{"id":27487,"date":"2019-12-19T21:13:55","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T02:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=27487"},"modified":"2019-12-19T21:13:55","modified_gmt":"2019-12-20T02:13:55","slug":"gio-gonzalez-signs-with-chicago-white-sox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2019\/12\/19\/gio-gonzalez-signs-with-chicago-white-sox\/","title":{"rendered":"Gio Gonzalez Signs With Chicago White Sox"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gonzagi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gio Gonzalez<\/a> Signs With Chicago White Sox<\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/chicago-white-sox\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chicago White Sox<\/a> added some pitching depth and experience as they have signed free agent southpaw <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gonzagi01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Gio Gonzalez<\/strong><\/a> to a contract, terms undisclosed. Gonzalez will likely be a backend of the rotation starter that brings stability and eats up innings. It\u2019s not a sexy signing for the Pale Hose. This is a quality pickup and a significant upgrade from what the Sox got in 2019 from their rotation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gonzalez played for the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/milwaukee-brewers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Milwaukee Brewers<\/a> in 2019 going 3-2 with a 3.50 ERA in 19 appearances, 17 of which were starts, in 87.1 innings pitched. Gonzalez didn\u2019t make his season debut until April 28, but had an excellent 78\/37 K\/BB ratio. This move reunites him with his former Brewers teammate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/grandya01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Yasmani Grandal<\/strong><\/a><strong>,<\/strong> who will get a chance to catch Gonzalez.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Third Time The Charm?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This will actually be the third time Gonzalez is in the White Sox organization. He was a part of three trades earlier this century. The Pale Hose had drafted him in the first round of the 2004 draft but was traded to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/philadelphia-phillies\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> along with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rowanaa01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Aaron Rowand<\/strong><\/a> for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thomeji01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Jim Thome<\/strong><\/a> in 2006. The second trade was in 2007 when he was traded back to the Sox from the Phillies, along with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/floydga01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Gavin Floyd<\/strong><\/a><strong>,<\/strong> for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=garcifr03,garcifr01&amp;search=Freddy+Garcia&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Freddy Garcia<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong> The third and final trade was in 2008 when the team sent him to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/oakland-athletics\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oakland Athletics<\/a> for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/swishni01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Swisher<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Gonzalez&#8217; MLB Career<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gonzalez made his MLB debut in 2008. In 2010 he broke out for the Athletics as he went 15-9 with a 3.23 ERA. In 2011, Gonzalez made his first All-Star Game appearance as he went 16-12 with a 3.12 ERA. However, in 2012, Gonzalez was traded to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/washington-nationals\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Washington Nationals<\/a> as he had his best season to date going 21-8 with a 2.89 ERA, earning another All-Star selection and helped the Nationals to their first postseason appearance. Gonzalez also finished third in the National League <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/y\/youngcy01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Cy Young<\/strong><\/a> Award voting in 2012, though he was arguably deserving of winning that honor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gonzalez pitched for Washington for seven seasons winning 86 games and helped lead them to four postseason berths. In 2018, Gonzalez was traded by the Nationals to the Brewers and helped lead them to the playoffs that season. After signing a minor league contract with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/new-york-yankees\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New York Yankees<\/a> and then opting out of it, he signed with the Brewers again in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>White Sox Outlook<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 34-year old will be a solid veteran presence in a very young White Sox rotation that boasts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/giolilu01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Lucas Giolito<\/strong><\/a><strong>,<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lopezre01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Reynaldo Lopez<\/strong><\/a><strong>,<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/ceasedy01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Dylan Cease<\/strong><\/a><strong>,<\/strong> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kopecmi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Michael Kopech<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong> This is not likely to be the final starting pitching signing for the Pale Hose. But for a fifth starter, Gonzalez is a quality pickup. He is a significant upgrade from the fifth starter production the team got in 2019. But this is a low risk, high reward type of deal as he should eat up innings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This is the first addition the White Sox have made to their starting rotation in this offseason. The White Sox could start the season with the staff they have now. However, there are indications the Sox may be looking for an even bigger upgrade. There were trade rumors floating around involving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/priceda01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>David Price<\/strong><\/a> from the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/mlb-teams\/boston-red-sox\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boston Red Sox<\/a> in a blockbuster trade. The White Sox are determined to be a contender in the 2020 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gio Gonzalez Signs With Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox added some pitching depth and experience as they have signed free agent southpaw Gio Gonzalez to a contract, terms undisclosed. Gonzalez will likely be a backend of the rotation starter that brings stability and eats up innings. It\u2019s not a sexy signing for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3254,"featured_media":27493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,2],"tags":[335],"class_list":["post-27487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whitesox","category-featured","tag-gio-gonzalez"],"modified_by":"Jared Cantatore","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}