Lakeland, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - The Detroit Tigers made another move in an attempt to fill a sudden need at shortstop, acquiring veteran Alex Gonzalez from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for infielder Steve Lombardozzi.
The Tigers could be without shortstop Jose Iglesias for the entire season because of stress fractures in his legs.
Detroit already had Danny Worth and Hernan Perez as potential replacements for Iglesias and also picked up infielder Andrew Romine from the Angels on Friday.
Gonzalez had signed a minor league deal with Baltimore this offseason after playing utility roles with Milwaukee the past two years. He played just three games at shortstop last year and also saw time at first base and third base, appearing in a total of 41 games in 2013.
Now 37 years old, Gonzalez has spent the majority of his career at shortstop and has a .972 fielding percentage in 1,539 games at the position. He was an All-Star with the Marlins in 1999 and helped the club to the 2003 World Series championship.
The native of Venezuela has appeared in 1,600 big league games since his debut in 1998. He is a career .246 hitter with 332 doubles, 157 home runs and 688 runs batted in over 15 seasons with the Marlins, Red Sox, Reds, Blue Jays, Braves and Brewers.
Gonzalez had appeared in 12 games for the Orioles this spring and is hitting .428 with a pair of homers in 28 at-bats.
Lombardozzi had been acquired by Detroit from Washington in the December trade that sent Doug Fister to the Nationals. He had spent his entire career with the Nats and is a career .264 hitter since making his debut in 2011.
[SportsNetwork.com]
