It's been two years since Cuban national team pitcher Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez walked out onto the mound at Citizen Field in the World Baseball Challenge and threw fastballs in the mid-90s (per hour).
He might have been coming back for another Prince George visit next month if not for the fact the 26-year-old is no longer with the Cuban team and has signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies in a six-year deal worth $48 million.
The contract, which also includes an option for a seventh year at $11 million, is the richest ever offered to an international player. The Phillies reportedly won a bidding war for Gonzales over the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Gonzales defected to Mexico in February, eventually heading to El Salvador. According to mlb.com, major league scouts watched him tune up in Tijuana, Mexico, where his heater was clocked at 97 mph. Considered by scouts as a mid -rotation starter, the six-foot-three Gonzales also throws a forkball, changeup and curveball.
He appeared in four games in the 2011 World Baseball Challenge, allowing nine hits in 10.2 innings for Cuba, the 2011 WBC champions. Gonzales sported a 1.59 earned run average while registering 13 strikeouts.
"I think it just puts into perspective what this event is all about and the calibre of baseball we actually have coming here," said World Baseball Challenge marketing director Shawn Rice.
"[Gonzales] is a pretty high-calibre player and he's just one of them from the Cuban team that came here to Prince George. I do remember in 2011 when all the scouts were behind home plate, and there were about eight of them, and they had the radar guns on the Cuban pitchers. It may have been that's where he got noticed by the scouts."
There is a chance he will pitch for Philadelphia this season.
Rice said several MLB scouts are making travel plans to come to Prince George for the 2013 WBC, set for Aug. 13-22.
"That's the type of thing that happens here and what we'll see next month," said Rice. "When we get a team like Cuba coming here, some of them will be future major league players. The scouts understand this event here and the calibre that's coming here and they're coming to look at those prospects."
Tournament passes are available at all Ticketmaster outlets for $199 each (reserved grandstand seat) or $150 (bleacher seat).
The tournament will involve teams from Cuba, Canada, the U.S., Chinese-Taipei and Japan.
