Two years after the Oakland A’s gave up on Carlos Gonzalez who underperformed as a 23-year-old, the youngster put together the type of season people had expected from him. In his second year with the Colorado Rockies, CarGo hit .336 with 34 home runs 117 RBIs and 111 runs scored while stealing 26 bases and OPSing .974. He finished third in MVP balloting in the NL and proved he was one of the premier players in baseball.
A month after signing shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to a new contract extension, the Rockies are doing the same with Gonzalez. Both Gonzalez’s Venezuelan publicist and The Denver Post’s Troy Renck say CarGo will travel to the U.S. to take a physical and sign a seven year $80 million extension.
The Rockies had wanted to sign Gonzalez to an extension in order to keep the team’s young, studly core together for years to come. They already have Tulowitzki under contract for the next decade and will have Gonzalez along with him. Next up for an extension will be pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez.
One has to wonder if the Rockies aren’t getting too aggressive with a player who’s only produced for one season. That could be the case, but Gonzalez appears to be a star, and if he keeps it up the Rockies would be getting a good deal based on arbitration rates and CarGo’s value as a free agent. At first reaction, I lean towards saying this is a great deal for Gonzalez and more of a risk for the Rockies. They clearly believe in him heavily to invest that type of money in a player who’s only put in one full season in the majors.
