The Red Sox Signed Marwin Gonzalez to a One Year, $3M Deal less than 24 hours after making a blockbuster deal that sent Andrew Benintendi to Kansas City. The deal also has $1M in incentives. This is also the 5th transaction the Red Sox have made in the past two days.
Gonzalez will turn 32 in a month, and has been mediocre really his entire career, but very valuable considering he can play practically anywhere. He’s a career .261 hitter, with by far his best season coming in 2017, where he was a part of the Astros cheating scandal, along with Red Sox Manager Alex Cora who was the Bench Coach of the Astros at the time. Excluding 2017, his best year probably came in either 2015, or 2018 which was his last year with the Astros.
Gonzalez spent the last two seasons with the Minnesota Twins, slashing .248/.311/.387. In 2020 he had a bit of a down year, slashing .211/.286/.320, hitting 5 home runs in 53 games. He is elite defensively, while he can play anywhere except obviously pitcher and catcher, he is also in the 94th percentile in the league in OAA (Outs Above Average).
While Gonzalez can play 7 positions, he most likely will see the majority of the time at first base. With Chavis really struggling in 2020, and Dalbec with limited major league experience, the Red Sox had a bit of a hole to fill at the first base position. Mitch Moreland might have been the better option, but the Red Sox chose a more versatile option, and one that can play more than first base. Moreland may have been the better option, but Marwin Gonzalez gives the Red Sox more depth than a guy that solely plays first base would.
Final Thoughts:
This was a very god pickup by Bloom with the gaping hole at first base. It was not only an addition of depth, but was also a very team friendly and cost effective deal. With Gonzalez, it’s another guy where you know what you’re getting. Average at best hitting, while being very versatile in the field.
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