At this point, it's definitely fair to call the Phillies' Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez signing a disaster, but maybe not an unmitigated one. Remember, before the team found something wrong with the Cuban right-hander's elbow during a physical exam, the original deal was supposed to be for six years and $48 million, not the three and 12 he ultimately received. It might not seem like things could be worse for the Phillies than they are now, but at least this mistake has come at one-fourth the price (though the elbow obviously might play a major role his performance). At the time of the deal back in August 2013, Ruben Amaro, Jr. offered this:
“We are very pleased to have come to an agreement with Miguel. He is someone our scouts have followed for several years and in our most recent observations of him he showed tremendous stuff. We are hopeful he will pitch out of our starting rotation for 2014 and beyond.”
Only a September call-up in 2014, last year was pretty much a lost season for Gonzalez. Coming into spring training, the 28-year old had a legitimate chance to make the Opening Day rotation, at least for a little bit. The Phillies still don't even know who their fifth starter is going to be until Chad Billingsley works himself back about a month into the season, but they're sure it won't be Gonzalez. Fourteen and a third innings, 12 earned runs, 25 hits, and five homers made the decision for them. According to CSN's Jim Salisbury, Amaro had this to offer a year-and-a-half after sounding hopeful that Gonzalez would be a rotation mainstay:
“His stuff and his location just wasn’t good enough to make our club. The stuff wasn’t there. He wasn’t throwing well enough to make our club."
That's quite a sobering assessment from the general manager, but it seems pretty spot-on. Gonzalez' fastball lacks movement and he has a nasty habit of leaving it over the plate. Check out the pitch he makes to Hank Conger (second of the Astros' back-to-back shots) from last week that may or may not have landed on Route 19:
Despite Gonzalez' struggles, Amaro still refuses to call the signing a mistake, which is to be expected considering the player is still under contract. More from Salisbury:
“It’s disappointing that Miguel hasn’t gotten there. But it’s not the end of the world yet. We’ll see. We’ve still got time. We’re hopeful he can step it up. If he can’t, he can’t.”
All signs point to "he can't," but hey, at least a $12 million mistake sounds a lot better than a $48 million one.