LAKELAND, Fla. – Juan Gonzalez doesn’t know how he will fare with his new team, the Detroit Tigers. One prediction at a time, and this year’s is reserved for his former team.
“I guarantee you, the Rangers will not win this year,” Gonzalez said. “If the players there don’t like it, I’m sorry. Tell them I’m sorry.”
Gonzalez insisted he is not bitter over the Nov. 2 trade that ended his 14-year relationship with the organization. In fact, in joining the Tigers, the two-time American League MVP says he has found “paradise.”
But during two days of interviews at his new spring-training home in Central Florida, Gonzalez questioned his former team’s fortitude and its commitment to understanding the needs of Latin players. He also said the organization has slipped badly since the resignation of team president Tom Schieffer last April 29.
Gonzalez realized his opinions might upset some former teammates, but he made it clear he only respects the opinions of some, not all, occupants of his old clubhouse.
“I have good friends there, a lot of good friends,” Gonzalez said. “But I see [expletive] there, too. A lot of [expletive]. When they see me, face to face, we can talk, no problem. But not behind my face.”
The word Gonzalez used, a vulgar slang euphemism for weak-hearted individuals, showed the depth of his disdain for some former teammates. But his strongest criticisms were directed toward the Rangers’ front office, which Gonzalez said made him feel pressured and often misunderstood. Former Rangers Spanish-language broadcaster Luis Mayoral, a Gonzalez confidant who resigned to become the Detroit Tigers’ first Latin American Liaison, further accused the club of not doing enough to protect the player’s image during his sometime-turbulent Rangers career.
“The people working there in Texas don’t have good relations with other cultures, people from different countries, in my opinion,” Gonzalez said. “They don’t respect, a lot, the Latin players there.”
Some of Gonzalez’s former teammates couldn’t disagree more.
“I think this organization treats its Latin players fairly,” said Rafael Palmeiro, the Rangers’ Cuban-born first baseman. “They have an understanding of our needs. They treat us the same as any American or African-American player. If [Gonzalez] were here, he would not have said those things. I would not have allowed that, because that’s not him talking.”
“They do great, to me,” Rangers catcher and AL MVP Ivan Rodriguez said. “They’ve always been great to me. They’ve been excellent.”
Rangers infielder Luis Alicea, like Gonzalez and Rodriguez a native of Puerto Rico, said he also believes Gonzalez is mistaken.
“This is the first organization [of four] that I’ve been in where they do so much to help the young [Latin] players,” Alicea said. “I’ve had no problem whatsoever here.
“A lot of those things are not coming directly from [Gonzalez]. They don’t come from his heart. They are not his thoughts, and he is being hurt by them.”
Often conferring with Mayoral during one of his two interviews with The Dallas Morning News, Gonzalez also spoke in vague terms of a deteriorating atmosphere around the Rangers since Schieffer’s departure.
“Schieffer is a different mind, you know? He has an international mind,” Gonzalez said. “When Mr. Schieffer was working in the office, everything was so great. Mr. Schieffer is gone, everything goes down, you know?”
Asked to elaborate, Gonzalez said, “Everything goes down. It’s no longer a family. I don’t want to talk about names, but everything goes down, in my opinion. Everything in general. The team’s going down.” Hicks: ‘It’s silly’
Rangers owner Tom Hicks took exception to that assessment.
“I think Tom Schieffer did a great job, and I think the guys we have now are doing a great job,” Hicks said. “Juan has his feelings hurt and I feel sorry for him. But we’re certainly committed to having the best young players we can, and certainly a lot of those players are going to be Hispanic. We have our [scouting and development] program in the Dominican, we’ve reached out with people in Venezuela. We just want to win. And to say we don’t support our Latin players . . . it’s silly.”
As for Gonzalez’s prediction of a gloomy season for the Rangers, Hicks said, “We made the decision the team we had last year wasn’t capable of winning the World Series. We like the chemistry we have now. I’m not saying anything specifically about Juan Gonzalez, but we want people to be disappointed in our clubhouse when we lose, and that wasn’t always the case last year.”
Jim Lites, the dual president of Hicks’ Rangers and Dallas Stars since last May, also defended the decisions made under his watch.
“The decision to trade Juan Gonzalez was made by the baseball people,” Lites said, referring to general manager Doug Melvin and his aides. “We think we improved our team in both the short and long term. We’ve said nothing but good things about Juan Gonzalez, and there was nothing personal about it.”
The Rangers, who owe much of their organizational success to the development of Latin players such as Julio Franco, Ruben Sierra, Rodriguez and Gonzalez, actually are ahead of many teams in assisting foreign-born players. One weekend each spring, the team stages a cultural diversity seminar for its minor leaguers. The Rangers also make available to players special computers and software to help them learn English at an individual pace.
“The Rangers have always been at the forefront of helping Latin players get comfortable,” said Omar Minaya, the former Rangers assistant general manager now with the New York Mets. “They have always made a good-hearted effort.”
Social obstacles
Not all such assistance was available when Gonzalez was ascending the minor league ladder and breaking into the big leagues in 1989 at age 19. Chicago Cubs superstar Sammy Sosa, who like Gonzalez, spoke no English when the two signed with the Rangers at age 16, found that overcoming the language barrier paid off handsomely in popularity and endorsement opportunities.
“For me, it was hard,” Sosa said. “I’m from the Dominican Republic and Gonzalez was coming from Puerto Rico. Neither one of us knew English. We came in and I did the things I needed to do to make adjustments to the language and things. . . . But I kept working and trying hard to learn English to get out of jams.”
Gonzalez, 30, already is regarded as one of the game’s greatest run producers. He joins the Tigers with 340 career home runs, nine more than Detroit Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg and only 60 shy of surpassing the greatest living Tiger, Hall of Fame right fielder Al Kaline.
But Gonzalez’s past also is littered with four failed marriages, instances of moodiness and sometimes petulant behavior, and, last year, his poorly received decisions to skip the All-Star Game if not elected a starter and the Hall of Fame exhibition because his uniform pants didn’t fit to his liking.
The word Gonzalez’s Spanish-speaking peers most often use in evaluating his public persona is “misunderstood.”
“He is like a kid,” Sosa said. “You have to know how to take him and treat him. He’s a really, really sensitive person. . . . If you know how to treat him as a person, he’s the greatest.”
Palmeiro said, “It’s an unfair thing, because [Gonzalez is] not very fluent in English. A lot of times, people misinterpret what he says or is trying to say. It’s not right.”
Managers view
Rangers manager Johnny Oates admitted he and Gonzalez had their disagreements, but that Gonzalez always respected his authority. He advised new Detroit manager Phil Garner to disregard past reports and start Gonzalez with a clean slate.
“Juan didn’t do everything I liked him to do, and Juan and I talked about it,” Oates said. “Juan did some of the little things that were perceived to give him an image that wasn’t truly him. Juan’s a moody guy, and you understand that. But when it comes time to win the ballgame, Juan will be there for you.”
Garner, excited by Gonzalez’s recent spate of Grapefruit League power, can’t wait to enjoy a season with the type of superstar his previous employers in Milwaukee couldn’t afford.
“What we’re looking for are guys to play and produce,” Garner said, “and he plays and produces. He’s special.”
Trade a blessing
Gonzalez said he was initially shocked by the trade, but has come to count it as a blessing.
“Absolutely,” he said. “A very important thing [is] I work for very professional people, sure people. Everybody here in this clubhouse, you see a lot of smiling faces. Everybody’s relaxed. It’s a big difference here. There was too much pressure [in Texas], unsure people.”
Asked where the pressure originated with the Rangers, Gonzalez said, “Oh, probably from the front office, I don’t know. There were great fans, some of the best in baseball. But, anyway, it’s history. I’m super happy here.”
Gonzalez has spent the spring telling inquisitors he is happier now than at any time in his career. He praised Garner, who is allowing Gonzalez to skip spring bus rides and play only home exhibitions. Gonzalez said, “There [in Texas], they treat me good, but not like here. They treat me better here.”
The Tigers wish Gonzalez would prove his devotion by accepting the eight-year, $140 million contract extension offer that reportedly has been on the table since the end of January. But despite his proclamations of finding “paradise,” Gonzalez has signed nothing more binding than autographs this spring.
“I don’t want to talk about contracts. Right now, my mind is on baseball,” Gonzalez said. “I want to see the future of the team, my adjustment to the city. My family will go up there to see if they like the city. But I feel so great here.
“I guarantee you I feel happy. I’ve been smiling a lot here.”
Staff Writer Evan Grant contributed to this report.
