The Guardians and left-hander Anthony Gose have agreed on a two-year minor league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Gose will make $1MM per season if in the big leagues.
The reason for the two-year deal is that Gose is unlikely to pitch at all in 2023 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September. At the end of the year, he was non-tendered by the club but will stick around without taking up a spot on the 40-man roster. He will presumably make a lesser salary while rehabbing this year and hope to get back onto a big league mound in 2024 with a salary a bit above the league minimum.
Prior to that surgery setback, Gose was on one of the more unique baseball journeys. He had spent much of his career as an outfielder, playing for the Blue Jays and Tigers from 2012 to 2016. However, he hit at a below-average rate, producing a career slash line of .240/.309/.348.
A two-way star in high school, Gose then tried a return to the mound. He often struggled with command, but still showed impressive stuff overall, including a triple-digit fastball. He made it back to the big leagues with Cleveland last year and has thrown 27 2/3 innings so far. The control is still not ideal, as his 13.8% walk rate is definitely on the high side. But he’s also struck out 31.9% of batters faced and posted a 3.90 ERA.
Gose got over three years service time this year and would have been arbitration eligible. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected a salary of $800K, just above next year’s minimum salary of $720K. Given that he’s likely to miss the entire season, the Guardians non-tendered him, but they clearly still like his chances of being useful for them in time. Gose is currently 32 years old, turning 33 in August. If he returns to health in 2024, the Guardians could retain him via arbitration for future seasons as well.
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