Gonzalez Returning to Heart of Texas Lineup

Juan Gonzalez is returning to the Texas Rangers, agreeing Tuesday night to a $24-million, two-year contract.

Gonzalez, 32, who turned down two-year offers from the New York Mets and Baltimore, rejoins the team he played for when he won two American League most-valuable-player awards. He is the Rangers’ career leader in home runs and runs batted in.

He’ll bat cleanup in a power-packed lineup that also features Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez and the recently acquired Carl Everett.

“We’ve got four potential first-ballot Hall of Famers on this club, so he doesn’t have to come in here and carry the load, be the guy--but being in the middle of the order, he’ll be a key component to our offense,” Ranger General Manager John Hart said.

Hart was Cleveland’s GM last season when he signed Gonzalez to a $10-million, one-year deal. Now in Texas, Hart undid one of the boldest moves of his predecessor, Doug Melvin, who sent Gonzalez to Detroit after the 1999 season, a year before he could become a free agent.

Gonzalez gets a $2-million signing bonus, $10 million this year and $12 million in 2003. The Rangers will defer $4 million of his salary this year and $6.5 million next season.

“It’s hard to imagine we can get a player of this magnitude for these kind of dollars,” Hart said. “But this is a player who wants to come back here. My sense was he turned down more money to come back home. It’s part of Juan buying into what we’re doing here. I take my hat off to him. It was important for him to come back.”

Gonzalez turned down a $25-million, two-year offer from the Mets, who up until Tuesday night thought they had a chance to land him. New York’s offer included a $12-million signing bonus paid over the two years. None of the salaries would have been deferred.