ESPN.com: MLB – Expos reach tentative deal to acquire Juan Gone
Hard for me to believe. Yeah, the Rangers will pick up a lot of his salary (or take dead weight — i.e. Fernando Tatis — in exchange) but Gonzalez has a no-trade. Will he take the deal? Maybe, considering the Expos’ home-away-from-home in San Juan.
The link between Gonzalez and the Expos is Omar Minaya, who signed Igor (and Sammy Sosa and Ivan Rodriguez among others) when he was scouting for the Rangers in the 80s. According to some reports, the Rangers will get pitcher Seung Song (who’ll pitch in the MLB Futures Game) and infielder Josh McKinley. Doesn’t sound like a whole lot.
Stats on the principles:
McKinley — .308/.392/.523, 10 HR, 48 RBI at AA Harrisburg (he’s a switch-hitting second baseman)
Song — 5-2, 2.35 in 13 starts at Harrisburg; 2-0, 1.64 in two starts at AAA Edmonton
However, indications so far are that Gonzo will reject the deal.
This leads me to believe Los Expos will play the majority of their home games in San Juan next year. Juan would be a big draw in Puerto Rico.
Too bad for the folks hoping to bring baseball back to our Nations Capital…
I have my doubts as to Gonzalez’s ability to play 80+ games on turf in a year considering the state of his back.
I assume that this trade means Vladamir will don a different jersey next year.
I know I’m jumping the gun a bit here on the posts, but can anyone believe Javy Lopez? He is leading the majors in home runs. Well, he is tied with 2 guys right now. But think about it. You gotta give it up for the ol catcher.
I have started to wonder if our answer at first next year isn’t Javy. He and Estrada could share catching duties and Javy could play some first.
His power explosion has been something to behold. You have to think his plate discipline will eventually start to cause him to slide back to earth.
Right now he is absolutely CRUSHING the ball…