D-Backs' Gonzalez opts out of Classic
02/24/2006
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Better late than never? Don't try selling that to Luis Gonzalez. When manager Buck Martinez visited him in the Diamondbacks camp Friday offering him a chance at playing for Team USA in next month's World Baseball Classic, Gonzo wished Martinez luck and stressed that he had moved on to focus his attention on preparing for the regular season.
Gonzalez had caused a bit of a stir with critical comments about the selection process on Wednesday, and when outfielder Vernon Wells came down with an injury, Martinez was quick to approach the veteran outfielder about filling the spot.
"With Vernon Wells' uncertainty, Carl Crawford's uncertainty, [Gonzo] becomes a very important guy to us," Martinez said Friday. "That's what I wanted to echo and get across to him today."
But Gonzalez, who had been eager to play when he was first invited to be on the 60-man provisional roster, was still smarting from his sense of a snub at being later left off the 30-man roster. As hard as it was to turn down an opportunity to represent his country and play games at home in Arizona, it paled in comparison to that initial snub.
"The hard part was when they called me telling me I wasn't on the initial roster," Gonzo said Friday. "That's hard for me, because I'm a guy who plays with a lot of pride and emotion.
"I've been playing for 16 years, and not to be on the initial ballclub ... I would have loved to represent my country, but my focus now is for my teammates and the ballclub and to play for the Diamondbacks."
Major League players have cited health, trades and position changes as reasons they can't miss the critical preparation with their teams in Spring Training, and while clubs generally favor the idea of the world tournament, there has been understandable hesitation to send key players out of spring camps for as much as three weeks in March.
No such rumbling came from the D-Backs, however.
"I'm in favor of this thing. I think the World Baseball Classic is a great thing," manager Bob Melvin said Friday. "But I also have to have consideration of my players, and this is a guy that is healthy this year. We had a little bit of a plan, and now it was backed off, so you can blame this one on me."
The D-Backs supported Gonzalez's participation, putting together a plan to get him up to speed and in good health at an accelerated pace that would put him in game condition a month ahead of schedule, as he recuperates from an injury-plagued '05 season.
"If originally he was told he could play, we were going to do some things in Spring Training to get him ready for it," Melvin explained. "We were going to bring some Minor League pitchers over, we were going to do some simulated at-bats to where he was getting some live pitching earlier and we were going to try to get him ready at-bat-wise for this thing. When they told him that he wasn't on the team, we backed him off. We have him back on a schedule to get ready for Opening Day.
"This one's kind of on me," Melvin reiterated in an effort to defend Gonzo from any second-guessing. "I feel like we're putting him at risk if we were to let him go play right now."
But the veteran had no hesitation in rejecting Martinez's offer on the spot, stressing there was no need to talk it over with anybody else.
"Once I was told I wasn't on the original roster as far as making the team, there was no other option for me except for playing for the Diamondbacks," Gonzalez said. "There were no bitter feelings. I just wished [Martinez] and his ballclub the best of luck. I hope no fans or anybody's bitter at me for not [playing in the Classic]."
Gonzalez looked like a perfect fit for the Classic's goals of promoting the globalization of the game and rallying a sense of national pride in an elite team playing for country and honor, especially given the fact that the first round of games would be played in Scottsdale and Phoenix, in front of hometown fans who have come to associate Gonzalez as the emblem of D-Back values and character.
"Believe me, there is nobody more excited to have an opportunity to play for the United States of America team at my own home ballpark, wearing a USA uniform at your own home field," said the outfielder. "I don't know too many ballplayers that wouldn't be disappointed if they got told, 'Hey, you're not on the first original thing.' That's basically what happened to me, and I turned my focus to get ready for the season."
Martinez had clearly taken Gonzalez's earlier criticism seriously, and he made a point to address concerns expressed by both Gonzalez and Craig Counsell, another D-Back on the 60-man roster who was not initially invited onto the 30-man roster.
"I sensed it was a kind of a bitter moment for them both," Martinez said. "I've known them both for a long time, and we really thought they would bring a lot to our team. Then we got down into the numbers of the things and it just didn't work out."
It was that process of whittling down the numbers -- a public process that took place on paper, without the opportunity for players to showcase their skills in a tryout -- that drew Gonzo's criticism.
"We've all learned a lot this first time, and we know that there have been a lot of things that we would like to do differently and like to do better," Martinez admitted. "We'll address that as we go along, and we'll pass this along to MLB and to the Players Association."
Martinez echoed Gonzalez's sense that there were no lingering bitter feelings.
"Luis Gonzalez has the respect of everybody in baseball, and his opinion is very valued," Martinez said. "He's always been a character guy that we respect a lot. We felt that he brings everything we want on this team."
Unfortunately, Team USA took too long to make the case that Gonzo epitomized the type of player they wanted in their dugout, and the D-Backs' gain is the Classic's loss.
"Most people in the baseball world know my personality and know that I'm not the most talented guy on the field, but I'm going to play with heart and passion when I go out there and play," Gonzalez said. "These guys that are around me every day know that I was disappointed when I wasn't chosen the first time. I don't know many players that have played for a long time that if they didn't get chosen wouldn't have been disappointed, because here's an opportunity to represent your country.
"I know that this is the second chance for me, but after I didn't get the first chance, I didn't really want to take that second chance. My focus was getting ready here."
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Better late than never? Don't try selling that to Luis Gonzalez. When manager Buck Martinez visited him in the Diamondbacks camp Friday offering him a chance at playing for Team USA in next month's World Baseball Classic, Gonzo wished Martinez luck and stressed that he had moved on to focus his attention on preparing for the regular season.
Gonzalez had caused a bit of a stir with critical comments about the selection process on Wednesday, and when outfielder Vernon Wells came down with an injury, Martinez was quick to approach the veteran outfielder about filling the spot.
"With Vernon Wells' uncertainty, Carl Crawford's uncertainty, [Gonzo] becomes a very important guy to us," Martinez said Friday. "That's what I wanted to echo and get across to him today."
But Gonzalez, who had been eager to play when he was first invited to be on the 60-man provisional roster, was still smarting from his sense of a snub at being later left off the 30-man roster. As hard as it was to turn down an opportunity to represent his country and play games at home in Arizona, it paled in comparison to that initial snub.
"The hard part was when they called me telling me I wasn't on the initial roster," Gonzo said Friday. "That's hard for me, because I'm a guy who plays with a lot of pride and emotion.
"I've been playing for 16 years, and not to be on the initial ballclub ... I would have loved to represent my country, but my focus now is for my teammates and the ballclub and to play for the Diamondbacks."
Major League players have cited health, trades and position changes as reasons they can't miss the critical preparation with their teams in Spring Training, and while clubs generally favor the idea of the world tournament, there has been understandable hesitation to send key players out of spring camps for as much as three weeks in March.
No such rumbling came from the D-Backs, however.
"I'm in favor of this thing. I think the World Baseball Classic is a great thing," manager Bob Melvin said Friday. "But I also have to have consideration of my players, and this is a guy that is healthy this year. We had a little bit of a plan, and now it was backed off, so you can blame this one on me."
The D-Backs supported Gonzalez's participation, putting together a plan to get him up to speed and in good health at an accelerated pace that would put him in game condition a month ahead of schedule, as he recuperates from an injury-plagued '05 season.
"If originally he was told he could play, we were going to do some things in Spring Training to get him ready for it," Melvin explained. "We were going to bring some Minor League pitchers over, we were going to do some simulated at-bats to where he was getting some live pitching earlier and we were going to try to get him ready at-bat-wise for this thing. When they told him that he wasn't on the team, we backed him off. We have him back on a schedule to get ready for Opening Day.
"This one's kind of on me," Melvin reiterated in an effort to defend Gonzo from any second-guessing. "I feel like we're putting him at risk if we were to let him go play right now."
But the veteran had no hesitation in rejecting Martinez's offer on the spot, stressing there was no need to talk it over with anybody else.
"Once I was told I wasn't on the original roster as far as making the team, there was no other option for me except for playing for the Diamondbacks," Gonzalez said. "There were no bitter feelings. I just wished [Martinez] and his ballclub the best of luck. I hope no fans or anybody's bitter at me for not [playing in the Classic]."
Gonzalez looked like a perfect fit for the Classic's goals of promoting the globalization of the game and rallying a sense of national pride in an elite team playing for country and honor, especially given the fact that the first round of games would be played in Scottsdale and Phoenix, in front of hometown fans who have come to associate Gonzalez as the emblem of D-Back values and character.
"Believe me, there is nobody more excited to have an opportunity to play for the United States of America team at my own home ballpark, wearing a USA uniform at your own home field," said the outfielder. "I don't know too many ballplayers that wouldn't be disappointed if they got told, 'Hey, you're not on the first original thing.' That's basically what happened to me, and I turned my focus to get ready for the season."
Martinez had clearly taken Gonzalez's earlier criticism seriously, and he made a point to address concerns expressed by both Gonzalez and Craig Counsell, another D-Back on the 60-man roster who was not initially invited onto the 30-man roster.
"I sensed it was a kind of a bitter moment for them both," Martinez said. "I've known them both for a long time, and we really thought they would bring a lot to our team. Then we got down into the numbers of the things and it just didn't work out."
It was that process of whittling down the numbers -- a public process that took place on paper, without the opportunity for players to showcase their skills in a tryout -- that drew Gonzo's criticism.
"We've all learned a lot this first time, and we know that there have been a lot of things that we would like to do differently and like to do better," Martinez admitted. "We'll address that as we go along, and we'll pass this along to MLB and to the Players Association."
Martinez echoed Gonzalez's sense that there were no lingering bitter feelings.
"Luis Gonzalez has the respect of everybody in baseball, and his opinion is very valued," Martinez said. "He's always been a character guy that we respect a lot. We felt that he brings everything we want on this team."
Unfortunately, Team USA took too long to make the case that Gonzo epitomized the type of player they wanted in their dugout, and the D-Backs' gain is the Classic's loss.
"Most people in the baseball world know my personality and know that I'm not the most talented guy on the field, but I'm going to play with heart and passion when I go out there and play," Gonzalez said. "These guys that are around me every day know that I was disappointed when I wasn't chosen the first time. I don't know many players that have played for a long time that if they didn't get chosen wouldn't have been disappointed, because here's an opportunity to represent your country.
"I know that this is the second chance for me, but after I didn't get the first chance, I didn't really want to take that second chance. My focus was getting ready here."
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
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