The Rangers plan to make former Astro Carlos Gomez their starting left fielder.
Ex-Astro goes from unemployed to left fielder for AL West leader
In three days, outfielder Carlos Gomez went from released by the Astros to heading toward a starting position with the Texas Rangers, who lead the American League West.
“Baseball can be hard to explain,” Gomez told reporters Sunday night in Round Rock. “To be released, out of a job and then get an opportunity to go to a team in first place, it’s a huge blessing.”
Gomez, 30, joined the Rangers’ top minor league affiliate for what is expected to be a three- or fourday stay. Rangers manager Jeff Banister said he expects Gomez to become the club’s full-time left fielder when he is ready.
In his Round Rock debut, Gomez had a double and two strikeouts in four at-bats against Colorado Springs.
Gomez, a righthanded hitter, had not had an atbat at any level since Aug. 8, two days before the Astros designated him for assignment. Gomez hit only .210 with five homers, 29 RBIs and 100 strikeouts in 295 at-bats with the Astros.
Gomez told reporters that a rib-cage injury and bad luck contributed to his poor performance.
“I have no hard feelings toward the Astros,” Gomez said. “I did not do my job, and they released me. I take it like a man.”
“Now, I refresh everything. My new season starts today. Whatever I did from the last five months is gone. The only thing that counts is the next five weeks. I’ve got a lot left to give.”
In a podcast with the Dallas Morning News, Rangers general manager Jon Daniels explained why the team took a chance on Gomez.
“Well, a couple of things,” Daniels said. “I think first off, even just a year ago this was an outfielder, a player that was extremely well-regarded in basically any way you wanted to evaluate a player. Offensively, defensively, baserunning; upside, the age. He’s still just 30 years old. I don’t think, in our opinion, that the physical skills have really deteriorated. He’s had a really tough 12 months.
“Performance-wise he has not been good, which is why he was available, had been released by Houston and had lost playing time. If I knew how to explain it, why sometimes these things happen, we would be all over these things before, kind of get ahead of the curve on them, but sometimes players just really struggle. I think sometimes these things happen and we’re interested in taking a chance that’s relatively low risk. It should be a spark, defensively. It adds another element of speed to the club. Offensively, there is upside there.”
On Monday night, Gomez tripled and drove in two runs as part of a 3-for5 night against Colorado Springs.