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Can Alex Gonzalez really even be called a lesser Brewer? Is there any lower level that we can start putting these guys?
Gonzalez entered the year as the Brewers starting first baseman which, yep, pretty accurately sums up how the 2013 season went in Milwaukee. He lost playing time pretty quickly to Yuniesky Betancourt and Martin Maldonado which, yep, pretty accurately sums up how the 2013 season went for Alex Gonzalez.
In April, Gonzalez started most days and hit .175/.221/.238. In May, he ended up taking more of a bench role, and hit .174/.174/.217. In June, he struck out three times in four plate appearances in one game, then was released the next day.
The Brewers paid Alex Gonzalez $1.5 million for his contributions in 2013. In return, Gonzalez gave them 41 games and a .433 OPS. So Yuniesky Betancourt's team-worst -1.7 fWAR in 2013 is impressive. Disgustingly impressive. But WAR is a counting stat. In 2013, Alex Gonzalez absolutely blew Yuni out of the water in WAR/150. Gonzalez ended up with a -4.02 WAR/150, Yuni sat at a 1.97 WAR/150. In that stat, Alex Gonzalez was twice as bad as Yuniesky Betancourt.
You know you're doing something wrong when you get released while the team you were on keeps the worst player in the majors and plays him in 137 games.
Gonzalez, by the way, received a whopping $4.25 million from the Brewers in 2012, as well. He played in 24 games for Milwaukee. He wasn't bad or anything, but he barely played. And between the two seasons, the Brewers paid him $5.75 million to give them -0.9 fWAR. Sometimes I just don't know.
Previous MVBrewers posts can be seen at the links below:
#1: Carlos Gomez
#2: Jonathan Lucroy
#3: Jean Segura
#4: Kyle Lohse
#5: Norichika Aoki
#6: Jim Henderson
#7: Brandon Kintzler
#8: Yovani Gallardo
#9: Wily Peralta
#10: Scooter Gennett
Honorable mentions: Marco Estrada, Ryan Braun, Khris Davis, Tyler Thornburg,Aramis Ramirez, Tom Gorzelanny, Jeff Bianchi, Caleb Gindl, Logan Schafer, Rob Wooten
Lesser Brewers: Burke Badenhop, Francisco Rodriguez, Jimmy Nelson, Donovan Hand, Sean Halton, Martin Maldonado, Hiram Burgos, Alfredo Figaro, Michael Blazek, Mike Fiers, Juan Francisco, Chris Narveson