2048.2: Great News Bears: Angel My Angel

[usnspecialist]

Following the 2044 season, the San Fernando Bears stunned the league and added 25 year old OF Angel Gonzalez from the division rival Vancouver Mounties, before promptly signing him to a 6 year, 106m extension before he even played a game for the franchise. During his tenure north of the border, Gonzalez had a massive 2041 8.4 WAR campaign that led to him winning the Silk award as a 21 year old, but other than that was seemingly settled into a pattern of 3.5-4.0 WAR seasons which (while good) gave Mountie management some cause for concern in handing over a big money extension. The Bears promptly moved Gonzalez to RF where he is a perennial Zimmer Contender (2045 winner and looking likely to win again in 2049), and his bat has seemingly been rejuvenated in the Valley with a WRC+ of 152 over his 5 seasons as opposed to 133 over virtually the same time span (7 fewer games) in Vancouver.

Despite all of the stats Gonzalez has put up in San Fernando (WAR totals of 6.1, 7.5, 7.9, 7.4 in the 4 prior years), he saved his best for 2049 as he put up a sparkling 8.1 WAR and looks set to attain his first top 3 finish in the Silk since his 2041 win. Gonzalez has 2 years left on his 9 figure contract, and while it is rare for any contract of that size to be unequivocally called a win for the organization, Gonzalez has been more than worth the money as he has already put up 31 WAR over the first 4 years of that contract. It will be interesting to see what direction the organization goes with him after this deal ends, as they have historically been loathe to pay players in their 30s, but they have shown a willingness to do so in certain instances.