Blue Jays Focused On Gio Gonzalez

The Blue Jays are focused on Athletics lefty Gio Gonzalez, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Last week, Slusser reported that 12 teams were interested in Gonzalez, and there were indications the A's and Jays might try to involve a third team to facilitate a deal.

The A's recently traded Trevor Cahill to the Diamondbacks, but ESPN's Buster Olney still thinks Gonzalez will be dealt.  Gonzalez, 26, ranked ninth in the AL with 197 strikeouts but led the league with 91 free passes.  He's under team control through 2015.  Gonzalez is a Super Two player for 2012 and MLBTR projects a $4.2MM salary.  That's not far from the current first-time starting pitcher arbitration record, and if Gonzalez stays healthy and continues pitching well I think he could earn nearly $40MM over his four arbitration years.