He Ain’t No Felipe Lopez
By
Amanda
Posted at 9:23 am
According to the Boston Herald, the Reds are interested in Alex Gonzalez:
There have been rumblings that the White Sox or Reds are gaining ground on landing free agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez with a three-year deal worth about $5 million a season.
The Red Sox are not believed to be interested in anything other than a one-year deal for Gonzalez. Asked about the reports, Epstein said, “We don’t comment on free agent talks.â€
The White Sox are not high on legally troubled shortstop Juan Uribe, while the Reds could use Gonzalez at short and move Brandon Phillips to second. . . .
The Red Sox remain interested in free agent shortstop Julio Lugo, but there does not appear to be any urgency in signing him. They also have inquired about free agent outfielder Gary Matthews Jr.
I'm not sure that Phillips playing second would exactly be a “move” there, but whatever.
Another Royce Clayton type signing.
Word is, he is signed. Gammons has reported it and now its all over the net.
My thoughts? I don’t dislike the contract like veryone else does. I believe that RCast will keep the money coming.
I just hope that Dunn definitely stays now and somehow Krivsky can get a strong bat for the RF opening and a nice SP and closer without trading Dunn. How? I have no clue…
Thanks for the tip RRB. Don’t hesitate to make Diaries on this stuff.
When I think back to the end of the season when the Reds just couldn’t put anything together, sure there were error-filled patches, but it always seemed like it wouldn’t have mattered how few runs they allowed because any number is infinitely times as many as the zero the Reds scored. And that picture’s not getting rosier with Aurilia going west.
It’s too early to judge, though. Perhaps Kriv-dawg’s going to come through with some offense yet.
I think it’s better than Royce Clayton. Gonzalez is 29, after all, and still a good defensive shortstop. Clayton was surviving on nothing but gasoline fumes and his reputation when the Reds got him.
I still would have preferred ARod.
If BP and EE make the leap the Reds might be ok offensively…assuming Hatte/Ross can duplicate ’06 and Freel/Junior stay healthy. Just tinkering:
Freel RF
Hatte 1B
Junior CF
EE 3B
Dunn LF
Phillips 2B
Ross C
Gonzalez SS
Uh, I don’t think that strikes fear in the hearts of men.
I don’t see Narron letting Freel play RF on a daily basis. He’s always talked about the importance of keeping Freel well-rested (though he hasn’t always done it) and the strength of keeping him fresh at all the different positions that he plays. I expect we’ll see someone else brought in to man RF on a regular basis.
But even so, can one outfielder make the line-up intimidating. I sigh to think about it.