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River Ave. Blues » Freddy Garcia » Page 7

Yankees offer Freddy Garcia arbitration

November 23, 2011 by Mike 6 Comments

The Yankees have offered Type-B free agent Freddy Garcia arbitration. If he signs elsewhere, they will receive a supplemental first round draft pick as compensation. You can see all of the Type-A and B free agents (and their arbitration statuses) on our 2012 Draft Order page.

Garcia has until December 7th to accept the offer. He’s in line for a ~$6-7M salary if he does accept, but the two sides have been discussing a reunion in recent weeks. I have a feeling Freddy might have agreed to decline arbitration before the offer was made, similar to Javy Vazquez last season.

Filed Under: Asides, Hot Stove League Tagged With: Freddy Garcia

In Bartolo and Freddy we trust?

November 18, 2011 by Benjamin Kabak 53 Comments

All is quiet on the Yankee front these days, and it isn’t one of Brian Cashman’s stealth-quiet periods that turns into a surprise signing of Mark Teixeira. Rather, the Yankees are waiting to see what comes to them. They’re rightly cool on C.J. Wilson but have to fill some starting pitching holes. What’s a $200 million team to do?

Last year, when the Yanks found themselves in a similar situation following Cliff Lee’s departure to Philadelphia and Andy Pettitte’s retirement, Brian Cashman turned to the scrap heap. For a few million dollars, his coaching staff coaxed 51 starts and over 300 innings from Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon. It was the biggest surprise of the Yankee season, and now, early yet in the Hot Stove League, the Yanks’ GM is, at least publicly, wondering if he can capture lightning in bottle again.

In comments yesterday to ESPN New York, both Cashman and his boss Hal Steinbrenner talked about bringing back Big Bart and Sweaty Freddy. “I have an interest in both Freddy and Bartolo,” Cashman said. “Those guys all did a good job for us, a really good job.” Echoed Steinbrenner, “Absolutely, that’s something we’d consider. It worked out pretty well last year.”

That it sure did, Hal. That it sure did.

In its coverage of these statements, ESPN New York turns this into some sort of money issue. The pair made around $2.6 million combined before incentives and both would like a raise. That’s not a problem. The Yanks have rotation holes to fill and money to spend. Garcia may be itching for a multi-year deal, and that is a potential hurdle. Yet there’s a larger question at play: Should the Yanks even be considering these two?

If we play the not-so-arbitrary endpoint game, it’s very easy to make a case against Bartolo Colon. Through his first 78.1 innings, he had a 3.10 ERA and a K rate topping 8 per 9 IP. He wasn’t walking many guys and was thriving mainly on a fastball. After suffering a hamstring injury and returning in early July, he had a 4.81 ERA over 86 innings and saw his walk rate climb while his strike outs dipped by over 1.5 per 9 innings.

As expected, his velocity fell off by year’s end, and he wasn’t nearly as efficient with his pitches. Colon will turn 39 in May, and no one is sure how much more his surgically repaired shoulder can take. At a low cost and with little riding on it, the Yanks could bring him back to camp, but if they’re counting on him for another 164 innings, I hope they have a good back-up plan.

Meanwhile, Garcia, who didn’t reach the 150-inning mark due to some mysterious cut on his finger, also struggled post-injury. In his first 20 games, he sported a 3.22 ERA and decent peripherals over 117.1 innings. Thanks to one disastrous outing vs. the Orioles and a bad start against the Angels, his post-injury numbers were ugly. He walked 11 while striking out 16 and giving up seven home runs in 29.1 innings. It’s tough though to put much stock in 29.1 innings.

For Garcia, the questions concern durability. He has thrown over 300 innings since the start of 2009 but he threw just 129 over the three prior years. He did a good job keeping the ball in the park this year, and that’s what fueled his success as his walk rate was higher in 2011 than in 2010. He turned 35 during the ALDS and giving him more than a season might be inviting trouble.

To me, Colon and Garcia represent the Yanks’ last resorts. What they did in 2011 made from some great stories and fun games. They defied age and expectations to help lead the Yanks to a championship title. To expect them to do it again may be putting blind faith into pitchers who don’t deserve, and the Yanks would be better served looking elsewhere for some upgrades.

Filed Under: Pitching Tagged With: Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia

Yankees will follow-up on preliminary talks with Freddy Garcia

November 15, 2011 by Mike 12 Comments

Via Marc Carig, the Yankees intend to have follow-up discussions with Freddy Garcia and his agent about a contract for next season. The two sides expressed mutual interest in a reunion earlier this month, and it’s a pretty safe bet that Garcia’s side did not ask for anything unreasonable if the team is willing to continue talks so early in the offseason. I like Freddy as a back-end starter, but really nothing more. I don’t think masquerading him as a number three guy will work all that well again.

Filed Under: Asides, Hot Stove League Tagged With: Freddy Garcia

Report: Yankees in touch with Oswalt, Wilson, and others

November 6, 2011 by Mike 33 Comments

Via Marc Carig, Brian Cashman has already had preliminary talks with the agent for Roy Oswalt and C.J. Wilson. “I’m in the process of talking with everybody,” said Cash, who indicated yesterday that he would get in touch with Wilson’s people at some point. “That’s the way the routine works.” The Yankees are reportedly concerned about the two degenerative discs in Oswalt’s back, but there’s no harm in making a phone call. Oswalt and Wilson share the same agent, Bob Garber.

In other news, Cashman confirmed that he’s already talked to Freddy Garcia’s agent about a possible return, and he plans to do the same with Eric Chavez, Andruw Jones, and Bartolo Colon. Chavez would supposedly welcome a return to New York if he doesn’t retire.

Filed Under: Asides, Hot Stove League Tagged With: Andruw Jones, Bartolo Colon, C.J. Wilson, Eric Chavez, Freddy Garcia, Roy Oswalt

Yankees, Garcia have mutual interest in 2012 reunion

November 1, 2011 by Mike 27 Comments

Via Mark Hale and George King, the Yankees have interest in bringing Freddy Garcia back in 2012. “There’s definitely interest on their part and there’s interest on Freddy’s part in coming back,” said Garcia’s agent Peter Greenberg. The NY Post duo also reports that the Yankees are likely to offer Garcia arbitration, a Type-B free agent.

It’s very unlikely that Sweaty Freddy will repeat his 3.62 ERA, but his 4.12 FIP was almost exactly league average this past summer. Starters that can give a team 150 league average innings have definite value at the back of the rotation (Garcia threw 146.2 IP in 2011), which I assume is where the Yankees hope to use him next season. Now, if they’re counting on him to be their number three starter…

Filed Under: Asides, Hot Stove League Tagged With: Freddy Garcia

Sabathia, Soriano rank as Type-A free agents, Garcia a Type-B

October 31, 2011 by Mike 20 Comments

Via MLBTR, the official Elias free agent rankings for the 2011-2012 offseason have been released. CC Sabathia, who is expected to opt out of his contract before tonight’s midnight deadline, is a Type-A free agent and the highest ranked player this winter. Rafael Soriano, who is not expected to opt out, also qualifies as a Type-A. Freddy Garcia is a middle-of-the-pack Type-B. None of the team’s other free agents (Jorge Posada, Bartolo Colon, Luis Ayala, etc.) qualifies as a Type-A or B.

If offered arbitration and he signs with another team, the Yankees will get that team’s first rounder and a supplemental first rounder (pulled out of the air) for Sabathia. Garcia will bring back just the supplement first rounder, and Soriano is a non-issue. The deadline for teams to offer arbitration to their free agents is midnight ET on November 23rd. The Yankees will surely offer Sabathia arbitration and I think they should offer it to Garcia. Anyway, the full list of Type-A’s and B’s is available on our 2012 Draft Order Tracker.

Filed Under: Asides, Hot Stove League Tagged With: CC Sabathia, Freddy Garcia, Rafael Soriano

Eight Yankees file for free agency as offseason begins

October 30, 2011 by Mike 29 Comments

The 2011-2012 free agency period officially started at 12:01am ET this morning, and eight Yankees have filed for free agency: Luis Ayala, Eric Chavez, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Andruw Jones, Damaso Marte, Sergio Mitre, and Jorge Posada. Free agents can talk to other teams right now, but they can not receive any offers until 12:01am ET this coming Thursday. Adam Rubin has the full and official list of free agents as supplied by the players’ union.

The 40-man roster is now at 35, but Colin Curtis still needs to be activated off the 60-day DL.

Filed Under: Asides, Hot Stove League Tagged With: Andruw Jones, Bartolo Colon, Damaso Marte, Eric Chavez, Freddy Garcia, Jorge Posada, Luis Ayala, Sergio Mitre

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