Time for the Rockies to trade Carlos Gonzalez?
Major League Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline is fast approaching, and with it a difficult decision on the fate of All-Star outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.
Should he stay or should he go? That’s the question the Colorado Rockies front-office is likely giving serious weight to right now.
A rumor swirled a few weeks ago that Gonzalez was eager for a trade out of Colorado and to a team with more immediate winning potential.
The story even suggested he had met with team officials to let them know he wanted out.
Within hours, Gonzalez was acting quickly to pour water over the whole thing.
“Nothing is true because, obviously, I haven’t talked to anybody and haven’t said that to anybody. Not my wife or my kids or my mom,” Gonzalez told the Denver Post.
“Who says it’s not possible to win? We have some great players around me. We have all-stars, we have Gold Glovers,” he continued. “Guys that are young and will continue to make strides. Guys like Trevor Story, Jon Gray. Young guys, who will hopefully can take that next step.”
Gonzalez made a convincing case that he wants to stay: “So hopefully we turn it around. I have been here for a lot of bad moments and tough situations, so I want to see the bright (side). I want to be here when that happens.”
His agent, as you might expect, was less firm on the issue.
“When you talk about CarGo and who he is, he’s going to play well for who he’s contracted to play for,” said Scott Boras, Gonzalez’s agent. “He’s going to focus on the team and that situation. That’s just the kind of guy he is.”
It’s a tough spot for everyone involved, because the team is clearly improving and there is reason to believe the Rockies will be legitimate contenders in the near future. But as of this moment, they’re 14 games behind the San Francisco Giants in the West and 7 games out in the National League’s Wild Card race.
So what do you think the Rockies should do with CarGo? Sound off in the comments and vote in our on-going Twitter poll…
Should the @Rockies try to trade Carlos Gonzales before the deadline?
— Mile High Maniac (@MHManiac) July 18, 2016
Some argue that trading him now could be a way to extract maximum value for a player who likely doesn’t have a long future in Colorado either way.
Gonzalez is only signed through the end of next season, after which he becomes an unrestricted free agent. He finished 2015 with a career-best 40 homers last year, and seems to be on track for a similar performance in 2016.
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