Kevin Gausman Is Getting Paidddddd, Agrees To A 5-Year, $110 Million Deal With The Blue Jays
How can you not be happy for a guy like Kevin Gausman? Drafted #4 overall in 2012 for the Orioles and I fell in LOVE with this guy, thought he'd be a stud and a half. Was a monster at LSU and had all the makings of becoming a top starter for Baltimore. Had the fastball, had the breaking stuff, had the off speed stuff, but couldn't quite put it together in Baltimore, stop me if you've heard that one. He wasn't terrible by any means, but he never quite developed in Baltimore. They wouldn't allow him to throw his splitter which is now all worldly, the situation with him in Baltimore was a mess. Literally, the Orioles wouldn't let him throw the splitter that now may be the best pitch in baseball. He got moved at the deadline in 2018 in what was essentially a salary dump with Darren O'Day. I'm sure the Orioles didn't want to lose him but they figured they had to in order to move salary. He wasn't anything special in Atlanta and was DFA'd where he got picked up by Cincy and again, wasn't great.
He signed with San Francisco in 2020 and has been lights out since he got there. In 2 seasons as a Giant he made 45 appearances, 43 starts, went 17-9 with an ERA of 3 on the nose, had 306 strikeouts in 251 and 2/3rd innings with a WHIP of 1.057. This year especially he was great for the Giants, 14-6 with a 2.81 ERA and 1.042 WHIP and leading them to the division title. He was awesome for them, have to think a fresh change of location was needed and working with Buster Posey isn't the worst either. Now you have to be cautious because he did go to a big ballpark where it gets cold and that knocks the ball down, Toronto doesn't have that. The balls fly there, so we will see how that works out. We all knew he'd get paid this offseason but no one knew where, now we know. The Mets wanted him, the Dodgers and Angels were rumored, but he turned them all down and is heading north of the border.
He'll be chucking it for the Blue Jays for the next 5 years and earn that $110 million. Again, it's hard not to be happy for him. He's been through the ringer. Top college prospect, top draft pick, the next BIG thing for a franchise, ripped down, traded, DFA'd, and had to take flyers from teams just to get on a squad. Now he's cashing in with a big money deal. He'll fit right in with that pitching staff and knows the AL East very well. He was completely lost after he got traded and found it again, that shows how hard of a worker he is, the guy deserves it. If Robbie Ray leaves than the Jays still have José Berríos, Gausman, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Alek Manoah. That is a damn good staff.
I really wished it had worked out better for him in Baltimore but it's been awesome watching him have the success he has in San Fran, it'll be tougher to swallow with him being in the division now but you can't be mad at a guy for getting paid! He's won big games in New York before for an AL East team, the Jays are counting on him to do that again.