If chicks dig the long ball, then Alex Gonzalez – no disrespect to his wife and children – has been knee-deep in tail in 2010. Unfortunately for Gonzalez owners, Wednesday’s trade does hurt his fantasy value…but only slightly.
Gonzalez has long been known as a light-hitting, defensive shortstop, but he does have a history of life in his bat. He averaged 20.5 HR and 78 RBI in 2006 and 2007 with the Marlins, but his 17 first-half homers this year are a completely unexpected occurrence.
But leaving the homer happy confines of the Rogers Centre for the just-about-average Turner Field could rob everyone’s favorite slugging shortstop of a few bombs here and there.
Over the last five seasons, the Rogers Centre has consistently been more homer-friendly than Turner Field. It isn’t extreme, but for a player sporting the best HR/FB rate of his career (12.4%) that difference can matter. And – courtesy of hittrackeronline.com – consider that Gonzalez is tied for the MLB lead in homers that had “Just Enough” (10). Yes, 10 of his 17 home runs had just enough to clear the fences.
Sure, the lineup in front of him is a little better, but the real reason you have Gonzalez is for the dingers.
And while he hasn’t been fantasy relevant this season, Yunel Escobar is worth a gamble if you have a free roster spot. He was a trendy shortstop pick preseason, and perhaps a change of scenery will get him going again.
