Danny González

Daniel Gonzalez

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 160 lb.
• High School Florida Air Academy

• Born November 20, 1981 in San Juan P.R.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Danny Gonzalez played 15 years as a pro.

Gonzalez went to high school with Andy Gonzalez, also a Puerto Rican native, born in 1981 with the same last name; Andy would make it to the majors. Danny Gonzalez was the Philadelphia Phillies' 4th round pick of the 2000 amateur draft and third overall choice. Danny made his pro debut with the 2001 Batavia Clippers, hitting only .238/.289/.299. He had 129 putouts, leading New York-Penn League shortstops.

Danny was the shortstop for the 2002 Lakewood Blue Claws and produced at a .270/.349/.339 rate whiel fielding .962. One lowlight was only 11 steals in 32 attempts. He also ground into 20 double plays, most in the South Atlantic League. He led the league's shortstops in both fielding percentage and double plays (88), showing a good glove.

Gonzalez put up very similar numbers in 2003 with the Clearwater Threshers - .271/.348/.344. He again had excellent defense, leading Florida State League shortstops in fielding (.964) and twin killings (85). Baseball America rated him the best defensive shortstop in the FSL that year; the other infielders rated best defensive at their positions would go to the majors - James Loney at 1B, Robinson Cano at 2B and David Wright at 3B.

The Puerto Rican infielder spent all of 2004 in AA, batting .262/.347/.349 with the Reading Phillies though he made 29 errors and his fielding percentage dipped to .945. After starting 2005 badly with Reading (.218/.299/.291 in 56 G, .942 fielding), he was cut loose by Philadelphia.

Gonzalez signed with the independent Lancaster Barnstormers and produced at a .275/.371/.389 rate for the remainder of 2005. Danny split 2006 between Lancaster (.319/.407/.449 in 69 G) and the Daytona Cubs (.229/.293/.250 in 41 G). With the Barnstormers for all of 2007, his line read .292/.384/.461 with 16 homers, 13 steals in 16 tries and 77 runs as one of his club's top performers.

Danny split 2008 between Lancaster (.299/.393/.451) and the Oaxaca Warriors (3 for 25, 7 BB). In 2009, he signed with Telemarket Rimini in the Italian Baseball League and hit .291/.360/.419 with 38 runs in 42 games. In the 2010 European Cup first round, he hit .318/.375/.364 with 7 runs in 5 games, finishing third in runs (behind Anthony Granato and Mario Chiarini), tied for 6th in hits (7), tied Chiarini and Florian Peyrichou for 8th in RBI (5), tied for 6th in assists but tied Raily Legito for 2nd with 3 errors. He was named the MVP of the Rotterdam portion. He was 0-for-6 with a walk and a run in the Final Four, though.

Returning to the US, he batted .289/.367/.388 for the 2011 Road Warriors and .238/.363/.333 between the 2012 York Revolution and Lancaster Barnstormers; in between, he was 0-for-2 for the Indios de Mayagüez in the 2012 Caribbean Series. He remained active in the Puerto Rican League through 2014-2015;

In 2021 Gonzalez joined the Chicago White Sox organization as a coach with their AAA affiliate Charlotte Knights. The next year he served as a development coach for the organization, not assigned to any particular team. Gonzalez returned to the field in 2023 and managed the ACL White Sox in 2023-2024.