The Olympics are supposed to inspire you. Only the top athletes in the entire world get to compete. Sweat drips. Breathing becomes difficult. World records get broken. It’s a triumph of hard work and dedication.
Then there’s the story of Carlos Gomez. It’ll have the opposite effect on you.
Carlos Gomez, last season, started the season playing for the Milwaukee Brewers. It was clear Milwaukee wasn’t going to be good, and that remained true to the end of the season. The team finished 68-94, and it was clear that they were heading for a rebuild.
What any team does in the time of rebuild is sell best players for valuable minor leaguers with high ceilings. At the trade deadline, Gomez was a very popular name for contending teams. The outfielder established his worth by being vital to any success Milwaukee was having at the time.
A reported trade to the New York Mets, who later went to the World Series, fell through due to medical concerns. Instead, he went to the Houston Astros.
In Houston, Gomez’s production dropped, but the team continued to fair well. The Astros made the postseason as a Wild Card and even won the Wild Card Game against the Yankees. Ultimately, they lost in the next round to the eventual champions Kansas City Royals.
The new season began with excitement for the Astros, as they tried to ramp up their roster to make another strong push. At the time of writing, Houston is two-and-a-half games back in the Wild Card hunt.
Part of the reason the team is a bit behind is due to Carlos Gomez. His play continued to struggle this season, only batting .210 in 85 games. The team knew that to compete that couldn’t have that production from an everyday player, so they designated him for assignment.
For those of you who don’t know, when a team designates a player, his roster spot is freed, and the player has 10 days to be traded, or he is optioned to the Minors, if that’s a possibility, or released. Gomez was at the point where he o body wanted to give up anything of worth to acquire him.
In less than two years, Gomez fell hard. The 2014 season saw Gomez named to the All-Star team for the second consecutive year and even earned him some MVP votes. Now, he’s signed a Minor League deal with the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers aren’t a slumping team by any means, they are leading their division. Somehow, the team believes Gomez can help out and be their everyday Left Fielder. At least for the time being. Texas is dealing with an injury to Shin-Soo Choo. Gomez will report to Triple-A ball for the time being, but it will only be a matter of time until he comes back to the Majors.
It isn’t a huge financial risk to the Rangers, but they are betting that Gomez will show flashes of his former self in his new scenery. Given that Gomez didn’t take to his last change, there will be a lot of eyes watching to see how he adapts.
