Yankees reach verbal agreement with veteran left-hander Gio Gonzalez

The New York Yankees are on the verge of adding some depth to their starting rotation in the form of veteran left-hander Gio Gonzalez.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed Monday night to NorthJersey.com that the team has a verbal agreement in place with Gonzalez on a one-year, minor-league deal. According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the free-agent lefty will receive $3 million in base salary if he is promoted, and can opt out of the deal if he's still in the minors on April 20 — the same date the Yankees expect CC Sabathia to return.

Gonzalez would serve as insurance if right-hander Luis Severino is sidelined beyond the first month of the regular season he's expected to miss because of an inflamed rotator cuff in his shoulder. Sabathia is due to miss the first two-to-three weeks of the season, following an offseason heart procedure and another arthroscopic surgery on his arthritic right knee.

“Excited to get depth,’’ manager Aaron Boone told NorthJersey.com after the Yankees’ 7-4 exhibition win against the Braves. “Looking forward to getting him in here and see what we’ve got.’’

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A veteran of 11 MLB seasons, Gonzalez, 33, last pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers, who acquired him from the Washington Nationals last Aug. 31.

He went 3-0 with a 2.13 ERA in five September starts for the NL Central champions before an ankle injury knocked him out of Game 4 of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Gonzalez has a 127-97 career record and a 3.69 ERA in 11 seasons with the Oakland A's, Nationals and Brewers. His best season came in 2012 when he went 21-8 with a 2.89 ERA for the Nats and finished third in the NL Cy Young Award voting.

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