Nearly forgotten amid this early season Yankees roller-coaster is the veteran Gio Gonzalez fighting to resuscitate his career in northeast Pennsylvania.
But no longer, with decisions coming Saturday from the minor league pitcher and general manager Brian Cashman.
Gonzalez, signed by the Yankees near the end of spring training as rotation insurance, is expected to opt out of the deal, according to ESPN.
The ball club would have 48 hours to add him to their roster, and if not, he’d re-enter the free agent market that wasn’t too kind to him over the winter despite an impressive stop with Milwaukee last summer. In three appearances with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Triple-A this season, Gonzalez has pitched to a 2-1 record and 6.00 ERA, striking out 19 while surrendering one home run and 10 earned runs. He’d command a $3 million salary in the majors under his current contract, and would likely go up against the much younger Domingo German ($577,500) for the final rotation spot until the unknown return of ace Luis Severino.
Adding to the intrigue is that the 33-year-old Gonzalez left super-agent Scott Boras on Friday, MLB.com reported, to join CAA — the agency formerly headed by current Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen.
According to SNY, Mets representatives were in Buffalo on Friday to scout the southpaw, but his game was rained out, and he was scheduled to pitch Saturday instead.
The Mets pitching staff — supposedly the team’s backbone — entered Friday ranked 27th in the majors with a 5.54 ERA, weighed down by the 36-year-old Jason Vargas, who lowered his ERA to a still-awful 9.58 with four innings of one-run ball Friday.
As the Mets are not expected to break the bank for former Cy Young winner and free agent Dallas Keuchel, Gonzalez would come cheaper should they decide to take Vargas out of the rotation, or if ace Jacob deGrom — scheduled to undergo an MRI exam on his elbow Monday — misses time.
“I don’t know what’s above me. I just know what I can do in front of me,” Gonzalez recently told The Post’s Mark W. Sanchez. “And the Yankees were the only team that gave me that opportunity. I can only be grateful for this organization for as long as they need me.”