Gonzo waiting on D-Backs' decision.
http://tinyurl.com/s4fox
09/10/2006 8:33 PM ET
Gonzo waiting on D-Backs' decision
Eight-year reign for left fielder could be nearing end
PHOENIX -- There are 10 games remaining on the Diamondbacks' home schedule.
Ten precious dates, meaning the Luis Gonzalez era in Arizona may soon be
coming to a close.
"It's going to be interesting what happens the last weekend of the season
here, especially if there are still question marks," said Gonzalez, who has
been the face of the franchise for the last eight seasons. "I'd like to enjoy
those last games with the fans and my teammates."
Diamonds general manager Josh Byrnes said on Sunday in his box at Chase Field
that it's unlikely a decision will be made on that front by the time the
D-Backs come home from San Francisco to play their final four games against
the Padres. But it will come soon thereafter.
"For everyone's sake, it's not something we'll want to let linger long into
the offseason," Byrnes said as the Diamondbacks concluded a four-game series
against the National League Central-leading Cardinals. "As with all of our
free agents, we want to consider our options. Obviously, Gonzo's a different
case because of what he's meant to the franchise and the success he's had
here."
The Diamondbacks can make quick work of it by simply exercising a $10 million
option on Gonzo's contract for next season. And though Byrnes was publicly
mum on the subject, Gonzalez believes that's not going to happen. Given the
current direction of the franchise to youth and its financial condition, that
seems to be a given.
"But it's not like we can't work something out on a different term," Gonzalez
said. "And I'm open to that. My agent and the Diamondbacks, I'm sure, will
sit down and see if there's an opportunity. If not ... I've always said I
want to continue playing here. I never said I wanted to leave. I'd love to
keep playing here."
Gonzo has said all along that he wants to finish his career in a Diamondbacks
uniform, even when the colors change from teal and purple to red and desert
beige next season. But Gonzalez insists he only wants to return in his
accustomed starting role in left field, batting third in the lineup. In his
mind, a bench player he's not.
"I can still play," he said.
It's hard to argue that point. After going 4-for-5 in Sunday's 9-7 victory
over the Cardinals, the left-handed swinger is now hitting .282 with 15
homers, 71 RBIs and a National League-leading 49 doubles, two ahead of
Florida's Miguel Cabrera. The other night he snapped his own single-season
club record of 47 doubles and now has 544 in his 16-year career, vaulting him
into 20th place on the all-time list, just ahead of former Padres great Tony
Gwynn.
In the past five weeks, Gonzo has soared past the likes of Harry Heilman,
Rogers Hornsby, Al Simmons, Joe Medwick, Dave Winfield, Lou Gehrig, Willie
Mays and Ted Williams, just to name a few. Each milestone reached at home has
been acknowledged on the scoreboard and, while standing on second base,
Gonzalez has been afforded a warm ovation.
Bob Melvin has a soft spot for Gonzalez, whom he has had in Arizona as both a
coach and manager. But he demurred about that situation when asked about it
alone in the dugout on Friday night.
"That's more of an organizational decision to be made at the end," Melvin
said. "Certainly, I'm very close to Gonzo and a big fan of Gonzo's, but that
not a question for me."
Asked if personally he would like to see the 39-year-old left fielder finish
his career in Arizona, Melvin added: "There's no question about it. Everybody
in Arizona would. He's an icon here."
And well he should be. He's adored in the community and provided the seminal
moment in the club's nine-year history: that chip shot of a base hit to the
opposite field off Mariano Rivera that won Game 7 and the 2001 World Series
for the Diamondbacks over the New York Yankees.
It's no wonder that Gonzalez wants to go out on his own terms.
"The ball, though, is not in my court," he said. "I feel like I've done a lot
for this organization just as they've done a lot for me -- on and off the
field. It's not like this organization has been around for a hundred years,
either. It's not like there are a lot of household names left. Me and [Craig]
Counsell and Miggy [Miguel Batista] are the only three left from the World
Series."
Batista and Counsell have come and gone since. Both have openly questioned
their futures in Arizona as the season has petered out. Gonzalez can foresee
his own future scrawled on a 2007 scorecard: Eric Byrnes in left, Chris Young
in center and Carlos Quentin in right as the youth movement continues.
But this, after all, is Luis Gonzalez. Whether he will survive to play
another Diamondbacks season is anybody's guess.
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看來Gonzo很想留在Arizona，
但他要求的底線是要先發而且打三棒，
(錢當然是好說，可是也不能太誇張)
不過以他現在的身手要去別隊，
可能也不能夠先發打三棒吧........
anyway，希望今年底會有好結果。:)
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