Juan Gonzalez

You see many articles talking about how quickly Roberto Alomar or Fred McGriff fell from the upper echelons of talent and of how far that fall from grace was. For some reason - I haven't seen the same type of column about Juan Gonzalez.

Juan Gonzalez is an enigma. The guy was a two time American League MVP but he was only named to three All-Star games. Gonzalez is 31st on the all-time HR list and 61st on the all-time RBI list. Probably most impressive is the fact that he's 19th on the all-time slugging percentage list - ahead of names like Musial and Mantle. Even given his accomplishments - I'd be willing to say that his chances of making the Hall of Fame are zero.

Juan Gonzalez played 33 games for the Royals this year before going on the DL with a bad back - an injury that is causing him to miss the rest of the season. Last year he played just 82 games for the Rangers and in 2002 just 70 games.

People like to point to the loss of Alex Rodriguez and say "Ewing Effect" when they see the Rangers now in first place in the AL West. The fact is though - the shedding of Gonzalez's $13 million 2003 salary probably had a much bigger effect (pretty much 100% addition by subtraction).

When he signed with the Royals this off-season - many people (including myself) thought it was a steal on the part of the Royals. $5.5 million for a guy who easily could hit 40 HR and drive in 120 runs? Sure if that guy was the 1999 Juan Gonzalez. Unfortunately the Royals signed the 2004 Juan Gonzalez and they got 33 games for their money. This was the biggest waste of money since Chevy Chase was paid to be in Caddyshack II.

Thank goodness the Royals have a $500,000 buy-out on the 2005 contract for Gonzalez. What do you think the odds are that they exercise that buy-out option? Pretty much the same odds that you'll get on the sun coming up in the morning?

I wouldn't think it was possible for a player with 434 HR and over 1400 RBI to go out with more of a whimper (or was it more of a yawn?). Juan Gone is Gone and most people couldn't care less.