Gio Gonzalez officially opted out of his minor league contract on Saturday, according to a source.
The 33-year-old made three starts with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after signing with the Yankees during spring training and was scheduled to pitch again on Friday before that game was postponed because of rain.
The Yankees now have 48 hours to add Gonzalez to their active roster or he will become a free agent. Gonzalez went 2-1 with a 6.00 ERA at Triple-A, but pitched better in his final two appearances.
The left-hander was signed to a deal that would pay him $3 million in the majors and get an added $300,000 per start, so he won’t come cheap. Gonzalez recently left agent Scott Boras for CAA.
The Yankees, for all their injuries, seem set with their rotation. Their biggest question marks heading into the season were the health of CC Sabathia, who had knee surgery and a heart scare during the offseason, and Domingo German’s viability as a regular starter.
Both have held up well so far, which would seem to make Gonzalez expendable.