Why is adrian gonzalez playing for mexico

At age 13, Adrian moved back to the United States with his family. As his major league profile has soared, his connections to Mexico have helped keep him grounded. And the people of Mexico have taken notice.

Asked of Adrian's place among the most popular athletes in Mexico, Kundy Gutierrez, the general manager of Team Mexico, does not hesitate. Right now he is probably the best known and even combining some of the top soccer players, he is one of the most recognized players.

Yet the adoration for Gonzalez is not just a product of Gold Glove Awards and statistics on the back of his baseball card. Remember Mexico is soccer, it's all soccer in the whole country, so he wants to work with baseball, and he's doing a great job with that. Gonzalez's tireless promotion of the sport in his home country and his participation on the team is what Team Mexico officials believe convinced the WBC to put qualifiers in their country this year.

The people recognize, and they appreciate that. Gonzalez has represented Mexico in the WBC in all three of the event's previous incarnations. He calls it as good as a baseball atmosphere gets. You get all these cultures that mix into one atmosphere. And that says nothing about the cutthroat tournament schedule where each game, inning and pitch has an energy that matchups in a game major league season can't equal. When Team Mexico scores a goal, I'm celebrating, cheering and having a good time with it.

I feel like if we do well to score a run, or take the lead, somebody somewhere in the world is doing the same thing and that's what you want to do. The second- and third-place finishers will have one final chance to qualify for the Olympics, at a qualifier in Taiwan later in June. Gonzalez told the Times that he turned down minor league deals from MLB clubs this winter, and since no team on the West Coast -- where he preferred to stay close to his family in California -- offered him one, he ultimately decided to sign with the Mariachis.

He finished the year with a. The veteran first baseman has played in just games over the past two seasons, hitting. The team Mexican League is set to play a game season starting on May The season was canceled due to the global coronavirus pandemic. By Katherine Acquavella. Mar 31, at pm ET 2 min read. Gonzalez came over to the Dodgers in the blockbuster trade with the Boston Red Sox and immediately anchored the first base position.

Gonzalez played his final season with the Dodgers in as he was traded to the Atlanta Braves that ensuing winter. After being granted his release, Gonzalez went on to sign with the New York Mets, with whom he appeared in 54 games during the campaign. The year-old has been out of the Majors since then but remains active in baseball. According to Bill Shaikin of the L. He now hopes to do so in the Olympic Games, which originally were supposed to be held last summer.

Plaschke: Why the Los Angeles Dodgers will be the greatest team in baseball history. The Dodgers have only gotten better since dominating en route to winning World Series title. Gonzalez turns 39 in May. He last played in a major league game in , for the New York Mets. Since then, he said, he has turned down offers of minor league contracts.

No team on the West Coast offered one, he said, and he preferred to spend time with his family in California rather than spend six weeks at spring training in Florida with no assurance of making a major league roster. He has explored business opportunities, and he plans to help the Mariachis with marketing their team in the United States even beyond this year.