... that could be it. Or it could be a guy who literally hit rock-bottom, during a FA year, that he finally decided enough is enough. Either way, you can't take it back... he sucked during his tenure here, luckily doesn't appear to have cost anybody vital, and you move on with the knowledge that you have a core of under-contract hitters in the form of Springer, Bregman, Altuve, Correa, Gurriel.... that over a full season can enable the team to consider any BBS member for the 6-9.
I wasn't mad when CG left but now I'm pissed....I didn't think he had this in him... I can't believe he was wasted our trade resources then went to the f-ing Rangers
Carlos Gomez is not on the Astros hitting coaches. Regardless of what adjustments he may or may not have made, the coaching staff wasn't sitting on their hands with the guy. He was mentally checked out both at the plate and in the field. He's also a 30 yr old veteran with a track record of success. Whether he was lazy or arrogant against coaching at this point in his career, I don't know but he was not going to get it together here. Nick is 100% correct, dude hit rock bottom and was released. He probably needed that.
Coaches must have mentioned to Springer to shorten his 2-strike swing Maybe the pitching coach isn't respected. Maybe Gomez hit rock bottom, then changed. Maybe HOU sports is just full of bad luck and suckage.
In 323 PAs for the Astros, GoGo produced -0.8 WAR. In 60 PAs for the Rangers, GoGo produced -0.1 WAR. Thus GoGo has produced below the replacement level for both the Astros and the Rangers, but he has sucked less for the Rangers (prorated -0.5 versus -0.8 WAR).
WAR's a cumulative stat though.... so his negative number in far more games with the Astros is more telling than anything else. Who cares, though... really. It was a calculated risk that has been since mitigated by none of the players they traded for him doing very much of anything. The only down-side to all of this is that the "improved" Gomez is doing this for the Rangers and not the Astros... and like I said, there's no way to presume it would have ever happened here if he didn't hit rock bottom and get released.
I'm pretty sure the Astros staff would have informed him that ending up on the ground after every swing wasn't ideal. You shouldn't have to tell a former All Star that.
He's not the first player that has hit rock bottom but has turned things around after a change of scenery.
Quit being an ass. He's on a team were they ask him to do the little things. He's hitting behind runners, bunting and playing great teams. WAR means nothing. It's a team game. It's how the pieces fit together. He's using his talents for the improvement of his team
Let's not go overboard here. He's advanced runners 2 times (and has zero sacrifice bunts, does have 2 bunt singles with no runners on). I have no idea how his defense has been. Only difference I can see at the plate is his BB rate has doubled and he's hit some HRs.
1. Small Sample Size. Gomez in June for the Astros this year is what Gomez has been for the Rangers. Gomez in September last year for the Astros was far better. There's no telling where it's a few good weeks or a legit fix. 2. He's a former all-star so he's always had potential and that's why the team gave him so much rope. No one knew what was wrong with him. The Astros released him when they had better options. It sucks that it didn't work out, but that's life. Lots of players get better after a trade/release or much worse after a trade/release. For every Gomez, there is a Feldman. 3. Outside of the Rangers' games with us, how they do is sort of irrelevant for us at this point. They don't play any of the other contenders and we're not catching them for the division title anyway.
I think I've seen this story before... http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/11/sports/baseball-hidalgo-is-not-only-surviving-he-is-thriving.html
Synopsis - Since it's only been a few games, it doesn't count. ____ It all counts, and so far Gomez has improved (for a damn rival, nonetheless) after almost ruining our season. Furthermore, there could be historic justification Gomez played well last Sept. He's a clutch player. His numbers improve playoffs vs reg season somewhat similar to Rasmus. He did the same last season for us in the posteseason. Sadly, Carlos will likely help TEX in Sept and Oct. Gomez doing well with an NL team would've been bad enough. The fact it's not only AL, but f***** DAL HOU-DAL is always relevant. What DAL player has ever improved HOU after crapping in DAL?
Of course it counts. That has nothing to do with whether he's improved or it's a fluke. All players go through hot and cold streaks. Didn't he hit a HR in his first game for the Rangers and then go for 0-many-games? He had a good June here too - and went right back to the crappy him in July. I don't care what he's done - I'm more interested in what he will go going forward. And a few decent weeks tells us nothing in that regard, just as it didn't in June and didn't for Tyler White to start the season or Bregman's first few weeks in the majors or anything else. Small sample sizes are terrible ways to project the future. He's had 38 playoff ABs. If you're deciding anything about a player based on that, that's insane. What players have we gotten from Dallas? And who cares?
I could be wrong, but I am willing to bet he never had an 11 game stretch that good for Houston. Come on Rangers. Sign him long term!
