Freddy Garcia Archives - Page 13 of 13

Garcia, Yanks agree to minor league deal

January 31, 2011 by Benjamin Kabak 161 Comments

Update (10:32 p.m.): Freddy Garcia may get his wish after all. According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the right-hander has agreed to a Minor League deal with the Yankees. The 35-year-old will get an invite to Spring Training and a chance to win a job in the starting rotation, though he’ll have to compete with Bartolo Colon.

If he makes the team, Garcia will earn a $1.5M base salary plus another $3.6M in possible incentives. He’ll have to make 30 starts to max out the bonuses, something he hasn’t done since Jaret Wright made 27 starts for the Yanks. If he doesn’t make the team out of Spring Training, Garcia can opt out of his deal by March 29th.

Garcia, now three years removed from shoulder surgery, managed to throw 157 innings for the White Sox last year after three seasons of no more than 58 IP. He wasn’t all that good though, pitching to a 4.64 ERA (4.77 FIP, 4.59 xFIP) with 5.10 K/9 and 40.7% ground balls in 2010. Although he walked just 2.29 batters per nine innings unintentionally, Garcia managed to surrender one homer for just under every seven innings pitched. It’s been a long time since he was a 200 innings a year horse for the Mariners, but all the Yankees are asking him to do is be better than Sergio Mitre. That doesn’t seem hard, but you never know.

Always a sinker-slider-changeup guy, Garcia threw the pitches in almost equal parts last year, though his fastball averaged just 87.6 mph. He’ll also mix in the occasionally curveball and cutter, but they’re just show-me pitches. At this point of his career, Garcia can’t survive by trusting his stuff, he’s got to mix his pitches well and locate. His margin for error is small, and the Yankees know this.

I’ve been pretty critical of a potential Garcia signing this winter, though that’s because I expected a Major League contract. A minor league deal is no risk, but I wouldn’t exactly call it high reward.

Additional reporting and commentary by Mike Axisa.

Freddy Garcia wants to pitch in New York

January 31, 2011 by Mike 23 Comments

Via MLBTR, free agent right-hander Freddy Garcia recently told a Venezuelan newspaper that he wants to pitch for the Yankees in 2011. “My preference is to be with the New York Yankees, and it’s not unreasonable to have that in mind, because I’ve demonstrated that I can be useful,” said Fred. “A team like New York would be ideal for my age, [as would] playing in a successful, media-heavy, demanding division. Without doubt it would be an inspiration.”

I’m glad he’s inspired by playing in New York, because his 5.10 K/9 and 1.32 HR/9 from a year ago doesn’t inspire any confidence in me. I have a feeling Bartolo Colon might be the only free agent pitching signing for the time being, but once Spring Training starts and the season gets away, it’ll be open season on the trade market.

Yankees maintaining interest in Freddy Garcia

January 18, 2011 by Mike 70 Comments

Aside from making Rafael Soriano the highest paid middle reliever in baseball history, it’s been a pretty uneventful offseason for the Yankees on the pitching front. That’s bad news, because they really needed to add at least one quality starter this offseason, and so far they’ve added zero. Jon Heyman says the Yankees are still considering Freddy Garcia, who is unlikely to solve many problems, if any. This comes after we heard the Yanks reviewed the righty’s medicals last month.

Garcia, now 34, managed to throw 157 innings for the White Sox last year. His ERA (4.64), FIP (4.77), and xFIP (4.59) were all close enough to each other that we can assume he didn’t benefit or suffer from any luck, and it was the first time he managed to eclipse even 60 innings pitched since 2006. His strikeout (5.10 K/9), walk (2.29 uIBB/9), and homerun (1.32 HR/9) rates in 2010 weren’t much better than Sergio Mitre’s (4.83, 2.67, 1.17 respectively) at all. It’s just hard to find this even remotely appetizing after watching Jeff Francis sign for half the guaranteed money the Yanks will pay Pedro Feliciano this year.

Freddy Garcia? Really? There’s no harm in reviewing medicals, but it’s been a month and they’re still considering the guy. Do the Yankees really think they’d be better off with this guy starting every five days than Joba Chamberlain? I usually expect common sense to win out in the end, but the decision-makers seem hellbent on minimizing Joba’s value as much as possible. Pffft, Freddy Garcia. If you’re going to stoop that low, just throw Hector Noesi or David Phelps out there and hope for the best.

Yankees have asked to see Freddy Garcia’s medical records

December 16, 2010 by Mike 55 Comments

From the please don’t let it be true department, Andrew Marchand says the Yankees have asked for Freddy Garcia’s medical records, indicating their interest in the right-hander. Once upon a time Garcia was a brilliant workhorse starter, but that was several years and shoulder injuries ago. Last season with the White Sox, the 34-year-old pitched to a 4.77 FIP in 157 innings, striking out just 5.10 batters per nine innings and surrendering one homer for every 6.2 innings pitched. His fastball can’t even break a window these days.

I mean, I guess if it’s a really really low base salary ($1M or less), preferably on a minor league prove yourself in Spring Training deal, then I can live with it. All I know is that this movie will have a tragic ending.

Yanks lose out on Garcia

January 22, 2009 by Mike 136 Comments

Via MLBTR, Freddy Garcia chose to sign with the Mets over the Yanks. It’s a minor league deal apparently, but he could earn up to $9M in incentives. I can understand why Garcia made the decision he did, he’ll have a much better chance of sticking with the big league club with the boys in Queens.

Yanks battling Mets for Garcia

January 21, 2009 by Mike 51 Comments

Via Ken Rosenthal (via MLBTR), free agent righty Freddy Garcia has narrowed down his list of suitors down to the two New York teams. Garcia wants a Major League deal because it’ll guarantee him termination pay if he’s released in Spring Training, but it’s unlikely either team would offer that. The Mets do have six open spots on their 40 man roster, so they could go the extra mile. The former Rookie of the Year runner up has thrown just 73 innings to the tune of a 5.55 ERA over the last three two years, with major should surgery mixed in for good measure. He’s nothing more than a nice lightning in a bottle guy at this point in his career, but if it’s only a minor league deal, who cares? See what happens.

Yanks have eye on Freddy Garcia

January 14, 2009 by Joe Pawlikowski 126 Comments

While Paul Byrd might not have much to do with the Yankees 2009 plans, Freddy Garcia might. Via MLB Trade Rumors we learn that the veteran righty could sign within the next few days. Not only that, but Jon Heyman says that the Yankees are one of four teams interested. The others include the Mets, the White Sox, and the Rangers. Garcia tossed 15 shaky innings for the Tigers at the end of 2008 after missing most of the past two seasons with shoulder issues.

That’s the red flag right there. A 34-year-old pitcher who missed significant time with a shoulder issue? I’m not so sure I’d take a gamble on that. If it’s a minor league deal with an opt-out if he doesn’t make the big league club, then that’s do-able. But if some team is willing to offer Garcia a major league deal, I have to hope the Yanks back off. There’s no reason to commit money to a guy with this much risk.

Garcia’s career, up until 2007, was filled with 200-inning-plus seasons. He was known as a horse, and that was a major reason the White Sox traded for him in June of 2004. His strikeout rates aren’t great, and he doesn’t have the low walk totals you’d like to see from such a pitcher. Plus, he gives up more than his share of home runs. From the way his stat lines look, a big part of his monster 2001 season was his ability to keep the ball in the park — just 16 homers in 238.2 innings. After surrendering 30 and 31 homers over the next two seasons, Garcia allowed just eight in 2004 before the trade. After the trade, in 103 innings, he gave up 14 homers.

So while he has name value going for him, that’s about all he’s got. He even had to leave winter ball with shoulder soreness. That might just be the cumulative effect of not having pitched much over the past two years. Yet it’s still cause for concern. If the Yankees can get him on a minor league deal, I won’t complain. But if they’re placing him on the 40-man roster, I think there’s reason to take issue with it.