The Indians announced a series of non-roster invitations to Major League Spring Training on Thursday, including veteran right-handed reliever Dominic Leone and outfielder-turned-reliever Anthony Gose.
Leone, a client of Frye-McCann Sports, spent the past two seasons with the Cardinals and has also logged big league time with the Blue Jays, Diamondbacks and Mariners. The Cardinals picked him up in the trade that sent Randal Grichuk to Toronto, but things didn’t go as planned for Leone in St. Louis. After pitching to a 2.56 ERA (and 2.94 FIP) with 10.4 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in his lone season as a Blue Jay, the now-28-year-old Leone stumbled to a 5.15 ERA/4.77 FIP in 64 2/3 innings as a Cardinal from 2018-19.
In 2018, Leone was plagued by a nerve issue in his arm that limited his time on the field, but he does carry a lifetime 3.92 ERA with better than a punchout per inning in 243 1/3 big league frames. He’ll now look to earn a fresh start in Cleveland — the fifth organization of his professional career.
Gose, now 29, was at one point ranked among the game’s best outfield prospects but simply never was able to put things together as a position player. The left-hander was a two-way star at the time he was drafted and tried his hand as a two-way player a couple seasons ago before committing fully to the mound in 2019.
Gose, who is represented by CAA, split the ’19 season between the Indians’ Class-A Advanced and Double-A affiliates, showing an ability to miss bats but also demonstrating substantial control problems that may not have been entirely unexpected for an outfielder who is converting to the mound. In 29 innings this past season, he posted a sterling 2.48 ERA with 35 strikeouts but also yielded an alarming 29 free passes with six hit batsmen. Clearly, there’s some potential within Gose, but he’ll need to hone in his control of the strike zone if he’s to emerge as a viable bullpen option at the MLB level.
Dominic Leon and Anthony Gose?.. We’re SAVED !!!
Spend all night coming up with that original comment?
He got to bed about 2-2:30.
Glad I’m not the only one here that references Family Guy constantly.
100 MPH lefty with no control or secondary pitches?? Comeback player of the year 2020 is all but won!
If nothing else, no one is digging in on him.
It feels like over the past few seasons they’ve signed a ton of ex-Jays. Anyways, I liked Leone in his time with Toronto; he was terrific in 2017. I hope that he can get things back on track.
You’d think it would be the other way around since Shapiro and Atkins left Cleveland for Toronto
Shapiro leaving was the best thing to happen for the Tribe.
I liked Leone in St.Louis. He is good when he’s healthy. Hope he does well in Cleveland. If Goes can add a changeup or another pitch to his 100mph heater the Indians would have themselves a steal. Can’t find too many lefties who throw 100mph.
Leone was a surprise breakout bullpen arm with the Jays in 2017. It’s too bad injury and inconsistent performance has stifled him. Hope he bounces back.
From being the next Kenny Lofton to California Penal Rick Vaughn. Better teach Gose some control before he kills somebody….
RE: Gose. Those aren’t a lot of walks.
– Wade Davis
Gose story is interesting. seems like he could actually be a usable RP in the majors. not amazing, but usable.
I saw him at AA Akron last year and he definitely looked like he belonged on the mound
I agree. Gose offers secondary value as a late-season pinch runner / defensive sub if he doesn’t break out in the mound and either the Tribe or another contender needs a little speed down the home stretch.
Gose to show you.
If he can tighten up his control a little more (which isn’t too out of the question given his inexperience), I think he can be usable too
If Gose could fix his control issues he would be a lethal weapon coming out of the pen. Hell if he could just drop his BB/9 to about 4.5-5.5, I would put him in a major league pen right now. Randy Johnson did it early in his career being so wild and people couldn’t hit him so it could happen to Gose as well
I remember seeing him in ST after the Astros picked him in the Rule 5. Threw about 20 pitches and the only strikes were offering by the batters. Arm talent is there but until there’s some control he’s just going to keep being a project
At 100 mph..if he doesn’t fix his control issues, he’ll be a lethal weapon..
@wah1447 that’s why you’re a keyboard GM as opposed to a major league one. Stupid idea.
@wah1447 that’s why you’re a keyboard GM as opposed to a major league one. Stupid idea.
@wah1447 that’s why you’re a keyboard GM as opposed to a major league one. Stupid idea.
I think it’s weird that despite his control issues, he didn’t give up a single home run, and averaged 5.0 hits/9.
I remember when all the Cardinals fans were so excited that they stole Dominic Leone from the Blue Jays that one time …
If he doesn’t get hurt, it very likely would have been a completely different story, easy to have 20/20 now. And that Grichuk extension doesn’t really look like it’s working for the Jays either, so it’s not like they gave up much for it.
And the decision by TOR to give him that extension in the first place remains puzzling to say the least.
It seemed confusing the day they gave it to him. I never understood why they paid him, and it already looks like it won’t age well.
Grich only made 5M last year. This will be the year to judge that contract more. All it takes is 2war. He has better talent around him this year.
If anyone can fix Gose, it’s Ruben Niebla.
I’m a little confused by the Gose announcement. It was never announced that he elected free agency in the off-season, and he had stayed on their Akron roster for the entirety (as opposed to Rob Kaminsky, who was removed as soon as the tender deadline passed). So I’m not sure why they announced it at all?
I think most major league organizations don’t prioritize minor league announcements like this. If they have time they announce them, but they don’t lose any sleep over inconsistencies like the one you point out. I’m sure I’ve seen free agent lists and rosters with players who haven’t played in the organization for years. They aren’t hurt. They aren’t around – they just don’t bother to take them off the list. Only people like us, who are really into it, care.
It actually wasn’t announced as a signing, he just happened to be on the list of spring training invites along with Leone and some minor leaguers. So saying he was “signed” might have technically been a mistake.
Both seem like good speculative signings for the Tribe.