When 26-year-old Cuban defector and pitcher Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez was declared a free agent by the MLB commissioner’s office last month, it sparked interest in the hard throwing right hander from nearly all 30 MLB Clubs.
When the United States government cleard Gonzalez for employment on July 15th, the bidding and interest only intensified.
Now numerous reports are indicating that the Cuban Right-Hander has agreed to a 6 year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies that could be worth up to $60 million. Not only is the contract the largest international signing in Phillies club history, it will also reportedly beat the $56 million contract that the Texas Rangers gave to Yu Darvish, making Gonzalez the most expensive international free agent signing ever.
Gonzalez is still waiting for his tourist visa so he can travel to the United States to take his physical and make the deal official. It is said that the final bids came down to the Phillies and the Boston Red Sox.
Gonzalez, 26, left Cuba earlier this year and settled in Mexico, where he has been pitching in a lower tier Mexican league, and working out for major league teams. Numerous MLB Scouts have been spotted at his starts in Tijuana of late.
Gonzalez is said to have major league ready stuff. He throws a a fastball that sits around 91-94 mph and recently topped out at 96 mph. He also throws a nasty split-fingered fastball and a changeup that serve as his off-speed pitches. He complements it all with a cut fastball and a slow curve ball.
The Phillies are expected to start Gonzalez off with one of their higher level minor league affiliates. It is expected that after a few starts at the minor league level, he could be ready to join the Phillies rotation, perhaps as early as mid-August.
While the new CBA limits the amount of money teams can spend on international players, the new international signing guidelines agreed upon in the latest MLB/MLBPA CBA do not limit spending on Cuban players who are at least 23 years old and have played at least three seasons professionally.
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