Several news sources are confirming that the Texas Rangers have agreed to a deal with the Expos involving Juan Gonzalez -- however, this is contingent upon Gonzalez waiving his no-trade clause....apparently Juan is a long-time friend of Montreal GM Omar Minaya so all indications are that this deal will go through....undoubtedly young pitchers will be going to Texas (if Rangers GM John Hart has watched his team play at all this season wink ) although the additional players involved in this trade have yet to be announced.

The other amazing facet of this deal is how Minaya managed to pull it off in light of MLB's unwillingness to let the Expos increase their payroll ONE DOLLAR (particularly with Juan being in the 2nd season of a 2 yr, $24 Million contract) -- unless Texas is agreeing to pay most of his contract for the remainder of this season.

Considering Vlad Guerrero has been on the DL for the past several weeks (although he apparently is on pace to return MUCH sooner than the team's initial August projection) and the fact that the Expos are still very much in contention for the postseason (in 2nd place in the NL East 7 games behind Atlanta but only 2 games behind the Dodgers in the NL Wild Card race) this is a great move for the 'Spos....now if they can only get their stellar pitching staff to remain healthy (starters Zach Day, Tony Armas Jr, and El Duque Hernandez are still on the DL) Frank Robinson's boys may still bring some excitement to Olympic Stadium (and San Juan ) after all.

Trade to Expos Pending Gonzalez's Approval

[ June 24, 2003, 04:38 PM: Message edited by: gamecock ]

According to mlb.com he vetoed the deal. He doesn't want to go to another team and then become a free agent again. He wants a contract extension that the Expos apparently can't offer.

It now appears that Gonzalez will likely invoke his no-trade clause and reject the deal to go to Montreal (which ESPN reports would have been in exchange for pitcher Seung Song and infielder Josh McKinley), although Montreal GM Omar Minaya still hopes to talk to Gonzalez in the next 24 hours to try to persuade him to change his mind....the primary reasons cited by Juan's agent seem very strange to me -- that he's never played in the NL and prefers not to play on artificial turf -- particularly in light of the fact that the Expos' part-time home is in Puerto Rico (Gonzalez' homeland where he is adored as a hero), Minaya himself having a long history and working relationship with Juan and is credited with developing the slugger for the Rangers in the mid-80s, and Montreal being a contending team, unlike the fate of the woeful Rangers.

Hopefully Omar will convince Gonzalez to reconsider for the betterment of himself as well as the Expos -- not to mention the Rangers team seems to be quite a few years away from contending in the tough AL West.

Gonzalez likely to reject trade to Expos