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Gonzalez a good fit for Detroit
Posted: Friday January 28, 2000 04:38 PM
The Detroit Tigers have offered outfielder Juan Gonzalez, whom they acquired in a nine-player deal with Texas in November, the richest contract in baseball history. The $140 million, eight-year deal exceeds the $105 million contract Kevin Brown signed with the Dodgers last season. CNNSI.com caught up with Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci, who explained why "Juan Gone" is a good fit for Detroit in 2000 and beyond. CNNSI.com: Should we be surprised anymore that whenever one of the 10 or so best players in baseball is offered a new deal it sets a record as the most expensive ever? What does it tell you? Tom Verducci: Well the first thing this one tells me is that the market for Ken Griffey Jr., and Alex Rodriguez -- who are both more valuable players than Gonzalez -- now starts above $17.5 million a year, and we're closer to $20 million per year. Derek Jeter and Gonzalez are being slotted behind those two guys. Obviously Gonzalez commands more than Shawn Green in average annual salary of his contract. But surprising? In this case the dollar value isn't surprising, but the length of the contract does surprise me a bit. CNNSI.com: Because of his age (30)? Verducci: Not so much his age, but when he left Texas, a lot of dirty laundry came out about Gonzalez off the field, relating to some marriage troubles. And Rangers' manager Johnny Oates said Gonzalez was so moody that if somebody misplaced his cap, it would ruin the rest of his day. But as far as his age goes, when you get him in the lineup, Gonzalez produces. And he produces at very predictable levels. This is a guy who's had 500 home runs stamped on him ever since he broke into the league [in 1989, with Texas]. CNNSI.com: When we talked about the trade that brought Gonzalez to Detroit you mentioned that Detroit was taking a big gamble and would have to come up with a big-money deal to keep him. Is this contract just a product of that? Verducci: When they traded for him November, the Tigers had no window to sign him. They made the deal with their eyes closed, so the pressure was on them to sign him. They didn't want Gonzalez for a one-year rental. They identified him as their franchise player going into the new ballpark, and now they want to make sure he continues to be that player. If there's any doubt for Gonzalez, it's how the ball will fly for him in Comerica Park. The new park is very deep in center and to left-center. But he originally complained about The Ballpark at Arlington, too. He thought it wasn't a hitters' park, but things seemed to work out for him there. Gonzalez is a guy who hits his home runs to all fields. Maybe the new park could cost him between two and five homers per year. But very few of his home runs scrape the back of the fence on their way out; there usually isn't much doubt when they go out. CNNSI.com: You mentioned Gonzalez's problems away from the field. Are the Tigers buying themselves one expensive PR problem? Verducci: I don't think so. History shows that Gonzalez is the kind of guy who likes to play often and when he does, he plays hard and with a lot of pride. I think that when he's happy his numbers will go through the roof. The Tigers knew what they were getting into. What happened away from the field wasn't a big problem, not one that hurt the image of the Rangers' franchise, at any rate. I think it simply puts more stress on the manager, who always has to monitor Gonzalez's mood. But Gonzalez is not a bad person, and he doesn't turn off the fans. I think the fans in Detroit will like him. CNNSI.com: Does this mean Gonzalez is a good long-term fit in Detroit? Verducci: Yeah. I saw him last week in the Dominican Republic, working out with his personal trainer, which is something he's been doing for the last few years. He looked great. He's gotten away from so much weight training, which I thought he was doing too often and making himself too big. He's still strong, but now he's more flexible. He has a body and a swing that should keep him productive through his mid- and late-30s. Besides, I thought the Tigers underachieved last year. They were a team with some good players, but they were all complementary players. They didn't have that one guy to slot in the middle of the lineup who could take pressure off everyone else. Gonzalez is really going to help Tony Clark and Juan Encarnacion. They should both have better seasons. The Tigers now have a formidable lineup. But it's a lineup that will strike out a lot and they'll have to improve their on-base percentage to contend with Cleveland. But it's a good lineup. Look at it this way, there are 30 teams in baseball. There aren't 30 No. 4
hitters in baseball and the Tigers got themselves a good one. By signing Gonzalez, they won't
have to think about the cleanup spot for the next eight
years.
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