Freddy Garcia CAREER TRACKER

bobrob2004 wrote:

If Bonderman doesn't do well tonight, I say go after Freddy Garcia again.

Bonderman gonna win 14 games in 2009

My latest prediction

Herd's Garcia shoulders the blame
Aching starter runs into trouble in fifth inning

By Mike Harrington
NEWS SPORTS REPORTER

A broken-down pitcher. A broken-down offense. Another embarrassment for the Buffalo Bisons.

That's the capsule summary of the latest sorry affair in Coca-Cola Field as the Syracuse Chiefs rumbled past the hapless Herd, 7-1, on Monday night to complete a four-game sweep and improve to 7-0 against the Bisons this season.

A paid crowd of 5,140 saw Buffalo fall to 2-15 — the worst record in professional baseball.

The Bisons were held to only two hits for the second time this season but that's old news for this punchless bunch.

The biggest story in the eyes of the desperate-for-pitching New York Mets is that Freddy Garcia says the front area of his right shoulder is sore.

Once an ace for Seattle and the Chicago White Sox, Garcia had shoulder surgery in 2007 and is a shell of his old self.

After giving up six runs in the fifth, the last four on Ryan Langerhans' grand slam to right, a downcast Garcia sounded close to calling it a career.

"Maybe I want to try it one more time. If I don't feel the way I'm supposed to be feeling right now, I don't know," said Garcia, 32. "I have to make a decision what I'm going to do. I don't know yet. Hopefully next time I'll feel better. I want to wait for tomorrow and see how I feel.

"I don't feel I have any power so I tried to do the best I can do with whatever I have."

Garcia has an 8.18 earned run average and has lost both his starts for the Herd. He threw 80 pitches Monday, 54 for strikes. He twice hit 85 mph and had a few other pitches in the low 80s. He was mostly in the mid-70s and was throwing offspeed stuff in the mid-60s.

None of that, of course, is near major league velocity.

"Obviously he's not the young Freddy Garcia but he's a veteran, he's got to locate," said manager Ken Oberkfell. "He battled, there's no question. He was one pitch away from getting us through the fifth inning.

"His velocity is definitely not there. Hopefully he's healthy."

A few minutes later, Garcia revealed he's not.

That's a shame, too. Because if Garcia was anything close to the guy who threw seven shutout innings for the White Sox in the 2005 World Series clincher at Houston, he would easily have a ticket to New York.

Garcia was OK for the first four innings Monday, allowing a run on three hits. But with two out and just one run home in the fifth, he couldn't get the final out. Joel Guzman, who entered the game 2 for 29 with no RBIs, got his second RBI single of the night and Langerhans bombed Garcia's next pitch onto the grass in right-center.

"I want to do the best things I can the next couple days. I want to feel better," Garcia said. "Hopefully it will work out for me but I don't know. I'm working really hard to try to get right but my shoulder doesn't respond.

"I'm going to try my best. If not, I guess I'll go home. I don't know. That's it, man."

As for the Buffalo offense, there was nothing to it again. Cory Sullivan's leadoff home run in the first and Jose Coronado's leadoff single in the fifth were all the Bisons mustered against four Syracuse pitchers.

The team batting average fell to .196 and the Bisons have scored just 45 runs in their 17 games.

"It's the same broken record day in and day out," said Oberkfell, whose club is 1-11 at home. "I honestly don't know what to say. Should I go in there and break a bunch of tables and chairs? Does that get them going? I don't know."

Nelson Figueroa, just back from New York, will start for the Herd tonight in the opener of a two-game set in Rochester (6:35 p.m., Radio 1520 AM).

Sox pick up options on Garcia, Thornton
Chicago pitchers set for 2010 run with club

By Scott Merkin / MLB.com

10/06/09 3:23 PM EST

CHICAGO -- After thoroughly shutting down the Tigers over seven innings on Saturday night at Comerica Park, Freddy Garcia presented a fairly succinct analysis of his work to the media.

"I really didn't make any mistakes," said the White Sox right-hander with a smile.

The White Sox basically feel the same about the moves they made regarding Garcia and left-hander reliever Matt Thornton on Tuesday. The team picked up 2010 options on both pitchers, with Thornton's coming at $2.25 million and Garcia's checking in at $1 million, with $2 million in performance bonuses.

Garcia made his desire abundantly clear to stay with the White Sox in 2010, after joining the team via a Minor League deal on June 8. He backed up his words on the field, posting a 3-4 record with a 4.34 ERA in nine starts. Seven of Garcia's nine trips to the mound were of the quality variety, while averaging just over six innings and 92 pitches per start.

Left-handers hit a paltry .194 against the 33-year-old, who doesn't have the same zip as he once did on his fastball, but certainly knows how to pitch and work batters. Garcia also doesn't fear working in a big game, as manager Ozzie Guillen pointed out this past weekend when the focus became the move of Jake Peavy from the Cleveland series to the Tigers, instead of on 'Big Game' Freddy.

"That guy can pitch, there's no doubt about it," said Guillen of Garcia. "You have to beat him. He's not going to beat himself. He knows the hitters real well and that's his advantage."

Bringing back Garcia gives the White Sox one of the deeper starting rotations in baseball, with Peavy, Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd and John Danks. The White Sox can even go six or seven deep with young hurlers such as Daniel Hudson and Carlos Torres, although Torres appears better suited for long relief.

"As soon as we got Peavy, we knew we were going to be tough," Danks said. "Our goal next year is to be the best staff in baseball. There are other good staffs in baseball, but we feel we can compete with the best of them."

Thornton, 33, probably stood as an even easier call to make for the White sox than Garcia, if that's possible. The hard-throwing left-hander proved to be the team's most consistent hurler from start to finish, producing a 6-3 record with a 2.74 ERA.

In 72 1/3 innings, Thornton fanned 87, walked 20 and gave up just 58 hits, as opposing hitters batted .217 against him. The White Sox currently have Bobby Jenks in place as their closer, but if they decided to test the market with the burly right-hander, they have a closer-in-the-waiting in Thornton.

At the very least, the White Sox have one of the top setup men in the American League.

"It comes down to throwing strikes, being able to mix pitches," Thornton said. "Using my fastball and moving it around is mixing for me."

These moves made with Garcia and Thornton leave outfielder Jermaine Dye as the only option remaining. Dye and the White Sox hold a mutual option of $12 million, with a $1 million buyout. Guillen strongly hinted over the weekend in Detroit that Dye would not return, a tough decision for everyone in the organization, as Dye is held in the highest of esteem and has been one of the AL's most productive players since joining the White Sox in 2005.

Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Garcia, Yankees agree to Minor League deal
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com | 01/31/11 11:15 PM EST

NEW YORK -- The Yankees have added another contender for their starting rotation, signing veteran right-hander Freddy Garcia to a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training.

Garcia, 35, will join a field of hurlers competing this spring to fill out the thin back end of New York's starting mix.

The Yankees have not made an announcement because Garcia must pass a physical for the deal to become official.

Pitching last season for the White Sox, Garcia was 12-6 with a 4.64 ERA in 28 starts, serving as one of the more reliable starters on Chicago's staff. In 157 innings, Garcia allowed 85 runs (81 earned) and 171 hits, walking 45 and striking out 89.

Adding pitchers has been the team's main priority since it was spurned by its top target, free-agent left-hander Cliff Lee, and has continued to proceed as though 38-year-old left-hander Andy Pettitte will indeed retire.

The Yankees have right-handers Ivan Nova and Sergio Mitre in line to serve as their fourth and fifth starters, but have now supplemented them with a pool of competition which includes Garcia and 37-year-old Bartolo Colon, plus several younger internal options.

Earlier Monday, Garcia was quoted in a Venezuelan newspaper as saying that the Yankees were his first choice and that he did not expect to return to the White Sox, who had maintained interest in bringing him back.

A two-time All-Star, Garcia has won at least 16 games four times in his 12-year career. He has spent the majority of his career in the American League, working with the Seattle Mariners for six seasons and with the White Sox for five.

Garcia has also spent partial seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers, compiling a career record of 133-87 with a 4.13 ERA.

He led the AL in ERA with a 3.05 mark in 2001 and has established a track record for durability during his career, crossing the 200-inning threshold seven times. Garcia missed significant time with a shoulder injury in '07, though, and has not pitched more than 160 innings in a season since.

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Freddy Antonio García (born October 6, 1976 in Caracas, Venezuela), nicknamed "The Chief", is a Venezuelan Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher for the New York Yankees organization. During his major league career, he pitched for the Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox. García throws a fastball that can get into the 90s and a hard slider. He also throws a two-seamer, a curve, a changeup and occasionally uses a splitter.[1] Garcia's best year was in 2001 in which he led the American League in innings pitched and ERA. He made the All-Star team in 2001 and 2002. In 2005, he was a member of the World Series winning Chicago White Sox and started the series winning game 4.


Major League Baseball career

Seattle Mariners

Originally signed by the Houston Astros as a non-draft amateur free agent in 1993, García was acquired by Seattle in 1998, along with Carlos Guillén and John Halama in the trade that sent Randy Johnson to the Astros.[2]

During García's rookie season, he pitched 201 innings, compiling a 17-8 record with 170 strikeouts and a 4.07 ERA in 33 starts. After going 9-5 in his second season, he went on to win 18, 16, 12, 13, and 14 games over the course of the next five seasons. Garcia was the American League pitcher on the mound when the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was called after 11 innings, and ended as a 7-7 tie. The other pitcher was Vicente Padilla of the Philadelphia Phillies.

At the July 31 trading deadline in 2004, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Mike Morse, Miguel Olivo, and Jeremy Reed.


Chicago White Sox

Garcia was the starting pitcher in the championship clinching Game 4 of the 2005 World Series for the Chicago White Sox, going 7 scoreless innings.

Garcia experienced a bit of controversy at the beginning of the 2006 season when he tested positive for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic.[3]

In 2006, he surpassed 1200 strikeouts for his career. In eight post-season games, he was 5-2 with a 3.56 ERA in 48 innings. Also during 2006, on April 29, García recorded his 103rd career win in a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, surpassing former White Sox left-hander Wilson Alvarez as the Venezuelan native with most career wins in Major League history. He finished the season 17-9 with a 4.53 ERA.[2]


Philadelphia Phillies

Garcia with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2007.

In December 2006, Garcia was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for prospects Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez.[2] While Phillies fans eagerly anticipated Garcia's 2007 season, he failed to live up to expectations. He hid a shoulder injury for the first several months of the season and was finally placed on the disabled list (DL) in June. Garcia made 11 starts before being placed on the DL and earned one win.


Detroit Tigers

In August 2008, García signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers. In his first 2 minor league starts with the Tigers he pitched 5 innings, gave up no runs, and struck out 5. In his Tigers debut in late September, García, with a limited pitch count, threw 5 scoreless innings to get the win.


New York Mets

In January 2009, García agreed to a minor league deal with the New York Mets. He was released from the Mets on April 28, 2009 because of two bad starts with the Triple-A farm team, Buffalo Bisons.[4] He was released without having appeared on the club's regular season roster.[5][6]


Second stint with the Chicago White Sox

On June 8, 2009, the Chicago White Sox signed Garcia to a minor league contract.[7] Garcia started on August 18 against the Kansas City Royals for the first time with the White Sox since 2006. In his first game back with the White Sox, Garcia went 4.1 IP allowing 5 ER in a losing effort. Garcia finished the 2009 season with a 3-4 record and a 4.34 ERA. On October 5, 2009, the Chicago White Sox exercised their 2010 option on Garcia, adding that the 34-year-old will make a $1 million base salary, plus a possible $2 million in incentives.[8]


New York Yankees

On January 31, 2011, it was reported that the he agreed to a minor league contract with the New York Yankees worth $1.5 million.[9]


References

1. ^ http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1077&position=P
   
2. ^ ^{a b c} "White Sox trade Garcia to Phillies for Floyd". Associated Press via ESPN. 2006-12-18. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
   
3. ^ Sanchez, Jesse (2006-04-30). "Report: Garcia violates IBAF drug policy; Venezuela paper claims positive test for marijuana at Classic". MLB.com. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
   
4. ^ espn.com
   
5. ^ Rubin, Adam (2009-01-23). "Garcia lands with Mets". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
   
6. ^ "Mets Sign RHP Freddy Garcia". MLB.com. 2009-01-23. vkey=pr_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
   
7. ^ http://scottmerkin.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/06/freddy_garcia_returns.html
   
8. ^ "ChiSox pick up Garcia's option". CNN. October 5, 2009.
   
9. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/news/story?id=6078308