While the Braves are still shopping for outfielders, there’s mixed news tonight about whether they’ve arrived at the cashier’s lane.
Let’s jump right in to this: tonight’s hot topic is the ‘signing’ of versatile infielder/outfielder Marwin Gonzalez, who would be a candidate for a corner outfield position for the Atlanta Braves. While information is flying around twitter right now, that rumor appears to be… just a rumor.
Here’s the source I’m trusting the most right now:
Fuente: #Braves es uno de los equipos que ha mostrado interés en el venezolano Marwin González, pero no le ha hecho ninguna oferta. González sigue agente libre y esperando por un contrato en MLB.
— Enrique Rojas/ESPN (@Enrique_Rojas1) January 15, 2019
Yes, we have the English translation: Source: #Braves are one of the teams that has shown interest in the Venezuelan Marwin Gonzalez, but has not made any offer. Gonzalez is still a free agent and waiting for a contract at MLB.
Earlier we were hit with multiple ‘sources’ suggesting this:
- “Marwin Gonzalez signs for 3 years and $56 million with the Braves of Atlánta… was this the best option for Marwin? I want to see your reactions!”
Not Just a Denial
The denials are rolling in now, but this one from Jon Heyman is not just that, but it’s actually a categorical denial:
Inquiring about the rumor that the Braves were signing Marwin Gonzalez, heard that Atlanta has no offers out to any free agents (including Marwin) and in fact is not currently in talks with any free agents. So I’d guess they are either focusing on trades or waiting out market.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 15, 2019
So… wow… we’re not talking with any free agent right now? That is interesting, for I would have at least expected that there would be some discussions with some free agents as a backup plan.
Perhaps that suggests – in a backhand manner – that some trade discussion is gaining some traction? That would be good to know… though it’s still hopeful speculation.
The Common Sense Angle
In the meantime, let’s parse this Gonzalez rumor for just a moment.
- Gonzalez made $5.125 million last year. There’s no way he jumps to $18-to-19 million in 2019… particularly after a ‘down’-ish year (2.5 bWAR after 4.3 bWAR in 2017).
- For him to get money like that, the Astros would have tagged him with the dreaded ‘Qualifying Offer’ label. And frankly, he would have taken it before the ink dried.
- In this market, he’s looking a lot more like a $6-to-9 million player… and maybe only for a year+option.
Maybe Marwin signed for 56 million pesos, which is about 3 million United States dollars
— BravesDwight (@BravesDwight) January 15, 2019
That might actually have been a lot more plausible. Well played, Dwight.
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Marwin is valuable to any club as someone who can play several positions, but the Braves already have a couple of players like that in Charlie Culberson and Johan Camargo.
Gonzalez is also a bounce-back candidate, having posted a robust .907 OPS outta nowhere in 2017 (he had never even hit as high as .760 before), though fell back to roughly a career average of .733 in 2018.
So no – even if the Braves had been in pursuit of Gonzalez, the terms would be a lot different – particularly since any chatter about him has completely dried up since the off-season began.
But the news of the night, it seems, might actually be that snippet from Jon Heyman… that there’s nothing going on in the free agent market for Atlanta.
Hopefully there is something brewing on the trade front, then.