Should the Baltimore Orioles Have Kept Miguel Gonzalez?
The Baltimore Orioles parted ways with four-year starter Miguel Gonzalez in late March in a move that was largely a financial decision. Was it a mistake?
Gonzalez was due a $5.1 million salary this year, and the Orioles had already spent an unprecedented number of offseason dollars. Miggy did not have a great season in 2015 and was not looking terribly crisp in spring training.
But now that half of this season has passed and the fears have apparently come true that the rotation may well kill this team, Gonzalez looks a lot better than he did on March 31st when DFA’d. At the time of his release, it opened the fifth spot in the presumed rotation of Tillman, Gausman, Jimenez and Gallardo to either Tyler Wilson or Mike Wright. Surely one of them would give sufficient consistency. But no, we’re still waiting for that.
Orioles fans have good reason for warm memories of appreciation for Gonzalez. Losing him was very unpopular in clubhouse that day.
The story of Gonzalez is a great one. Seemingly washed out of MLB opportunity and pitching in Mexico, he was discovered and made an unlikely ascent to the Orioles in the middle of 2012. Those of us who follow these transactions closely were skeptical that this fellow with an unimpressive background could become any sort of significant contributory piece. But he did.
Miguel Gonzalez owes the Baltimore Orioles nothing! He was a bargain.
Consider what he accomplished with the Birds. He was 39-33 in 95 starts with a 3.82 ERA. He had a 2.09 ERA in the 39 games where he was the winning pitcher. The Orioles were 52-43 in games where he was the starting pitcher. These are very good numbers.
Miggy has caught on with the White Sox and appeared in 12 games, making 11 starts. He is currently 1-4 with a 4.88 ERA. In 2015 with the O’s, the ERA was 4.91. Other stats are similar as a year ago, though little is improved.
But even so, is this not a better situation than Ubaldo Jimenez and his 6.95 ERA? The answer to that is a definite “yes.” And Mike Wright has pitched about the same number of innings and has a 6.12 ERA. And Gonzalez is also at least marginally better than the 5.22 ERA of Tyler Wilson.
Next: Matthew Grimes - moving up in the Orioles system
So it does look like a mistake to have not found a way to keep Gonzalez. Jimenez cannot be gotten rid of … unfortunately. And I don’t fault DD for hoping that either Wilson or Wright could pitch to at least a lower 4.-something ERA.
Coulda, shoulda, woulda … what we gotta have now is a pair of somebodies to step up and live up to their potential. Surely one or two will do this, right?