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Fresh off the heels of the David Phelps deal a whole 24 hours or so ago, Jerry Dipoto has struck again. The Mariners have acquired LHP and Gonzaga boy Marco Gonzales from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for prospect OF Tyler O’Neill.
#Mariners acquire LHP Marco Gonzales from St. Louis for minor league OF Tyler O’Neill.
— MarinersPR (@MarinersPR) July 21, 2017
Read: https://t.co/cMulttdHor pic.twitter.com/f4mPMQSeLL
Gonzales is a 25-year-old starter who was a 1st round pick and began the year still recovering from Tommy John Surgery. The upside is a balanced approach with several pitches that are located well, most notably a plus change up. The minus are obviously his health concerns. Gonzales has seen his velocity jump up a tick or two since returning from surgery which is encouraging, but his realistic ceiling is a mid-rotation starter, and that is not assured. the good news is he is under team control until at least 2023, but, well, so was Tyler O’Neill.
More analysis of the trade to follow, but here is a place to vent and talk about your feelings on this one. Get it all out, folks.