Is it ok to give up on Miguel Gonzalez?

[OFFNY]

o

Gonzalez pitched well against the Nationals on June 9th, then got shellacked by the Tigers on June 14th.

For the season so far, he has a 4.74 ERA and a 1.534 WHIP in 8 starts for the White Sox.

I believe that it is still too premature to declare one way or another whether or not the decision to not retain him was a big mistake.

Gonzalez was excellent tonight.

Unfortunately, the White Sox' offense was not.

The game is tied at 1-1, heading into the bottom of the 9th inning.

Gonzalez was battered by the Blue Jays this afternoon.

In 5.33 innings pitched he ceded 8 runs, 10 hits, and 3 walks.

For the season, he has a 5.17 ERA, and a 1.545 WHIP.

[MagicBird]

Gonzalez was battered by the Blue Jays this afternoon.

In 5.33 innings pitched he ceded 8 runs, 10 hits, and 3 walks.

For the season, he has a 5.17 ERA, and a 1.545 WHIP.

Maybe the hand wringing and gnashing of teeth around here will subside a bit, at least until he has another decent start

[scOtt]

Good for him!

[LookitsPuck]

He will be fine.

[Frobby]

million

Don't you realize that this thread is only bumped when Gonzo does something right so we can denigrate the FO's decision making? Better get with the program my friend. Gotta work hard to abuse the FO of a team that has been leading the division most of the season, but it can be done if you are trying hard enough.

Note: I do actually hate it for Gonzo that it is basically over. I love that guy.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Based on what I saw against Boston, I think he still has it in him to pitch well. I don't claim your level of knowledge about pitching and I've only seen that one game, but I saw everything I saw from him in his good outings with us for four years.

[Frobby]

No, I haven't seen the highlights of that game. I was at the O's game today and am saving my remaining baseball watching time for watching the nightcap on TV!

[Ned from York]

How are the two pitchers we got for Matusz doing?

[glenn__davis]

Don't you realize that this thread is only bumped when Gonzo does something right so we can denigrate the FO's decision making? Better get with the program my friend. Gotta work hard to abuse the FO of a team that has been leading the division most of the season, but it can be done if you are trying hard enough.

Note: I do actually hate it for Gonzo that it is basically over. I love that guy.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Well your first paragraph simply isn't true. No need to make false narratives just because you disagree with the premise of a thread.

As for your second, I'll never get why people are in such a hurry to shovel dirt on Gonzo's grave. He's doing a decent job for the Sox. Wish he were still with us.

[bluedog]

Well your first paragraph simply isn't true. No need to make false narratives just because you disagree with the premise of a thread.

As for your second, I'll never get why people are in such a hurry to shovel dirt on Gonzo's grave. He's doing a decent job for the Sox. Wish he were still with us.

Miguel was one of my favorite players for the O's over the past 4 years, but the numbers don't lie. He's given up 86 hits + walks over 55 innings with the Sox this year. Over his last 200 IPs, he's been a 5.00 ERA / 1.45 WHIP pitcher.

Maybe there is something physically wrong with him that he'll be able to rehab this off-season (I hope that's the case). But at this point, it's looking like DD made the right decision for the O's by letting him go.

[glenn__davis]

Miguel was one of my favorite players for the O's over the past 4 years, but the numbers don't lie. He's given up 86 hits + walks over 55 innings with the Sox this year. Over his last 200 IPs, he's been a 5.00 ERA / 1.45 WHIP pitcher.

Maybe there is something physically wrong with him that he'll be able to rehab this off-season (I hope that's the case). But at this point, it's looking like DD made the right decision for the O's by letting him go.

A timeframe in which it was well documented that he was fighting nagging injuries most of the time.

I would make the argument that even if he truly were done it was still a poor decision based on our complete lack of starting pitching depth. Considering I don't believe he is done the decision seems even worse to me. I'd much rather have him pitching for us than Jimenez and Wright, and possibly Wilson and Gallardo.

[bluedog]

A timeframe in which it was well documented that he was fighting nagging injuries most of the time.

I would make the argument that even if he truly were done it was still a poor decision based on our complete lack of starting pitching depth. Considering I don't believe he is done the decision seems even worse to me.

You have a valid point. But there's another factor that DD might have been taking into consideration - clearing room for younger pitchers to step up.

One of my least favorite things about Buck is that he tends to give his veterans a LOT more leeway than I believe he should. If we'd entered the year with Jiminez, Tillman, Gonzalez, Gallardo and Gausman as the rotation, it's likely that (barring injury) neither Wright nor Wilson would have had an opportunity to step up until one of the veterans had been terrible over a long stretch of games (see: Jiminez, Ubaldo).

It's possible that DD felt that one (or both) of Wright / Wilson were ready to contribute at the major league level and Gonzalez was blocking them. He wouldn't cut Jiminez given his huge contract (and the fact it was his signing), and he wasn't likely to convince Gonzalez to happily accept a demotion to AAA or the pen when other teams would give him a chance as a starter. So cutting him to make room for younger, cheaper players with more long term upside makes some sense.

And Wright has been slightly worse and Wilson slightly better than Gonazalez has been with the White Sox, so from that perspective at least, the move seems defensible.

[bluedog]

I'm not sure what the confusion is as to why he was cut. He was a .6 WAR player last year (Tyler Wilson was a .7 WAR player last year in 1/5th the IPs) who looked horrible in spring training. Even with their lack of depth in the minors, the O's obviously felt they could replace his innings, create more roster flexibility and improve the chance of positive upside with some other player(s).

Sure the O's have horrible depth, but I don't believe that keeping a replacement level starter on the 40 man roster improves the team's depth.

[bluedog]

This is a good post. I don't fully agree but I think you have offered a perfectly rational theory as to why the cut happened.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks. I hope I am wrong and Gonzalez rebounds and becomes a #2 / #3 starter again.

But DD should be given credit for the results of this move. Wilson was likely the odd man out if Gonzalez stayed and Wilson has been nearly a full run better (1.2 WAR to 0.3 for M.G.).

[JayThomas]

I'm not sure what the confusion is as to why he was cut. He was a .6 WAR player last year (Tyler Wilson was a .7 WAR player last year in 1/5th the IPs) who looked horrible in spring training. Even with their lack of depth in the minors, the O's obviously felt they could replace his innings, create more roster flexibility and improve the chance of positive upside with some other player(s).

Sure the O's have horrible depth, but I don't believe that keeping a replacement level starter on the 40 man roster improves the team's depth.

Must spread rep. Nice post which certainly (IMHO) highlights a key point: roster flexibility. With as little as we've had in recent years, there's just no point in keeping a mediocre and declining $6M man in the 5-spot when you have 2 guys (more than age-appropriate) who have nothing left to prove at AAA and have options.

[LookitsPuck]

Hondo's arm strength is just fine. The velocity is there. He had the longevity. The issue right now is control. That said, calling him out when he gets destroyed by the Blue Jays after pitching solid most of the year...are you doing the same for Gausman when he implodes against the Red Sox in back to back starts?

Gonzo still has it in him. When his sinker is on, he's a very solid pitcher. When it's elevated, he's not. It's not rocket science. I still think he ends the year with better numbers than Gallardo at a fraction of the price and no comp pick.