Adrian Gonzalez is ready to get started with the New York Mets. He’s officially healthy and thinks they have a lot of talent.
Newly signed New York Mets‘ first baseman Adrian Gonzalez had some fun in the offseason, making a cameo appearance as himself in “108 Costuras,” a movie about baseball. He had some fun doing it and told mlb.com’s Jesse Sanchez, “I got to play myself, so that was easy. I didn’t have to do any actual acting. It was just talking. It was good. It was fun.”
Now, Gonzalez is getting ready for the 2018 season, his first as a Met, and he is excited to get going.
“I’m ready to go and happy,” Gonzalez said. “I’m excited about the season, and we’ll see what happens.”
Gonzalez was signed to a one-year deal to provide a bridge to Dominic Smith and to help the young player develop. He has previously spoken about wanting to help the young slugger develop into a starting-caliber player.
Gonzalez is coming off of a frustrating year with the Dodgers. Injuries and the emergence of Cody Bellinger limited the veteran to just 71 games. He struggled to a .242/287/.355 line with only three home runs.
However, for his career, he has hit .288/.359/.488 with 311 home runs. He has led the league in walks (2009), hits (2011) and RBIs (2016) one time each. He was also extremely durable, playing at least 156 games every year from 2006-2016. 11 straight years of playing essentially every game is a very impressive streak, and if he can find that durability again it will be extremely valuable to the Mets.
He’s made five All-Star teams, won four gold gloves, and added two silver slugger awards in his career. He is the most accomplished free agent the team has brought in, far above outfielder Jay Bruce or pitcher Anthony Swarzak, and the Mets are hoping he can find that old production for at least one more season.
