WOW: Royals sign Juan Gonzalez

[kcchief19]

It's been rumored that it was close, but I'm just stunned they got it done. If he stays healthy, I think he will thrive with this team. People who know him think he will love playing for Tony Pena, and that may bring out his best.

With the heart of the order consisting of Gonzalez, Sweeney and Beltran, I think this makes Kansas City the preseason favorite in the Central. Allard Baird has made some incredible signings to build the best bullpen in the division. Even the starting staff shows promise.

For the first time in a decade, I'm excited about this team going into a season.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Juan Gonzalez is crap. Injury prone crap at that.

[Ksyrup]

He's not crap, but he is injury prone. And he has a Manny attitude. Still, he'll be a clear upgrade in the OF.

[corbes]

You're thinking of 1998.

Unfortunately, it's 2004. Kind of takes some of the wow factor away.

[Ksyrup]

He's still productive, he just doesn't get the ABs he used to. His OPS last year was right in line with his career number. he's had 2 bad years in the past decade, and one was in Tiger Stadium and the other was when he was hurt. He's only 34. Even if he's not healthy, he's still more productive at that salary than anyone lese they could put out there.

[corbes]

Fair enough. I'd just have a hard time trusting that he'd be out on the field when I needed him.

[TRO]

Great signing, though I haven't seen how much we gave him yet.

With Dejesus coming to the show, we have injury insurance for Juan without having to throw Dejesus right into the fray.

Happy day.

[j51]

Juan will put up 30 RBIs in April-May, then he'll go on the DL with a broken fingernail and you'll never hear from him again.

[kcchief19]

Well, I'll agree that his injuries are a cause for concern, but he did hit 24 HRs and had 70 RBIs in 82 games last year while hitting .294. Those are nice numbers, even better when projected over a full season.

There have been a lot of stories about Juan in Kansas City lately. The scouts went to go see him work out and said they were impressed and that his physical came out clean as a whistle. He has been a bit of a head case, but I think the difference will be Tony Pena. These guys want to go through a wall for him, and people who know both Juan and Pena have said they think Pena will get the best out of Gonzalez.

He's still got pop. Even in half a season he put up better numbers that they guy he is replacing in the lineup, Raul Ibanenz.

TRO, it's essentially a $4.5 million one-year deal with a mutual option for a second year at $7 million.

Combine this with the other upgrades -- Benito Santiago, Matt Stairs, Brian Anderson, the bullpen -- and that both Minnesota and Chicago have had serious losses without adding anything, and you got to feel good about this.

And let's face it -- the Royals signing anybody splashy, much less a guy with border-line HOF credentials, is deserving of a wow.

[TRO]

4M with the 500K bonus (I doubt the option will be used) is a bit more than I was hoping, but I suppose it is reasonable. And I'm definately pleasantly pleased that we decided to spend a little for a player we need. I just hope he doesn't flop out as that could scare off future moves.

Definately excited about the season though, the rotation is still shaky but I'll take our bullpen and defense over most every other team in the league and our offense *could* be quite potent. In the AL Central, that could be enough to at least get us back in the post season. Yay :)

[WSUCougar]

Originally posted by kcchief19
I think this makes Kansas City the preseason favorite in the Central.
Damn this time machine! I said 1785, not 1985! :eek:

[stevew]

Gonzo is a HOF-er, assuming he puts together 3 more solid seasons, or 71 HR

1655 games 429 HR 1387 RBI .296 .344 .563 .907

Those are kickass stats.

[sterlingice]

I want to the same 6 games I've gotten the last few years. It's a long drive from Lawrence so 1 a month is about the limit, tho we went to 9 last year as we could swing a couple more during the summer. Heck, I even got my girlfriend into baseball to the point where she got a MacDougal jersey and was just beaming after getting it signed the last day of the year on autograph day

Unfortuately, single ticket sales don't start for another month or I'd have mine in hand. Last season was great- we went to the 4th or 5th game of the year (the first friday night) and walked away with 4 tickets to 4 games (all were promos, too- either buck night or something cool like Monarchs caps or the George Brett Babooshka dolls), all within 4 rows of the front of the upper deck and right over 1st or 3rd base.

Anyways, I don't care about the splash made by this move. I want something that helps the club and is a pretty good contract. It's an upgrade and it cost about as much as it would have cost to keep Raul. I like Juan Gonzalez at $4.5M (plus possibly $2M in bonuses- I'm guessing most are health related) than Raul Mondesi, Reggie Sanders, or Jose Guillenat $3M per year for two years. Rondell White or Jose Cruz Jr at $3M felt like a good fit but they passed the Royals by.

As for the entire offseason, I can't say how happy I was with Randa, Anderson, and Leskanic coming back. Then to add Santiago, an improvement over Mayne, Sullivan to strengthen the pen, and Stairs to platoon with Harvey.

I would have liked a second baseman so that Desi could move back to utility guy because I'm not big on the Graffanino move ($1.1M per year for what?!?) And, Stinnett's ok, but I'd rather have kept DiFelice who signed for $150K more.

All in all, as soon as the single game tickets go on sale, I'll be heading to KC to get my 6 tickets for next season (screw you, Ticketmaster service charge). It's good to see people finally excited in this baseball town after so many years of crushed interest. I guess I'd rather get worse seats in a full stadium than the great seats I've been getting in empty, dead stadiums the past few years.

SI

[Ksyrup]

If Brian Anderson pitches like he has in the past and Sullivan has an "on year," the Royals will be very good. Sullivan is really going to be a key for the bullpen. I watched a few of their games in the 2nd half of the season, and having to see them trot these guys out there who just lit a fire under the offense, it was painful. With that starting staff, they're going to need someone to pitch from the 5th to 8th innings effectively.

[Tasan]

Good luck with him. I really hope Pena can get something out of him, or else your nice little clubhouse will get a bad case of cancer. Can he still put up good numbers? Yeah, if you can get it out of him. And I see that as a big if. I've been a Rangers fan since 1990. I've seen it.

Oh and have fun with him in Right. He still has an arm, but he can only use it when he feels like chasing down a fly ball. Don't expect dives, hard runs, or any kind of spectacular play. Maybe a good throw or two, but you'll be sitting there saying "JUAN! If you'd have run to get that ball, you wouldn't have had to throw that hard!"

Trust me. I've watched this guy since he came up. His first couple of years, he would play hard. He had his first big season, and it all went to his head after that.

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by Tasan
Oh and have fun with him in Right. He still has an arm, but he can only use it when he feels like chasing down a fly ball. Don't expect dives, hard runs, or any kind of spectacular play. Maybe a good throw or two, but you'll be sitting there say "JUAN! If you'd have run to get that ball, you wouldn't have had to throw that hard!"

I just assumed Beltran will play center-right next season, leaving poor Aaron Guiel to cover the entire other half of the field :p

SI

[Tasan]

Originally posted by sterlingice
I just assumed Beltran will play center-right next season, leaving poor Aaron Guiel to cover the entire other half of the field :p

SI

You laugh now, but wait until someone less speedy than Beltran has to play center when Juan is in right one night. Doubles City.

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by Tasan
You laugh now, but wait until someone less speedy than Beltran has to play center when Juan is in right one night. Doubles City.

Remember when Beltran was too hurt to even drag his half healthy carcass out into center? I remember a quote in the media from Tony Pena when answering a question about who gets to play center field and he responded with something like "Anyone who wants to" because there really was no one. Well, I went to a game where Desi played center- now, Desi looked like a fish completely out of water and the Twins, I think it was, just kept doubling over his head. Then he moves back to near the wall and then they just kept dropping singles in front of him. Needless to say, they lost that game something like 11-5.

SI

[MrBug708]

All they need is me to run them and they are in the playoffs