Carlos Gonzalez has returned to Colorado.
Gonzalez, who has spent the past nine seasons in a Rockies uniform, agreed a one-year deal with the club, Colorado announced on Monday.
The right fielder has hit 215 home runs and earned three All-Star Game selections during his tenure in Denver, though he is coming off one of the toughest seasons of his career in which he .262/.339/.423 with 14 home runs in 136 games. Gonzalez did have a strong final month of the season, slashing .377/.484/.766 with 12 doubles and six homers from Sept. 1 through the end of the regular season. He had been linked to multiple other clubs this offseason, including the Orioles, White Sox, Royals, Astros and Blue Jays.
The Rockies approached Gonzalez last spring about an extension worth as much as $45 million over three years, but the player opted to play out his deal and test free agency, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.
Fantasy spin | Fred Zinkie (@FredZinkieMLB)
With a lifetime .999 OPS at Coors Field, Gonzalez definitely found his best fantasy fit by returning to the Rockies. And while the slugger is coming off a disappointing season (.762 OPS), he showed exciting bounceback potential in September, when he logged a stellar 1.250 OPS. As a 32-year-old who posted a triple-digit RBI total two seasons ago and went deep 40 times in 2015, CarGo is one of the more attractive boom-or-bust picks in the late rounds of this year's drafts. Meanwhile, the outfielder's return ends the sleeper status of youngsters Ryan McMahon and Raimel Tapia, who will be relegated to reserve roles or returned to the Minors later this month.