The Rays signed right-hander Edgar Gonzalez to a minor league deal, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (on Twitter). The seven-year veteran's deal does not include an invitation to Major League Spring Training.
Gonzalez, who induces slightly more ground outs than air outs, relies on a slider and a fastball that averages just under 90 mph. He split the 2010 season between the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate, where he struck out 29 batters in 24 1/3 innings, and Monterrey of the Mexican League, starting for both clubs.
Gonzalez, 28, last appeared in the majors for the 2009 A's, when he pitched to a 5.51 ERA with 5.4 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 65 1/3 innings. He has similar numbers over the course of his career, which includes six seasons with the Diamondbacks (5.88 ERA, 5.8 K/9, 3.1 BB/9).
With numbers like that, Rays fans better hope they never see the following statement in the transactions:
Rays call up Edgar Gonzalez (P) from Durham Bulls (AAA International League)
Lol, why does this remind me of when we got Chad Qualls
Possibly because you are not considering the lack of any real analogy. Qualls had been an effective major league reliever for a while; Gonzalez never has been. Qualls, while his raw numbers looked bad last year, had very good peripherals, quite in line with his career numbers, so there was reason to expect him to pitch well and help the Rays win the division.Gonzalez has never had particularly good numbers, peripherals or otherwise, and is not being acquired mid-season to help a drive to the post-season. He is purely minor league fodder to fill out the Durham bullpen-maybe.
And incidentally, while Qualls was not particularly good in TB, he did pitch better than he had in Arizona in 2010 and did have some effective outings.