Gonzo

This may be the last year in the MLB for former Red Sox shortstop Alex Gonzalez. Currently with the Cincinnati Reds, Gonzalez had surgery to remove four bone chips in his right elbow, and is expected to miss four weeks. This is the last year on his 3-year contract with the Reds, and injuries have sidelined the 32 year-old for considerable amounts of time in the past two years. There isn’t much demand for an aging SS with a career batting average of .247. But Gonzalez has managed to make a career solely out of his outstanding defensive ability. The 10-year veteran played his 2006 season with the Sox, and healed the wound left by Edgar Renteria the year before: in 2005, while playing in Boston, Renteria led the Major Leagues in errors. Gonzalez has never had a season where he hit over .280 or drove in more than 80 runs, yet his knack the shortstop position made him an All-Star in 1999. Gonzalez, along with former Venezuelan Omar Vizquel, will be remembered as the two best defensive shortstops of the past decade.