The New York Yankees have agreed to a minor league deal with former Washington Nationals starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez. Jon Heyman of MLB Network was the first to report that the deal was close.
The contract contains a $3 million base salary if he reaches the majors, per Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Rosenthal also noted that the deal includes an April 20 opt-out, along with incentives for games started. It can be assumed that Gonzalez will miss the beginning of the season due to the fact that he has missed 3/4ths of spring training so far.
The 33-year-old lefty is coming off a solid year, where he split time with the Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers. In 32 starts the southpaw posted a 4.21 ERA, 4.16 FIP, 1.444 WHIP to go along with a 10-11 record.
Although these stats do not exactly jump out at you, he finished off his 2018 campaign strong by going 3-0 with a 2.13 ERA, 3.63 FIP, and 0.947 WHIP in his last five starts. His strong pitching down the stretch helped propel the Brewers to the NL Central Division title.
With exactly ten days until the Bronx Bomber’s regular season home opener, Gonzalez should be ready by the second or third week. The veteran lefty now provides insurance in the Yankee rotation, who will be without their ace Luis Severino (expected back in May) and lefty starter CC Sabathia to start the 2019 season.
