What Carlos Gomez has left to offer and the teams that make for the best fit
Gomez was designated for assignment on Wednesday
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3 min read
On Wednesday, the Astros made the surprising decision to designate Carlos Gomez for assignment.
The "surprising" part had more to do with Gomez's name and history than his current state. Just here recently, he'd been an exciting two-way talent -- someone who clobbered 20-plus home runs at the plate, then robbed a few from his center-field perch. Since being traded to the Astros last deadline, however, Gomez has slipped from All-Star to replacement-level production (his 63 OPS+ is the sixth-worst among batters with more than 300 plate appearances). Take Gomez's struggles and add in the Astros' situation -- they have an increasing number of position-player options, and a decreasing amount of time to get back into the postseason picture -- and this move isn't that "surprising," after all.
Still, Gomez is 30 years old and received MVP votes in two of the past three winters. When a player like that becomes available, we have to ask: does he have anything left -- and where might he land?
Gomez's poor play is owed to a confluence of factors. He's forever been a grip-and-rip hitter, yet this season he's making significantly less contact than usual. Whereas his whiff rates used to check in around 25 percent, he's missed on nearly 40 percent of his swings -- that's just not going to work, particularly not for someone who likes to expand the zone as often as he does. It doesn't help Gomez that he has a tendency to get too far underneath the ball, leading to a lot of pop-ups. As such, Gomez is making an easy out -- either via strike out or pop-out -- in far too many of his at-bats.
The positives offered by Gomez's year are overshadowed by those negatives, or by comparisons to the past. For instance, he's swiped 13 bags on 15 tries, but he hasn't been as effective at taking the extra base during the run of play. Another one: his percentage of extra-base hits (of total hits) has remained steady, yet he's recording fewer hits overall -- and those extra-base hits have cleared the wall less often. Factor in the aforementioned negatives, and the best hope is that getting Gomez away from Houston will help rejuvenate him in ways that we can't put our fingers on.
Is that a great bet in the short term? Nah -- but you just know someone will make it. And who might that Someone be? Here are four teams we identified as potential fits.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Admittedly, the Dodgers probably have too many outfielders with question marks to ponder adding another. But their front office loves the concept of positive arbitrage, and adding Gomez at the league minimum would fit. Gomez would also give the Dodgers yet another alternative to Yasiel Puig, presuming they'd rather not depend on him to fill their left-field void.
New York Mets
We're including the Mets here because they could use a boost -- particularly a right-handed one in the outfield. Gomez gives them a more legitimate center-field option than they have at their disposal, and he could still slot into the lineup against lefties once Yoenis Cespedes returns from the disabled list. Plus, wouldn't it be fun to see Gomez end up playing the hero in New York after what happened at the 2015 trade deadline? They could have fun with it and get him on the big screen reading that Frank O'Hara poem about how much he loves the city. Or not. Almost certainly not.
Washington Nationals
Remember how Gomez's OPS+ is the sixth-worst among hitters with more than 300 plate appearances? It just so happens that Ben Revere is one of those players with an even worse mark. The Nationals are using Trea Turner elsewhere, meaning their top center-field alternative is Michael Taylor. Gomez would give the Nationals another piece of veteran depth -- and would represent a cheap upgrade over the likes of Chris Heisey and Brian Goodwin.
Cleveland Indians
The Indians have received multiple pieces of bad outfielder news over the last several days. Michael Brantley doesn't seem to be any closer to return than he was before, and Bradley Zimmer left Wednesday's game after being hit in the hand on a bunt attempt. Gomez would give the Indians a low-cost lottery ticket who could well turn into the middle-of-the-order bat they hoped they were getting in Jonathan Lucroy.
