracts.
What happened to the Braves getting top prospects for Kemp?
“Whatcha talkin bout Willis?” This kind of deal is what happens when you trade overvalued contracts. You either package prospects with an albatross contract to get another team to essentially pay for the prospects, swap known commodities for some payroll room (think BJ/Melvin Upton packaged with Craig Kimbrel for around $55MM in cleared payroll space by Atlanta), or you swap bad contracts for change of scenery or contractual benefit for a season or life of the contracts (what we have in this trade). What you won’t see is teams giving up top prospects to take on an unaccompanied albatross of a contract.
What about Gonzalez to the Rangers? He don’t have a true 1b… although Gallo may be there this year. He could start once a week at 1st and DH occasionally.
Here’s a twist, let Gonzo re-sign with the Rehab Rangers play him at first/dh and batboy. Get him healed and dump him like a bad habit to The Marlins. Sounds good huh?
NBA trade, both ways.
Thats what I said when I saw this. Nobody would blink an eye at this trade in the NBA.
Really braves? You need all the help you can get.. lol.. good luck in the off season
Except the Braves didn’t really have a choice, it was agreed upon that he would be DFA’d and released in order for him to waive his no-trade clause. Besides, there’s no place for him on the roster anyway, especially with the Braves likely going with a four-man bench.
Kemp is a better power option than AGone at this point. He might was well retire with the money.
If im the Mets…id take a flyer on AGon…if they dont trust Smith…why not?? He wont be expensive coming off a down year…would only need a 1yr commitment…maybe he re establishes some value and can produce or be trade fodder if not in contention…
I dont see the harm if Sandy tries to bring him aboard
Sadly, this is as exciting as it will get for the Braves this offseason. They make it impossible to root for them.
The problem I see with the guy in the national league especially is he is a one trick pony coming off the bench. At this point he is a first baseman or a dh. He could pinch hit and if his health is better he may have some value there but teams value roster spots and want guys who can give more than just one guy a day off now and then. If they use him to pinch hit in a double switch situation he can only take over first base. He just ties your hands. He may be done but he has a sweet swing it’s hard to say how much injuries have derailed him. Maybe a reserve role or a dh spot could extend his career a year or two