Report: Brewers, Gio Gonzalez agree to one-year, $2 million deal to bolster rotation

Gio Gonzalez is headed back to where he was before. According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Gonzalez has agreed to a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers worth at least $2 million, and possibly more.

Gonzalez has been a free agent for just a few days. He signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees in March, which would have paid him $3 million if he made the 25-man roster and $300,000 for each start he made. But he chose to opt out on Monday, making him a free agent.

Gonzalez spent just over a month with the Brewers in 2018, joining them after the Washington Nationals traded him in late August. The 33-year-old lefty really showed up for them down the stretch, with a 2.13 ERA over five September starts. Things didn’t go quite as well in the playoffs, with Gonzalez pitching just three total innings and giving up two runs overall. He left Game 4 of the National League Championship Series in the second inning after rolling his ankle while trying to field a ball, and was removed from the postseason roster.

But that’s all in the past — and since the Brewers are desperate for starting pitching help, they’re really, really hoping that’s true. Their starting rotation has a 5.74 ERA, which ranks 26th out of 30 MLB teams. Only three starters have pitched into the seventh inning thus far — they’ve each done it just once — and it hasn’t happened since April 13.

It’s still early in the season, so even though the Brewers are currently in fourth place in the National League Central, they’re just two games out. They obviously hope Gonzalez will be able to provide some stability, and even though he didn’t look all that great pitching for the Yankees’ Triple-A team, he should be able to provide it. Gonzalez is a reliable innings-eater who can show occasional flashes of brilliance along with consistency.

A pitcher like that could have definitely helped the New York Mets, who have managed to be the loser in this deal without even being involved. The Mets had been scouting Gonzalez, who could have assisted them while Jacob deGrom is on the injured list and while Jason Vargas continues to be ... Jason Vargas. The reported $2 million plus incentives isn’t a lot, but knowing how little the Mets like to spend money, it could have been too much for them. And if that’s true, they definitely deserve to be the loser of this signing.

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