Yankees Rumors: Offer made to free agent pitcher Gio Gonzalez

With Luis Severino out until out least May 1, the Yankees are said to be looking at the addition of a veteran starting pitcher; someone like Gio Gonzalez — that Jon Heyman reports has indeed been offered a contract by the Bombers.

Although C.C. Sabathia is expected to join the Yankees starting rotation sometime in mid-April, it remains to be seen how effective he’ll be coming off a winter that included surgery on his arthritic knee and a surprising angioplasty.

With Sabathia slowly working his way back — and word coming down this week that No. 1 starter Luis Severino will stay on the IL until at least May 1, manager Aaron Boone now has two rotation slots to fill.

As I wrote the other day, Luis Cessa has been surprisingly good this spring. While I certainly wouldn’t want to jinx his 0.69 ERA in four starts including a 13:1 K:BB ratio in 13 innings, it’s hard to gauge how much trust the Yankees front office will place in the 26-year-old right-hander, that has failed to impress across three up and down big league seasons with the club.

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Domingo German has also done very well in Grapefruit League action, compiling a 1.54 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, .233 BAA and 18:2 K:BB ratio across 11.2 innings (two starts, four appearances).

On paper, Cessa and German could nab the final two spots in the rotation for the opening month of the regular season or so. However, according to Jon Heyman, the Yanks have recently extended a contract to free agent left-hander Gio Gonzalez.

"Yankees made an offer to Gio Gonzalez, but there’s a gap. Not a great deal of optimism at moment but there’s at least reason to think both sides might want to come together."

Gonzalez, 33, is a proven vet that hasn’t thrown less than 159 innings since 2014 — and 31 starts since 2015.

Coming off an underwhelming season split between Washington and Milwaukee, in which he went 10-11 with a 4.21 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and a 148:80 K:BB ratio across 171 innings, Heyman reported that Gonzalez reportedly threw a seven-inning simulated game in Miami on Tuesday.

"If anyone’s concerned about signing pitchers late, Gio Gonzalez threw a 107-pitch, 7–inning simulated game in Miami yesterday. He’s a rare one: Never been on the DL with arm injury, never even had arm injury."