If Nick Gonzales checks social media regularly, he can't be feeling good about his chances of retaining his job as the Pittsburgh Pirates' starting second baseman.
The Pirates are linked to multiple second basemen in trade rumors, including the St. Louis Cardinals' Brendan Donovan, the Tampa Bay Rays' Brandon Lowe, the Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, and the New York Mets' Jeff McNeil. Furthermore, multiple MLB insiders believe the Pirates are a potential landing spot for free agent second baseman Jorge Polanco.
At this point, speculation will start about Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski coming out of retirement to reclaim his starting job at 89.
Hopes have been high for Gonzales ever since the Pirates selected him in the first round of the 2020 draft with the seventh overall pick from New Mexico State. In three seasons with the Aggies, Gonzales slashed .399/.502/.747 with 37 home runs in 128 games and had a strong summer season in the Cape Cod League in 2019.
MLB.com ranked Gonzales as baseball's No. 20 prospect before the 2022 season. Baseball Prospectus had him at No. 29, and Baseball America ranked him No. 49.
Yet the first pick of general manager Ben Cherington's tenure hasn't panned out, despite showing occasional flashes of potential stardom during his three seasons in the big leagues. Gonzalez has a .257/.300/.375 slash line with 14 home runs in 225 games. His career bWAR is barely above replacement level at 0.2.
Gonzalez, 26, was expected to blossom in 2025 after having the equivalent of one full MLB season. Yet he hit just .260/.299/.362 with five home runs while being limited to 96 games after sustaining a broken ankle on opening day. Gonzales was atrocious in the field with minus-11 defensive runs saved.
So many hitting prospects have failed to develop since Cherington's hiring as GM before the 2020 season. Catcher Henry Davis, the first overall selection in the 2021 draft, has been worse than Gonzales as he has hit .181/.262/.294 with 15 homers in 186 games.
Gonzales is 26, so it would be premature to write him off as a potentially good big-league player. However, the signs are getting clearer that it won't happen for Gonzales with the Pirates.