The Marlins announced to reporters, including Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald, that they have selected the contract of infielder Erik Gonzalez. To make room for him on the active roster, infielder Willians Astudillo has been designated for assignment.
Astudillo, 30, spent the first four years of his career with Minnesota, becoming a fan favorite due to his unusual size and profile. “La Tortuga” played every position on the diamond except for shortstop while with the Twins, including a few stints on the mound. He was also noteworthy for nearly constantly putting the ball in play, very rarely walking or striking out. However, his overall production lacked enough that the Twins designated him for assignment in November of last year.
The Marlins added him on a minor league deal in March, eventually selecting him to the big league team in May. Since then, he’s matched his profile, lining up at multiple positions, striking out just 5.3% of the time and walking just 2.6% of the time. His overall slash line of .270/.289/.351 amounts to a wRC+ of 84.
The Marlins evidently think that they can coax better production out of Gonzalez, based on this transaction. The veteran spent a few weeks with the club earlier this year, when they were dealing with a COVID situation. As such, Gonzalez was designated a “substitute” that could be removed from the 40-man roster without being exposed to waivers. During that time with the big league team, he got into 12 games and hit just .194/.286/.194 for a wRC+ of 49. However, he’s fared much better in Triple-A this year, slashing .339/.376/.431, 119 wRC+. With injuries to Joey Wendle and Brian Anderson, the Marlins have been trying to find infield solutions, including utility types like Astudillo and Jon Berti, with Gonzalez now being swapped in as the latest attempt.
Not La Tortuga!!!!!
L marLins
La Tortuga 🙁
Gonzalez would go on this weird 2-3 week tear where he’d hit like .300 with a .500 slugging, then revert back to the .500 OPS hitter he usually is.
This move will be a difference maker (eye roll).
Got to feel bad for the Marlins but it’s been fun watching the Mets toy with them.
They make Alcantra and that vaunted pitching staff look absolutely silly.
Spoken too early. Mets made Castano look like an Ace.
Who won the series? Exactly. Nice series for Nimmo by the way! Dominant, really.
Now go get your shine box.
Nimmo always has his hot streaks. Nothing new there. We’ll see where his BA is by the end of the year like always. But of course, we know that most of his prolonged slumps the last couple of years are followed by a convenient IL stint when his BA starts falling fast.
Let me see, you’re bragging about winning a series in June, in which the Marlins disastrous bullpen handed you one of the games? Enjoy! What can go wrong?
What’s the Mets magic number?
Lol his defense let him down bad, and he still looked good otherwise, but whatever narrative you want to push…
I didn’t know much about Astudillo until I watched the Marlins when they played the Rockies. I LOVE THAT GUY! Even though, or perhaps because, he is shaped like he ate the wrong blueberry candy in the Wonka factory.
Net loss
The turtle is a true clubhouse guy who brings something of intangibles to the teams he is on.
He plays with maximum effort. He also keeps the clubhouse positive.
Maybe not the ideal talent but I hope the Twins bring him back.
So send out the guy hitting a respectable .270 and replace him with a guy hitting .194?
I’m confused too.
The guy hitting 270 with an 81 ops+ and 280 obp that cant play defense? At least the other guy can play respectable defense for a few days until Anderson and Wendle are back, as well as hopefully Jazz
I don’t know about you, but I’m very disappointed in Anderson, and I’m ready to move on after this season if he doesn’t stay on the field and perform for the rest of the season.
bad move. thats a contact guy who can play any position. he will get a chance to play for a much better team. i heard the marlins are having problems on their clubhouse related to discipline and bad attitude and i think ‘La tortuga’ is a guy who can bring balance to the dugout when younger guys look at the way he plays the game. that’s my opinion.
The guy is hitting .270. he will sign with a good team tomorrow….
I mean he also has an OBP of just .289 and walks only 2% of the time. He walks so little it negates his decent batting average.
Not saying he’s terrible, I think someone will give him a shot, but he’s also not as good as his .270 average would seem to indicate
Actually, Astudillo is a good hitter, but a serious anomaly of a player. This guy swings at everything, but rarely strikes out. This is where the flaw of thinking that you can only look at OBP and ignore Bavg comes into play. Astudillo is a pure bat guy. He swings at everything, and he doesn’t miss much. 577 PAs for 544 ABs in his career, and he’s only walked 11 times and only struck out 27 times. That is insane. He may have the best hand-eye coordination in the game, but doesn’t have the other tools to go with it. He’s a serious anomaly. Not sure what to make of him.
My buddy in Minnesota loved him, a great pickup for someone
While there are multiple guys on the 40 man, and in the big leagues, right now that shouldn’t be, while certain players sot in the minor leagues for no reason, I’m glad I don’t have to watch this guy defensively anymore. Some of the things I’ve seen him do are tough to watch, and how early bone headed. Takes a lot for me to say stuff about players, but enough is enough. A lot of that is probably Wright related. I’m not even saying he needs to drop 65 pounds (he does though), but 15-20 would help thos dude so much. There are times he tries to do things b/c it’s harder to move otherwise
I cant type lol
I understood and you make fair points. I agree about the weight thing. A guy with that type of hand-eye coordination, but hinders himself as a ballplayer because of his lack of conditioning. He could be interesting if he wasn’t round.
Bye bye Willians. Loved you, hated your glove.
Being able to play any position is pointless if you are no good at all of them
Exactly. His lack of defense cost them the game with Alcantara on the mound.
1000%. He “can play” those positions, but shouldn’t play any of them
The correct term is that he can “stand” at all of those positions. He makes the likes of Dan Uggla, Daniel Murphy Junior Felix, Jose Offerman, Hanley Ramirez, Manny Ramirez, etc. look GG caliber. If he were a catcher, he’d make Mike Piazza, Jorge Alfaro, Gary Sanchez, and Mackey Sasser look GG caliber. Oh wait….