They both joined the Texas Rangers mid-season in 2016. They were both booed in Houston last year. They were both former Astros. They both returned to a former team via free agency. They are both named Carlos. There are tons of similarities between Carlos Gomez and Carlos Beltran. One big difference now though, the former is a Ranger, the latter is an Astro.
Carlos Beltran signed a one year deal with Houston and is a bigger man than me. Beltran returns to a fan base which booed him every at bat of his Rangers tenure. Granted it wasn’t the fans that offered to pay him $16 million, it was Astros management. Some of whom are dying to take a player from Texas in hopes that it will help them beat the Rangers.
It seems that Astros GM Jeff Luhnow and others have had their feelings hurt by players who have done just the opposite. That is, left or spurned the Astros in favor of signing with the Rangers. One who comes to mind is Cole Hamels. The Rangers ace had the ability to select where he would land via trade at the deadline in 2015. He said “no” to Houston but “yes” to Texas. Then last year at the trade deadline Jonathon Lucroy vetoed a trade to Cleveland but later accepted one to Texas.
Last August Luhnow weighed in, “So we’ve had two deals not accepted by the player,” Luhnow told USA Today. “That has directly impacted us the last two trade deadlines and that’s why I sure wish teams wouldn’t give out no trade clauses.”
Then there is the other Carlos, Carlos Gomez. Ironically, if Cole Hamels had not vetoed the trade to Houston the Astros would not have had a package of minor league players stout enough to engineer last off season’s trade for Gomez. If they Astros had never traded for Gomez they would never have had to DFA him like they did last season.
The Rangers, you recall, picked Gomez up and paid him pennies on the dollar compared to what Houston owed him. Gomez loved it in Arlington. He said that he received coaching here like he had never before gotten in his life. He said in no uncertain terms, “For the first time in my life I see the ball when I hit it.”
This week Gomez put his money where his mouth is by agreeing to a one-year contract with the Rangers. This despite that fact that his agent, Scott Boras, said that Carlos had some two-year offers and possibly even a three-year deal available. But Gomez liked it here so much that he contacted the Rangers and told them that if they would increase their offer he would sign for one year. Both sides agreed to this compromise and now the Rangers have a center fielder to replace Ian Desmond who signed a five year $60 million dollar deal with Colorado.
It is the tale of two Carlos’. One has re-signed at a place that he loves for less money and less security. He is betting on himself to land a big money deal. The other signed with Houston where the fans don’t like him. But management there does, and they are hoping against hope that just one of these deals can work out in the Astros favor. But so far it is advantage Rangers.
