NEWSLETTER
The first trade of the season for the Cubs!
And it’s a doozy. No. It’s the kind of deal you’d expect in early May.
The Chicago Cubs have reportedly traded infielder Alberto Gonzalez to the New York Yankees for a PTBNL or cash, according to Andy McCullough. Gonzalez, 30, signed with the Cubs this offseason on a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite. He performed well in Spring Training and was a last-minute addition to the roster when Darwin Barney went down with a knee laceration. He hit .217/.269/.391 over 26 plate appearances with the big team before being sent down, which was actually the best he’s hit in the big leagues since 2008. At Iowa, he was hitting .303/.395/.333, which is virtually meaningless.
Because of Gonzalez’s status (a guy who had to settle for a minor league deal, a back-up to back-ups, and a light-hitting utility type), and because the PTBNL comes with the dreaded “or cash” attached, you can expect that the return on Gonzalez will be virtually nothing. It’s conceivable that the Cubs could get a minor leaguer that might be worth discussing for a day (and dreaming on as a future middle reliever), but your hopes of the Cubs picking up an actual future contributor should be squashed. The Yankees needed a little emergency depth, and the Cubs were willing to give it up. No big deal.
But it’s a trade! Trade season is here! Kinda.
