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As tweeted by Carlos Gonzalez (or more likely his PR firm in Venezuela) and followed up by Troy Renck, it seems that Carlos Gonzalez has agreed to a long-term deal with the Colorado Rockies, valued at $80M over 7 years. Gonzalez took home the batting title in 2010, finished 3rd in the MVP voting, and won his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.
The surprising part of this contract extension is Scott Boras' typical reluctance to allow his clients to be signed through free agent years. This does in fact give credence to the "Scott Boras works for me" defense that players who hire the superagent tend to use to alleviate fan dismay.
Gonzalez, who was acquired prior to the 2009 season in the deal that sent fellow Boras client Matt Holliday to Oakland along with Greg Smith and Huston Street, showed signs down the stretch in 2009 of the potential he had to be a fantastic player. 2010, however, was a serious breakout, as he was moved from the leadoff spot to the 3 hole (where I sincerely doubt he'll move from anytime soon) and proceeded to be a wrecking ball at Coors Field, to the tune of a 1.161 OPS, .487 wOBA. Overall, Gonzalez finished the 2010 season with a .336/.376/.598 batting line, .974 OPS, .416 wOBA, with 34 HR, 26 SB.
In light of the Troy Tulowitzki career extension, this will keep the Rockies' 3 and 4 hitters through 2017. Rockies fans were likely popping after the Tulowitzki extension, given that they get to keep their franchise face around for the majority of his career. It's a similar story with Gonzalez, as his publicist says:
"He's really happy. He loves Denver, loves his teammates.''
It's good to hear that a player like Gonzalez finds somewhere he likes, a team he likes, and pushes to stay there, especially given his agent isn't too keen on letting a player lock up with their starting club, when there is free agency to go after.
But the plot thickens.
@TroyRenck: Wilmer covers Cargo in Venezuela RT @WilmerReina: The CarGo deal with the #Rockies was made without the consent of his agent Scott Boras
Could this be the first time that a major player actually skirts Scott Boras' clutches? We saw Alex Rodriguez do it in 2007, but it seemed like more of a Yankees publicity stunt. Given Boras' hesitance to allow for FA years to be locked up, this really does seem like a groundbreaking sort of deal.