MLB rumors: Guardians send a fan favorite down, White Sox get even worse, A’s on the up?

Oscar Gonzalez gets sent down to Bikini Bottom

The Cleveland Guardians are struggling to figure things out. Along with the White Sox, they’re also failing to reach expectations in the AL Central.

The Guardians have recently sent down Oscar Gonzalez who quickly became a fan-favorite toward the end of last season. Gonzalez was a game-changer, coming up with big hits in clutch situations last year. His smile and walk-up song being the Spongebob Squarepants theme song helped etch him into the hearts of baseball fans as an embraced character.

This year, though, all is not well, and Gonzalez will need to figure it out in Triple-A. The Guardians optioned him to Columbus. He has slashed .192/.213/.288 this year.

Terry Francona gave an optimistic spin on the roster move:

"“We might be doing Oscar right now a disservice by playing him sparingly….Last time we called him up, he had a lot of at-bats under his belt and felt really good about himself.  So we’re going to hopefully get him going again, as opposed to playing him every so often,” Francona said."

(H/T MLB Trade Rumors)

While that might be PR speak from Francona, this stint at Triple-A could really help Gonzalez find his footing. In just his second big league year, he is probably struggling to find a groove with only occasional playing time. Gonzales has been sat out of eight games entirely and only sees about three plate appearances per game that he does play in this season.

There’s still a chance we could get the Spongebob fanatic back in the majors soon enough.