The Milwaukee Brewers have reportedly signed some much-needed starting pitching help by winning the mini Gio Gonzalez sweepstakes. While the much bigger prizes of Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel both remain unsigned, Gonzalez is a veteran who is a considerable upgrade to the Brewers rotation. Signing Gonzalez does not make the Brewers the favorites in their division but it does add a valuable piece to the puzzle and it keeps him away from a competing National League team.
Ken Rosenthal shared the report:
Free-agent left-hander Gio Gonzalez in agreement with #Brewers on one-year, $2M major-league contract, sources tell The Athletic. Deal also includes $2M in performance bonuses. Guarantee is in full, not pro-rated.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 24, 2019
Gio Gonzales Reportedly Chooses Brewers
Big Impact
Going into Wednesday, the National League Central has been very competitive as 4.5 games separate the first place St. Louis Cardinals from the last place Cincinnati Reds. A huge problem for the Brewers has been getting their starting pitchers to pitch deep into games. There have been injuries to the starting rotation, most notably Freddy Peralta. All-Star closer Corey Knebel is out for the season and another valuable relief pitcher in Jeremy Jeffress has just returned from an injury. This has made the Brewers change the role of the immensely talented relief pitcher Josh Hader. Gonzalez is known as being an innings eater which is something the Brewers do not have right now.
Part of the impetus in signing Gonzalez is having a starter who can consistently eat some innings. Brewers enter today as the only NL team averaging less than 5ip per start, and that's not been by design (i.e. opener).
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) April 24, 2019
About Gio
Gio Gonzalez is a league veteran of 11 seasons with a 162-game average of 199 innings pitched. His carer era of 3.69 is very respectable. Gonzalez does know what it feels like to pitch in a pennant race and he also is familiar with the Brewers having started five games for Milwaukee at the end of last season. While Keuchel has the better resume, Gonzalez does come cheaper for the Brewers.
Gio agreed to brewers deal: 2M base, which is equivalent of more than 2.3M over a full season. 2M in performance bonuses. Points system for bonuses. MLB deal.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) April 24, 2019
The Gonzalez Market
The other teams in the Gonzalez mix were both from New York. The Yankees had him in their minor league system as insurance. But Gonzalez’s contract had an opt-out clause that triggered this past Saturday when he was not on the major league roster. The Yankees had 2 days to add him to the major league roster or release him. Despite their ace pitcher being out until at least July, the Yankees still opted to let him go.
The Mets also were involved in the Gonzalez sweepstakes. Ace pitcher Jacob deGrom is on the injured list and it appears that his injury was just a minor setback. But with how fragile the Mets starting pitchers have been, this would also have been an ideal pickup for the Mets. However, Gonzalez wanted to start and the Mets could not guarantee that.
Gio Gonzalez likely will be starter with #Brewers. #Mets might have been less appealing to him because of possibility he would have been used in relief.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 24, 2019
Time will tell how big a move this will be for the Brewers. As the season is still in April, Gonzalez should be able to provide some long term stability for the starting rotation. But it still asks the question of why Gonzalez was not in anyone’s starting rotation until now. The Brewers will gladly take him.
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