Yankees agree to re-sign Freddy Garcia to one-year contract

November 26, 2011 by Mike Axisa 91 Comments

Saturday, 9:43am: Jon Heyman and Jon Paul Morosi both report that Garcia’s base salary is $4M, with the rest tied up in incentives. Not bad at all, now they just need to work on some of the other rotation spots.

Thursday, 12:10pm: Buster Olney (Insider req’d) says the two sides have agreed to a deal, and Jon Heyman reports that it’s worth about $5M. Reasonable, and right around what we expected. Basically all that’s left is the physical, which might not happen for a while. Certainly not until after the Thanksgiving weekend, I would imagine.

Wednesday, 11:21pm: Via David Waldstein and Efrain Ruiz Pantin, the Yankees are close to re-signing Freddy Garcia to a one-year contract. Freddy still needs to take his physical. No word on the money just yet, but I can’t imagine it’ll be much more than the ~$3.5M he made last season (after incentives). The Yankees offered Garcia arbitration earlier tonight, so they will get a supplemental first round pick in the now unlikely event that he ends up signing elsewhere.

I like Garcia as a back-end starter, but the Yankees shouldn’t count on him masquerading as their number three again in 2012. He’ll give up some homers and allow a lot of balls in play, but he’s a solid bet for six innings a start and keeping his team in the game. He’s also pitched through everything and brings some high-quality veteran presents. I welcome Sweaty Freddy’s return.

http://twitter.com/#!/AngeloInNY Angelo

Can’t complain about that…

Unless they give a 2-year deal. Even then, things could be much worse.
- dalelama
  
  It is better than a sharp stick in the eye…I guess.
http://www.bronxbombersreport.com Craig Maduro

Just tell him (and A.J. for that matter) to stop offering anything close to the plate for Jose Bautista to slam on.
http://www.twitter.com/steveh_mandaura Steve H.

He’s the perfect #4 or #5 starter for a playoff team. He’ll give them 6 innings/3 runs in 2/3 of his starts. For a team with a great bullpen and lineup, that equates to a lot of wins. Don’t really want him in the rotation come October, but he brings a lot of value.
Jumpin’ Jack Swisher

Sounds good to me. Welcome back, Not-so-fast Freddy.
Ryan

Kinda curious where this would leave our rotation if they do get that #2 starter that they need. Hughes the odd man out I’m assuming?
- http://www.twitter.com/steveh_mandaura Steve H.
  
  I think he’s the fat man out.
- http://www.bronxbombersreport.com Craig Maduro
  
  Too early to tell. The Yankees have a few trade chips to play with and a few free agents to mull over. It shouldn’t be too long before the rotation starts to take some more shape.
- Jamey
  
  I get the sense Hughes’ 2012 role is going to be dependent on his conditioning when he shows up & obviously how he looks. Since nothing showed up in terms of an injury of physical problem, I did wonder if it was mostly about the shape he was in. A lot of great pitchers put on weight, but they balance it out by being strong & making sure their stamina is good. Hughes just looked like, and this is the best analogy I could think of, like a guy trying to run a 10K marathon by training 5 minutes on a treadmill every day.
  
  In regards to Freddy, I much prefer guys like him being signed before the free agent chips fall, instead of after like last year. The timing of it can change everything, the way it went down last year it was like “They lost out on Cliff Lee & Cashman’s answer is FREDDY GARCIA?!” instead of spring training coming and “Wow, I totally forgot they signed Garcia. He doesn’t look terrible…”
  - Turkey
    
    It was mostly about his shape
FIPster Doofus

Nice. Welcome back, Chief.
hogsmog

I want a veteran present! I hope it’s Pokemon or Power Rangers.
- http://www.bronxbombersreport.com Craig Maduro
  
  I was horrified to see that Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers is still being shown on TV.
  - Mickey S
    
    I think it’s now called Power Rangers in space or Power Rangers Samurai, or so my six year old says.
- FIPster Doofus
  
  How about a Furby?
the constant gardner

It may be just me, but every time Mike refers to him as sweaty Freddy I immediately think of Freddy Mercury dancing. Maybe it’s just me. Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s just me.
- Jimmy
  
  Its just you.
- hikker
  
  really just you!
BK2ATL

At this stage, if that is the deal for Fredy, hell yeah I’d approve this deal. I still hope his lines us up for going in seriously on Darvish and Cespedes, over Buehle and Wilson. In my opinion, Fredy gives us very close to what each of those would but for significantly less $$$ and years. I’m hoping Cashman’s real FA plays are for the top int’l FA, esp. in this pretty weak SP and OF market.
- Ted Nelson
  
  You honestly think Garcia is as good as CJ Wilson and Mark Buehrle?
  
  I can see arguing that he’s a better value, but I can’t see arguing that one Year’s era makes him as good a bet going forward.
  - Freddy Garcia’s 86 mph Heat
    
    He can defiantly be as good as or only slightly worse than Buehrle.
    - Ted Nelson
      
      Buehrle has been god for 200 IP ERAunder 4 something like (without checking) 8 of the last 11 years.
      - Snark
        
        Source?
        
        Ted Nelson
        
        Uh… Fangraphs.com
http://highheatstats.blogspot.com Raphy

I have a post going up tomorrow on the High Heat Stats blog about 2011 starters whose bullpens saved their bacon by stranding their inherited runners. Garcia is third on the list. Over the course of the season, Garcia left 15 base runners for his bullpen to deal with and none of them scored.

Nova is second, which is a testament to the 2011 Yankees bullpen, but with both pitchers back on board, it may be a bit worrisome moving forward.
Mark L.

So we have an ace, three #4 starters and a total unknown (Hughes). Dumping Burnett won’t be cheap, Nova has proven that he belongs, Freddy is just a little too good to be bumped to long relief, and the organization may have too much pride to make Hughes a set-up guy again. What gives?
- mike c
  
  you can never have enough pitching and freddy did a decent job last year
- Jimmy
  
  Its an easy call. The guy delivered value last year and is available on the cheap. What’s wrong with signing a guy to a low-level contract? No one says he has to be our #2.
bankers hours

Good sign, he cost virtually nothing and hopefully will pitch 180 innings and win 12 to 14 games. We now have CC AJ Nova Freddy and Hughes signed. Still need more pitching and I don’t like Hughes as a starter. With a ton of bullpen arms I’d move Hughes and some solid prospects and try to get a Geo Gonzalez, Garza, or someone at that level. Any news on the Darvish post, he’d be the best sign since it’s just money and it’s not mine.
Chuck

I hope their is a cooking injury clause in it
Hornets686

Called me crazy but I’d trade for King Felix and Matt Cain.

Montero, Nova, Banuelos, and Phelps for King Felix

Swisher, Nunez, Noesi, and Betances for Cain

Look the core of the team isn’t getting any younger… we need to win now not later.

C.C.
Felix
Cain
Garcia
Hughes

Trade A.J. for for a RF? Jason Bay or maybe Alfonso Soriano…. maybe some how get Andre Either?
- Karl Krawfid
  
  The hell is wrong with you?
- candyforstalin
  
  crazy doesn’t really do you justice, though.
- Freddy Garcia’s 86 mph Heat
  
  Hornets686 for GM!
- http://bleedingyankeeblue.com Jesse
  
  Sweet Jesus, what the hell is wrong with you? Those deals will NEVER happen. Especially the Felix deal. Montero, Nova, Banuelos, and Phelps doesn’t even begin to change the Mariners minds of not trading Felix. It’d probably take that package plus the Swisher, Nunez, Noesi, and Betances package to get the King alone.
  
  You know, if the Yankees trade a lot less to get John Danks, or sign Yu Darvish, while dumping Burnett (Wishful thinking at this point), they’d once again be a big favorite to win the World Series in 2012 with their stacked offense and loaded bullpen…
  - Ted Nelson
    
    Most fan trade proposals will never happen…
    
    How you know what the Mariners’ asking price for Felix Hernandez is… I have no idea…
    
    I find it laughable that you think it would take Montero, Swisher, Nova, Banuelos, Betances, Noesi, Nunez, and Phelps to get him. In my opinion that is totally ridiculous. Felix, to me, is not worth that at all.
    
    That you would do something different doesn’t mean the proposal to just empty the farm for two studs isn’t a viable option some people might take. I probably wouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
- SF Yanks
  
  I’m on board with your out of the box thinking.
  
  But I think you can improve even more by trading ARod (old and finished) and Tex (in steep decline) for Alberto Pooholes.
  
  Lastly, Granderson’s value is at an all time high. He could easily fetch Roy Holidays. If not, throw in Hughes since he’d be expendable with the surplus of pitching being brought in. Who cares about depleting the farm and creating holes because we’d never lose. Check it out…
  
  C.C.
  Felix
  Cain
  Hollyday
  
  Golson takes over RF. And with Gardner in LF you don’t even need a CF due to their speed and the fact that our rotation will shut down every offense.
  - http://twitter.com/#!/AngeloInNY Angelo
    
    If this is a joke, very, very, well done.
    
    Gave me a good laugh at 4AM
- Ted Nelson
  
  I’m not sure I’d be on-board, but I think those are reasonable trade proposals as far as fan’s trade proposals go. Certainly interesting and thought provoking. I do not believe you deserved the rude and ignorant responses you got below.
  
  I certainly think Montero AND Nova AND Banuelos at least gets your foot in the door with the Mariners. There is a price at which they’d give up Felix, and not many if any other teams can offer two top-20 caliber prospects plus a young SP coming off Nova’s rookie year… plus the Yankees have plenty of hot shots in the low-minors to beef up the deal. MLB is not the NBA and you don’t win with one stud. You win with a strong, deep team.
  
  I don’t buy that there’s some window closing on the Yankees… but Felix and Cain are both young enough that this would not close that window any faster.
- Ray R
  
  Dude, whatever it is you’re drinking, pass it around. The rest of us could use the holiday cheer.
duzzi23

The same stacked Yankee offense that can’t even hit a fly ball with bases loaded n 0 out in a big spot? The Yankees need offense. Guys who are good at getting runners in instead of all these guys who beat up on shit pitching like Swisher and Tex. That is how they won in the 90s and even 09. Look at what David Freese did for the Cardinals in the world series.
- http://bleedingyankeeblue.com Jesse
  
  The Yankees offense if fine. Quit using small samples of data to try to prove a fact wrong. Look at the big picture…
  
  Runs scored: 2nd in MLB
  OPS: 3rd in MLB
  HR: 1st in MLB
  wOBA: 3rd in MLB
  
  If this team had the 2010 San Francisco offense that stunk in the regular season, but got hot in the playoffs for a few games and won a World Series with the likes of Cody Ross, Edgar Renteria, and Pat Burrell, you’d be claiming that they have the best offense in the game…
  - SF Yanks
    
    I really don’t think he deserves a logical reply.
    
    Sarcasm? Sure.
    Ignore? Sure.
    A thought out reply? No way.
    
    I think people that far out there have a slim to none chance of seeing the light.
    - http://twitter.com/#!/AngeloInNY Angelo
      
      Pretty much…
  - duzzi23
    
    Baseball isn’t played on a computer. Stats are only a fraction of a representation. The playoffs are all a short sample size. I’m sure David Freese over 400 playoffs with 30 rbis don’t count cuz of “short sample size” either then?
http://bleedingyankeeblue.com Jesse

Really hope Garcia’s 2012 season isn’t like what Shawn Chacon had to go through in 2006 after his awesome 2005 season.

Garcia’s 2011 season:

26 games, 25 starts, 146.2 innings, 3.62/4.12/4.36 e/f/x, 5.89 K/9, 2.76 BB/9, 0.98 HR/9, 36.4 GB%, 87.2 mph fastball

Chacon’s 2005 season:

27 games, 24 starts, 151.2 innings, 3.44/4.76/5.29 e/f/x, 4.69 K/9, 3.92 BB/9, 0.83 HR/9, 39.6 GB %, 86.9 mph fastball
- Steve (different one)
  
  But those lines aren’t all that similar. One extra K and one fewer BB for Garcia. There is a noticeable gap in quality. Overall I agree that Garcia is due for some regression, but I don’t think disaster awaits. Garcia was always a talented pitcher who just doesn’t have the arm anymore.
XBomer

I didn’t think Garcia would get brought back because to improve the rotation now they have to pay almost all of AJ’s salary to play for someone else or Hughes won’t be able to make the team as a SP.
I will be very surprised if Cashman is ready to give up on Hughes but I would assume Hughes going to BP/AAA is more likely then AJ getting moved but maybe the plan was to dump AJ this offseason all along, who knows.
First Time Poster

I wonder if stemcell research has progressed to the point of combining both Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon? Think about it… you’d get a guy who could give you 260 innings of 3.80-4.20ish era while adding Bart’s 2-seamer to Freddy’s kitchen sink approach. And best of all, his name would be Sweaty Fartolo Colon… he’d also be real ugly… like Lackey ugly.
- Grit for Brains
  
  and he could put down like 11 or 12 big mac meals
David

So my question is what was the point of offering arbitration if they were so close to a deal then?
- Ted Nelson
  
  So that if he walks away you get a pick… So that if he decides to accept arb you keep him through that process…
  
  Offering arb was basically a no-lose for the Yankees in this case. If he accepts arb you probably pay him about what you wanted to, maybe more but not a lot more in the scheme of the Yankees’ payroll. If he declines you can continue to negotiate and get a pick if he decides to leave for a better offer.
Grit for Brains

Well said Mike, I really don’t see Freddy as much more than a 5 despite what he did last year. If he puts together another fine season icing on the cake but we need another top end guy to put next to CC. It sucks that it really seems like the Phils are all in and going to lock up Hamels now or in the future, he’s really the best guy I see hitting the market in the next yr so maybe just pony up and roll the dice on Darvish.
DM

Considering the arbitration offer, this rumor doesn’t make sense to me. I’m thinking there must be a 2nd yr — or at least a 2nd yr option trigger — involved. I think someone jumped the gun on a sleepy Thxgiving Eve sports news cycle.
- Plank
  
  I think it’s more of a standard practice thing to offer arb in situations like this.
  
  Especially after the Clemens fiasco.
CMP

I’m not all that happy about resigning Garcia. With this move, 2/5th of the rotation is pretty mediocre in Garcia ( who likely will regress to about a league average starter) and Burnett ( who is significantly worse than an average starter).
I think they need to acquire a number 2 and 3 starter, slot Nova number 4 and have Hughes and Noesi battle for the 5th spot while putting Burnett in the pen or better yet eat most of his contract and send him to Siberia.
- Leg-End
  
  I would agree with you if there were better options out there. He’s a relatively inexpensive proven commodity, if we pickup a front end starter or two then who’s gonna moan about having Garcia pitch 4th or 5th? I’m not for one.
  
  I’d rather have too much pitching than not enough.
- Ted Nelson
  
  The argument I have against that is that the Yankees have a bunch of young starters knocking on the door… they either lose or block those guys in acquiring a 2 AND 3. It’s not one guy making it that they’re tying their hopes to (if they go that route), it’s one or two making it out of 8 (Nova, Hughes, Noesi, Phelps, Warren, Mitchell, Betances, and Banuelos).
  
  Your proposal is certainly the best short-term move, but not necessarily the best overall move. Garcia is fungible, and they can still go out and get someone to slot #2 if they want to.
  - Leg-End
    
    We have a comfort level with him being here, especially if its only a 1 year deal.
    
    Garcia wouldn’t be blocking anyone at this point, any of the 8 you mentioned could go either way at this point. I think its pretty likely we won’t be seeing the likes of Betances or Banuelos in the rotation until we absoltely can’t hold them back anymore (if that even happens in 2012).
    - Ted Nelson
      
      Yeah, that’s pretty much what I’m saying. Garcia is a decent option in his own right, especially for one year at relatively minimal $. He’s also fungible, though, meaning that he’s fairly exchangeable with the #6 starter if it becomes obvious that the #6 starter is better either through Garcia’s poor performance or the #6’s strong performance. Or with a mid-season acquisition if that’s the best course of action.
      
      On the other hand, a #2 or #3 is less likely to be fungible. A trade target likely means one or more of those 8 is gone, meaning they can’t replace the guy unless the Yankees re-acquire them nor can they be traded mid-season. A free agent target is likely to have a long-term deal that leads to an AJ Burnett situation should he be terrible but not totally unbearable and without hope for the future.
Bronx Byte

Freddy Garcia is a reliable No. 4 or 5 starter that will pitch a quality start most times out.
Far more than can be said for Burnett.
Ted Nelson

If it’s for 1 year, ~$5 million or less… I definitely like it. I don’t expect last season’s level of success (though it’s certainly possible), but I expect a solid back-end guy who is fungible should the 6th starter (?Hughes, Noesi, Phelps, Warren, Mitchell, Betances, Banuelos?) emerge as a better option. Seems like a good piece for a team with several young starters knocking on the door.
Monteroisdinero

I am a big fan of the one year contract with performance bonuses (Dimaggio?) and think Freddy will deliver a similar result in 2012. He can still rely on his stuff which varies from 68-88 mph. Maybe he can teach Phil how to change speeds effectively!
LiterallyFigurative

This contract works well for the Yankees.

Garcia is a #4 or #5, who eats innings and pitches decently. He doesn’t prevent you from signing or trading for the #2 or #3 starter. He doesn’t block any of your main prospects. And if he doesn’t pan out, you still have Hughes, Noesi, Warren or Mitchell to be the #5 (maybe a couple of these guys is traded for Danks, but someone will still be around).

As an aside, I’d bring back Bartolo too, but tell him not to show up until June. He probably only has 100 good innings or so. Why waste them in May? He’d basically be the Bentley (a luxury) in a garage of useable, everyday autos.
OXXbow

Forget about Felix Hernandez. He’s a very good pitcher but, IMHO, he barely makes the top 10 starters list, at the present time. There are only 2-3 pitchers around you would clean out your minor league system for and Hernandez is not one of them.

1) Cershaw
2) Verlander
3) Halliday
4) Weaver
5) Lee
6) Sabathia
7) Shields
8) Hamels
9) Lincecum
10) F. Hernandez
- Alex C.
  
  Jered Weaver at 4? Really? He wouldn’t be as good if it wasn’t for Angel Stadium.
OXXbow

Don’t know where the smiley came from.
- NJ_Andy
  
  It was fate, chuckling at your parody of a post.
Bavarian Yankee

good to have Freddy back but I hope we’ll acquire at least 1 more quality starter.
cripbb

1 year deal.just cut him if he sucks balls!!!!!!!
- forensic
  
  ‘Freddy was great for us all last year and we know it’s still in there. We just have to try to find it and bring it out.’
  
  That’s what you’ll hear from Girardi and Cashman for months before they would ever cut him.
forensic

I think they’ll regret this one (even though it’s just one year). Some of his luck and flukiness will catch up to him again and (yet again) the Yanks will block any potential better performances from their pitching prospects (if they even know what those are). Hate how they always do this, can’t wait till they sign another one (though I wouldn’t necessarily mind Darvish and dumping Hughes out of the rotation) and block the prospects even further down the list.
- cripbb
  
  give me a proven veteran anyday over a prospect. the only guy im looking forward to is banuelos but he will have a strict innings cap so w.e!!!!! THIS IS A GOOD SIGNING . ALSO GIVES THE YANKEES MORE LEVERAGE OVER POTENTIAL FA TARGETS B/C THEY DONT LOOK AS DESPERATE . YOU FUCKING UDNERSTAND ME??????????/
- Ted Nelson
  
  Except that at one year $5 mill Garcia is fairly fungible.
  - forensic
    
    No ‘proven veteran’ (as your prior esteemed colleague called him) is fungible to this organization. Hell, it took them over 3 months to dump Angel Berroa, almost 4 months to dump Brett Tomko, signed and didn’t release Sidney Ponson, and numerous others (not to mention inexplicably signing Proctor and others this year)…
    
    And none of them even had a successful year under this belts with the organization already (except arguably Proctor).
    - YankeesJunkie
      
      Garcia has more a track record than Berroa and Tomko did at the time of their signings.
    - Steve (different one)
      
      Angel Berroa had all of 24 pa’s as a Yankee. Tomko threw 20 innings as a Yankee. This idea that those guys significantly blocked prospects just isnt supported by the facts. Proctor soaked up a few garbage time innings to keep the real relievers fresh for the playoffs. I will grant it was fairly pointless, but there wasn’t really any harm to it either.
http://fendersonandhampton.com Cuso

Presents? Really?
- Sayid j.
  
  Yes, really.
YankeesJunkie

Pretty solid signing by the Yanks. Even though he did outperform his FIP by .5 his his FIP and xFIP were still in the low 4s. He can be flexible as a back end starter or as a long reliever and for five million dollars only needs to have a 1 WAR season to break even which if plays anywhere like he did this year will not be a problem.
bankers hours

Good sign but we need more starting pitching and need to move AJ. I’d put Hughes in a deal if possible to get another starter, I don’t like his work ethic or back issues. He can’t get people out past a couple innings and the bullpen doesn’t need him. If Hughes and prospects doesn’t bring back a starter Buehrlue and Darvish (if he posts) are real possibilities. I don’t like CJ Wilson for what he’ll cost in years and dollars.
Mike G

He could have pitched another 9 scoreless innings in that all-star game back in 02′
BK2ATL

I love the move. Let’s go, sweaty Fredy!!!

We loved having you in 2011, as apparently you did.

I see Hughes rebounding from his 2011 performance, and leaning on how Fredy goes about his biz. Simply put, at this point with the Yanks, he knows and respects his role.

Great signing by Cash. This means no Chacon, no Mitre, no Chacin, no others competing for the the 5th spot.

At this point, if no major reasonable trade appears, I go in on Darvish and Cespedes.
- Rainbow Connection
  
  ??????????????
DM

Maybe they’ll now trade Hughes (along with Nunez or Montero or other prospects) for a true #2 starter.
bpdelia

for the record i fully expected garcia to pitch as well as he did in 2010. looks to me like he is finally healthy and knows how to work within hus stuff. further proof by the way that the split is one of baseballs most under urilized weapons (see that hughes) easy to learn same arm action.

i again expect 160 ip of 4.00/4.25/4.50 type ball with a bunch of effective starts abd a handful of disasters when his command is off.

now darvish. even more important with the new cba implications. this is the last chance for a long time to add a young top starter who saves money in the luxury tax.

cc
darvish
nova
garcia
hughes,aj,noesi,joba,
phelps,warren,mitchell,
bettances,banuelos.

looks solid and extremely deep
Billion$Bullpen

Signing Freddy to that deal is a great move for the Yankees and smart for Freddy. Freddy gets to live in NYC and play for the Yankees while making sure he gets at least $4 mill. Pretty good for him.

Yankees get a guy who gave them a bunch of decent to good starts and a few crappy ones and a couple of great ones (this is off the top of my head if somebody feels the need to prove me wrong with a stat sheet feel free). I think this year we could project him to give us I dunno 85 percent of what he did last year? For $4 mill in 2012 that is pretty good. If he sucks we release him and its only 4 mill. If he is ok to good and we get somebody better or bring up somebody better he goes to the pen or we trade him.

I fail to see any major downside but for some reason I hear more than a handful of Yanks fans crying that we did not did clone Three Finger Brown in his prime or something else impossible or close to it. I want better pitching too, and I am sure some will be on the way in the next 12 months, one way or another.

I still think Cashman’s scarlet letter is the fact under his watch we have developed and held onto almost no home grown pitching talent. We got guys in the minors, Nova may end up being one. But his track record stinks. Seems like this has almost always been the Yanks top problem throughout history as well.
dean

Current rotation + Danks – Burnett = Solid
Grover

Welcome back Freddie. I hope the rubberbands and paperclips hold him together for another year. Based on his first half and the lack of innings over the last several years, I remain surprised that nobody appears to have any love for Colon. It’s probably more of a medical situation for the Yanks but when he was on he was the second best starter on this team.
Reggie C.

All fans should be fine with this signing. So long as Garcia holds up, he’ll post enough quality starts to stave off completely submerging Banuelos with a too early call up.

I know pple want to see Warren, Noesi, and Phelps , and dying to see the kills Bs, but none of them are a better bet over 25 starts than Garcia.
Hornets686

How bout this?

Mets get: A.J. Burnett
Dodgers get: Jason Bay and Prospects from Yankees
Yankees get: Ted Lilly and Andre Ethier