Now that the Blue Jays have signed shortstop Alex Gonzalez, wither Carlos Delgado and Shawn Green?
Oh, not that Alex Gonzalez.
The Alex Gonzalez signed by the Jays Thursday to a one-year, $2.75-million US contract, with a $2.5-million club option for 2011, is a 32-year-old free agent who last year played for both the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox.
Gonzalez, who played the bulk of his career with the Florida Marlins, comes to the Jays on the cheap as last year he received $5,375,000. The Red Sox declined a $6-million option on him for 2010, which granted him free agency, and had planned to offer him $3 million for 2010. The Jays, though, beat them to the punch.
By signing Gonzalez, the Jays have turned their back on Marco Scutaro, one of last seasons major surprises. A backup most of his career, Scutaro, 34, went off the charts in 2009. He played flawless defence and turned in a career year at the plate, hitting .282 with 12 home runs, 100 runs scored and 60 RBIs.
“We couldn’t come to terms on a multi-year deal (with Scutaro),” Alex Anthopoulos, the Jays’ new general manager, said Thursday. “We needed to move forward and protect ourselves and get a Gold Glove-calibre defensive shortstop (in Gonzalez). We felt that, at this time, bringing Alex Gonzalez on board with a one-year deal and a club option made a lot of sense for us.”
However, the Jays will offer arbitration to Scutaro in order to obtain the two draft picks that will come their way if he signs with another team. In the unlikely event that Scutaro doesn’t receive a multi-year deal from another team that’s to his liking and accepts arbitration, the Jays say they can accommodate him.
“Marco can play all over the place (left field and third as well),” Anthopoulos said. “We think there’s enough playing time and getting Marco back, we’d also have a leadoff guy, as well. We’d certainly welcome him back and is something we took a look and we planned to have him back if that scenario was to play out.”
Gonzalez, who early in his career had some pop in his bat, did not come close to Scutaro’s numbers in ’09 as he hit .238 in 112 games with eight homers and 41 RBIs. And he doesn’t bat leadoff which leaves another void.
“It’s definitely an area of need. It’s one we’re going to look at,” Anthopoulos said. “I don’t think we have anybody we can say would be the player to take the leadoff position.”
Still Gonzalez is a steady performer, especially in the field. In his 44 games, with Boston at the end of ’09 he made just one error. He fills a gap in the organization as the Jays have no prospects at the position.
The signing comes the day after the Jays re-upped backup shortstop John McDonald to a guaranteed two-year deal.
Anthopoulos added that it’s “unlikely” the Jays will re-sign free agent catcher Rod Barajas.
