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Former Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez will take his services to the Big Apple in 2018, reportedly agreeing to a one-year contract with the New York Mets, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today and Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports.
The deal is pending a physical.
Gonzalez was part of the Dodgers’ salary reconfiguration trade with the Braves on Dec. 16, sent to Atlanta and immediately designated for assignment as part of the deal. Gonzalez agreed to waive his no-trade clause in exchange for his release into free agency.
“One of the factors for him, which we totally understood, was his desire to play not just in 2018 but potentially a few years beyond that,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said in December. “In those conversations and us laying out how we saw things in 2018 in terms of the depth chart played some factor in that [trade].”
He will earn $21.5 million in 2018, with the Mets paying him the major league minimum of $545,000 and the Braves on the hook for the rest.
Gonzalez saw his 2017 decimated by injuries, missing 66 games in the first two disabled list stints of his career. Gonzalez hit just .242/.287/.355 with three home runs in 71 games, the worst season of his career. He was usurped at first base in Los Angeles by Cody Bellinger, who set a National League record with 39 home runs en route to Rookie of the Year honors.
In parts of six seasons with the Dodgers, Gonzalez hit .280/.339/.454 with 101 home runs and 164 doubles in 735 games, good for a 119 OPS+. His 684 starts at first base are eighth-most in franchise history, dating back to 1913.
The five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove Award winner reached the 2,000-hit plateau last season, and in his 14-year career has hit .288/.359/.488, a 130 OPS+, with 311 home runs, 432 doubles and 1,167 RBI in 1,875 games.
This deal is reminiscent of another 26 years ago, when Dodgers first baseman Eddie Murray left as a free agent to sign with New York in his age-36 season in 1992, after three seasons in Los Angeles. Gonzalez turns 36 in May.