After playing 14 seasons in the Majors without reaching free agency, former Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has now hit the open market twice in the past seven months. He was released by the New York Mets on Sunday.
After a bit of a slow start to the season, Gonzalez hit .289/.341/.434 with two doubles, three home runs and seven RBI in May. Overall, he batted .237/.299/.373 with five doubles, six home runs, 26 RBI, 15 walks and 34 strikeouts in 184 plate appearances across 54 games.
His tenure with the Mets came to an end with Gonzalez mired in a 1-for-19 slump. Gonzalez isn’t alone in struggling, as the Mets snapped an eight-game losing streak by salvaging a weekend series against the New York Yankees.
Gonzalez signed a one-year contract with the Mets after he was released by the Atlanta Braves. The 36-year-old is earning $21.5 million this season on the final year of the seven-year, $154 million contract he signed with the Boston Red Sox in 2011.
Gonzalez was included in a salary-motivated trade the Dodgers and Braves completed last December. He waived a full no-trade clause after initially rejecting the deal.
Over parts of six seasons in Los Angeles, Gonzalez played in 735 games and hit .280/.339/.454 with 164 doubles, 101 home runs and 448 RBI. But after appearing in at least 156 games since becoming a full-time player for the San Diego Padres in 2006, back trouble limited him to just 71 games in 2017.
The chronic bulging disc further inhibited Gonzalez last season, when he appeared in 53 games. That opened the door for Cody Bellinger, who went on to become the unanimous National League Rookie of the Year and further marginalize Gonzalez’s importance to the team.
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