Forgotten Yankees: Marwin Gonzalez
As the Yankees v. Red Sox wild card series shifts to game 2, I figured to highlight a player who was a member of the Bronx team and the Boston Tea Party team during their career. Overall, there have been 258 players to play for both teams throughout MLB history, but as you know through the title of this article is that Marwin Gonzalez is a ‘forgotten’ player.
Gonzalez won a World Series with the 2017 cheatin’ Astros before landing with the Red Sox in February of 2021 on a one-year contract. Gonzalez, a shell of his former self by time 2021 rolled around, would ultimately be DFA’d by Boston after appearing in 77 games.
The reason for the DFA’ing that led to an eventual release was due to the switch hitter carrying a slash line of .202/.281/.285 and a .567 OPS in 242 at-bats. Gonzalez also put up a -0.3 WAR, which was at that time the worst of his career with a team and just the second time he had ever posted a negative WAR. Gonzalez would be picked up by Houston and finish 2021 with the team through 14 games, where he had an even worse WAR of -0.5 (-0.8 total for 2021), that saw him hit .176 with the Astros.
Despite putting up a combined -0.8 WAR and carrying a joint batting average of .199 between the Red Sox and Astros through a 91 game span in 2021, the Yankees front office felt that it was a good idea to sign him.
Marwin Gonzalez inked his name to a Yankees minor league contract on March 20th, 2022, in a move that was immediately met with criticism by Yankee fans. Many fans did not like that he was a member of the 2017 Astros, not to mention his well below replacement bat. Due to Gonzalez being a switch hitter and a unique utility man being able to play multiple infield and outfield positions, the Yankees let bygones be bygones, and signed him for depth.
Gonzalez would make the Yanks’ 2022 Opening Day roster, but would see his Yankees era being looked back on as disappointing. Although Gonzalez had a positive WAR of 0.6, he would hit just a .185 in 184 at-bats across an 85 game span. He hit 6 home runs and notched 18 RBIs, but a second-half slump would see his average slump to a .110 line during the span. Gonzalez struggled heavily against power pitchers, hitting a weak .094 against them.
Marwin Gonzalez’s most notable moment is not even as a hitter for New York – it came as a pitcher. Gonzalez took the mound in a 9-0 blowout loss against Tampa Bay and clocked a surprisingly fast 90-mph pitch. Overall as a member of New York, he played seven different defensive positions (all except catcher and center field).
After the 2022 season, Gonzalez would go overseas to the NPB in hopes of reviving his career. He would officially announce retirement in September of 2024.
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