Adrian Gonzalez reports to Red Sox spring training
Boston Red Sox’ new acquisition, Adrian Gonzalez, joined spring training camp in Fort Myers a weak earlier then the official reporting date. He is the first Boston player who has reported camp this year. During his first day at camp, he ran through catching,
throwing and fielding practices but did not partake in any hitting activity.
Gonzalez spoke to reporters and said, "[I'm] looking forward to getting healthy here in the spring, getting some at-bats. I'm taking ground balls, pretty much the full workout other than the hitting. Like I've said all along, I'm very excited about playing
on this team and for this organization, but I got to focus on just being ready personally."
Gonzalez underwent Labrum repair surgery in his non-throwing shoulder back in October. This has limited him to only catching and fielding activities. He is consulting regularly with his surgeon, Dr. David Altchek, and plans to get back to his best with the
bat. Red Sox officials have said that his expected return to batting activities is around 1 March. Till than Gonzalez is working on his range of motion and strength.
"I can't give you a day," he said. "All I know is I’ll be ready for Opening Day."
Gonzalez was purchased from the San Diego Padres in December at the cost of right handed Pitcher Casey Kelly, first baseman Anthony Rizzo and outfielder Reymond Fuentes. A long term contract extension worth $154 million for seven years is expected but nothing
has been finalized yet. Boston is waiting for his full recovery before offering him a contract extension.
"We don’t have any deadline or anything like that. When I’m healthy and they see that I'm healthy and we all decide to sit down and talk about something, then that's what we'll do at that point. There's no rush for anything right now. The main thing is for
me to get healthy," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez's agent, John Boggs, is expected to arrive in Fort Myers on 8 March to have face to face meetings with team officials so that a final deal can be reached. Both sides met in December but could not finalize a deal. Negotiations were intense and the
deal was falling apart but everything over time, things have settled down.
Gonzalez was at top of his game last year when he hit .298 as compared to his overall batting average of .284. He also had 176 hits, 31 homers and 101 RBI’s in the 160 games he played. Gonzalez remained part of the All Star Team for the last three years
and also won the Gold Glove Award in 2008 and 2009. In his seven year career he has played for the Texas Rangers and the San Diego Padres and had hit 168 Home Runs, 525 RBIs and had 900 Hits with a batting average of .284.
Boston is in a rebuilding phase and would like to be contenders in the upcoming season. Most of their new players, including Gonzalez, are expected to be the motivators for a resurgent team.
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