After being traded to Philadelphia for Jim Thome, then sent back to Chicago along with Gavin Floyd for Freddy Garcia only later to be shipped out to Oakland for Nick Swisher, Gio Gonzalez will finally pitch for the Chicago White Sox. According to Robert Murray, the White Sox are reportedly close to an agreement with the 34-year old southpaw.
Sources: #WhiteSox closing in on a deal with free-agent pitcher Gio Gonzalez.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) December 19, 2019
Gonzalez has a career 29.2 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference, and started 17 games for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2019. He posted a 3.50 ERA with a 4.04 FIP over 87.1 innings. While the inning total is low, Gonzalez did pitch 171 innings in 2018 splitting time with Milwaukee and Washington. If he's healthy, there should be little doubt that he can help eat innings for the White Sox in 2020.
That's the key to the White Sox reportedly signing Gonzalez. This move is replacing Ivan Nova's vacancy in the rotation. There is still a need for Rick Hahn to sign either Hyun-Jin Ryu or Dallas Keuchel to help Lucas Giolito carry the front-end of the rotation. At least until Dylan Cease, Reynaldo Lopez, or Michael Kopech can prove they are just as good as Giolito.
The present version of Gio Gonzalez is the true definition of a soft-tossing lefty. Last season, Gonzalez's changeup was his most thrown pitch at 29.6% of the time. Followed by his four-seam fastball that averaged 89.5 mph, a two-seam sinker, and a curve. After July, Gonzalez was close to throwing his changeup 35% of the time.
Taking a deeper dive into Gonzalez's StatCast numbers last year, the changeup was his most effective pitch followed by the curveball.
| Pitch | BA | SLG | Whiff % |
| Changeup | .154 | .235 | 36.1% |
| Curve | .250 | .344 | 28.5% |
| Four-seam | .253 | .560 | 21.8% |
| Two-seam | .349 | .571 | 12.3% |
It would be a successful signing if Gonzalez can stay healthy and pitch more than 150 innings while hovering around a 4.00 ERA. That would provide a boost to the White Sox starting rotation and be a consistent presence while Cease, Lopez, and Kopech mature. Gonzalez is a solid addition that might pitch well enough to be considered a good signing. The expectation is not for him to help lead the White Sox rotation in their efforts to be a darkhorse contender in the American League Central. Rick Hahn and the White Sox front office still need to find that frontline starter.
