I still remember that day in 2012 when the entire Baseball world heard the shocking news that the Dodgers now had Adrian Gonzalez in their lineup. As you may recall, the franchise was in turmoil then. Team owner Frank McCourt had effectively been ousted just three months prior, and few people knew exactly what the new bosses had in mind.
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| (Beckett, Punto and Agon coming to LA, via twitter) |
After all, a complete tear-down and rebuild wouldn't have been out of the question -- especially considering the inflated price Guggenheim Partners paid for the team (i.e. todays Marlins).
Instead, we fans were pleasantly rocked with the news that this team and their new owners were focused on winning now, and the Adrian Gonzalez trade would play a large part in helping us do that. Starting with their very first full-season (2013) they began a streak that had never been accomplished by the franchise. Since 2013 and every year since, the Dodgers have won their division. That's five straight playoff appearances for the club -- a franchise first.
Gonzalez, over that span, slashed .280/.339/.454/.793 with 101 homers and 448 RBI's. He also became the lifeblood of the team, its biggest cheerleader and a leader in the clubhouse.
For all of that, I want to extend a hearty thank you to Adrian. He was will forever be Dodger Blue to me.
Below is a statement tweeted by Adrian on Saturday regarding his weekend trade to the Atlanta Braves (he waived his no-trade clause):
In honor of Adrian's time in Los Angeles I made the above four fantasy Baseball cards of him.Thank you @Dodgers organization and fans for all the great years! #Blessed #Thankful #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/p7FC3pZdzz— Adrián González (@Adrian_ElTitan) December 16, 2017
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In additional AGon news that wasn't entirely unexpected, the Braves have release him. That means he is now a free agent. Per, Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors:
The release of Gonzalez underscores that Saturday’s blockbuster was a financial move for the Dodgers and Braves more so than a move that was motivated by interest in the players that changed hands. Gonzalez is still owed a total of $21.5MM for the 2018 season in the final year of a seven-year, $154MM contract and will be available to any team that has interest in him for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum (for any time spent in the Majors). That sum will be subtracted from the $21.5MM for which Atlanta is on the hook, but the remainder of the deal, nearly $20MM, will come out of Atlanta’s pockets regardless.
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