In 2012, this player had a batting average of .392 with base runners in scoring position. Within the bounds of RISP, his stats get better: .434 OBP, 1.083 OPS, .413 batting average on balls in play. Not bad. For his position, he was ranked 4th in the AL for RBIs while batting a clean .300. Sounds like the kind of player you would want with a runner on second, right?
Well, these are the kind of players that some Red Sox fans and the Boston media run out of town, because both parties are certifiably out of their fucking minds.
Those stats belong to Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzo gave the Red Sox 86 RBI last season before getting unceremonious shipped off to LA. That ranks fourth out of all the first baseman in the American League, a feat that's more impressive considering that three players higher than Gonzo played a full season for their respective teams.
I know what you're mentally screaming at me right now: "WHERE'S THE POWER?! HUH?! WHAT HAPPENED TO GONZO'S MOTHERFUCKER HOMAHS?! CHRIST, HE SUCKED!" Well, Gonzo hit 15 homers before the trade, had 27 in 2011; and he hit 40 in 2009. Given that the ceiling on his potential was sky high, and he was batting in runs for the Red Sox on level with the other top performers at his position before meeting his potential, I'm still wondering what everyone's fucking problem was with this guy.
Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster are great prospects, but they are still only that -- prospects. Adrian Gonzalez proved that he could rake at potentially HOF levels in The Show. Gonzo wasn't a prospect, he was a proven commodity. Anybody who says otherwise doesn't know what the fuck they are talking about.
So Ben better hope that De La Rosa and Webster pan out.
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