Chicago White Sox: Gio Gonzalez had a respectable career
The Chicago White Sox drafted Gio Gonzalez in the first round of the 2004 MLB Draft. He never, however, played for them as he was traded away before stepping onto the field. That is until he signed with them ahead of 2020 at 24 years old. He had played for 12 seasons up to that point and split between the Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals, and Milwaukee Brewers. After that 13th season playing with the White Sox, he has announced his retirement.
Former Chicago White Sox pitcher Gio Gonzalez had a really nice Major League career.
Gonzalez was traded twice before he ever made his MLB debut. The White Sox sent him as a prospect (he was the player to be named later) to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Jim Thome. Aaron Rowand also went the other way with him. After that, the Phillies sent him back to the White Sox in addition to Gavin Floyd in exchange for Freddy Garcia. You see a few names there that were big with the White Sox in the mid-2000s
.His second stay with the White Sox didn’t last long either. He was sent to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Nick Swisher. It is a couple of memorable trades in Chicago White Sox history but that led to them missing out on a lot of good Gonzalez years. He went on to be a two-time All-Star and even had as high as a third-place Cy Young finish. He also came in 6th one year as well. There is no doubt that it was a very respectable career for him.
Gonzalez finishes with a record of 131-101. He had an ERA of 3.70, a WHIP of 1.324, and 1860 strikeouts over 1933.0 innings pitched. All of this accumulated a career WAR of 28.8 which is really nice for a player like him.
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The one year that he was able to play with the White Sox was the COVID-19 shortened 60 game season with the White Sox. It was a tough year for him in terms of his numbers but it was still cool to see him finally get to play for the team that drafted him. Now that he is retiring, we can look back on his career as one that he should be proud of.