In July there were reports that the Philadelphia Phillies agreed to a contract with Cuban pitcher Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez after the 26-year-old defected from his home country. At the time the deal was reportedly for six years and worth between $48 million and $60 million.
However, a physical done prior to the official contract signing left the Phillies questioning the deal, and Gonzalez returned to the status of a free agent.
Now a month later, the Phillies have officially signed Gonzalez, however the deal is for three years and $12 million, a huge discount from the original asking price. Given the fact he was still available, it would seem that a number of teams have some questions about his elbow. He had surgery to remove elbow chips in 2010.
“Any time you sign a free agent there are always risks,” Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said Friday. “Our doctors took a look and we feel comfortable enough moving forward with it.”
“He’s going to go to the Florida Instructional League this year,” Amaro said. “We’ll find out once he starts competing, but I hope he slides into the rotation for 2014. … Great stuff, we’ll see how it translates at the major-league level.”
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.
If healthy, this deal could turn into a major steal for Philadelphia.
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