Carlos Gonzalez Must Improve On His 2010 Season For Colorado To Contend In 2011
Carlos Gonzalez is only 25-years old. He was traded two different times before he was 23, and has only played in at least 90 games once in his three-year career. He was the top prospect in the Arizona farm system in 2008, according to Baseball America.
But because Gonzalez was so good in 2010, he has the weight of the Colorado Rockies on his shoulders this season.
Last year, Gonzalez was able to stay healthy and finally make use of all those raw tools that scouts have talked about for a long time with him. He hit .336/.376/.598 en route to finishing third in the National League MVP race, behind the Reds' Joey Votto and Cardinals' Albert Pujols. He led the league in average, hits and total bases.
But there are still people who aren't convinced that this guy is a player. His home/road splits are concerning - 1.162 OPS at home, .775 on the road - but he is still young and growing as a player.
The Rockies don't share everyone else's concern because they locked Gonzalez up with a seven-year, $80 million extension, not long after giving stud shortstop Troy Tulowitzki $134 million for the next 10 years.
Gonzalez has had huge expectations for a long time, as Jerry Crasnick from ESPN.com pointed out.
"Big things were in store for Gonzalez from the moment he signed with Arizona at age 16," Crasnick wrote, "but the expectations came with yellow caution flags. In his early minor league stops, Gonzalez gained a reputation as cocky and too self-satisfied for his own good."
When Gonzalez debuted in the big leagues with Oakland in 2008, he had the ability to play. He needed time to develop - he was only 23 - but he was fast, showed some power and was a good outfielder. The A's made him the key piece of the Matt Holliday trade that winter.
Since joining Colorado, Gonzalez has played in 234 games, with 47 home runs, 146 RBI's and 42 stolen bases.
As for that cocky attitude, that could just be innuendo, according to an interview Sports Illustrated's John Heyman had with Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd.
"We haven't seen any of that," O'Dowd said. "We knew he had star-like ability. We didn't know he was such a quality kid. He's been the consummate teammate. He's got the whole package.''
Colorado has pretty high expectations this year, and if they want to live up to them Gonzalez will have to be the player and teammate that he was last year.
Don't sell him short either, he has the ability and is just hitting his prime years.
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