The New York Yankees has agreed to a one-year, minor league contract with starting pitcher Freddy Garcia, according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.
Just after a few days of expressing interest in pitching for the Yankees, Garcia gets what he wants and Brian Cashman has made his best move this offseason by signing Garcia.
Although 36 by opening day, Freddy Garica is still durable and won 12 games with an ERA of 4.64. Fans say Garcia will allow one home run every five days at Yankee Stadium, but they also need to realize that he pitched at U.S. Cellular Field, another hitter-friendly park.
Also of note is that he pitched 157 innings, so he is certainly an innings eater—or at least better than Sergio Mitre.
Some fans may oppose the signing, as they say Mitre is actually effective as a starter. However, Garcia is much more dependable, and Mitre is only good when he pitches frequently out of the bullpen.
It seems he will fit into the Yankees starting rotation as a No. 4 or 5 guy, pending Spring Training.
And with Andy Pettitte seeming to lean towards retirement more and more with each passing day, Garcia and youngster Ivan Nova seem to be the front runners for the rotation job. As competition, there is still Bartolo Colon, Mark Prior, Andrew Brackman, and Sergio Mitre as well.
Garcia is anther option if things all fall apart for New York. However, what makes this decision such a great one is that the deal is only worth $1.5 million, with incentives only reaching to $3.6 million.
With the way he pitches, this was a steal.
Another reason why this was the best move for Cashman was because of the preceding events. For example, the signing of Rafael Soriano was an excellent addition to the bullpen, but it weakened the GM-owner relationship.
Signings of Colon, Prior, Feliciano, and Martin are all moves that are decent, but they are all risks except Feliciano, and Garcia is still more valuable as starting pitching was needing more upgrade(s).
After missing out on Cliff Lee, and recently Justin Duchscherer, this was a move Cashman had to make, and he came through.
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