The Garcia sweepstakes begin

May 12, 2008   ·   Paul Raymond   ·   Jump to comments

Free Agent pitcher Freddy Garcia is almost ready to start working out for Major League Baseball teams. Garcia had surgery back on August 30th to repair his throwing shoulder. Starting Thursday, he’ll be officially working off a mound, so soon to follow comes team work outs. Lets take a look at what teams could use his services.

• New York Mets - The Mets showed considerable interest in the off-season. They also have a rotation thats in shambles, the only lock is Johan Santana. Oliver Perez and John Maine have been wildly inconsistent so far. Pedro Martinez should be back sometime in June, but who knows what to expect from him and you never know when the next injury will bite him. Another positive Garcia’s agent also represents Jose Reyes and Santana
• New York Yankees - The Yankees are always involved with any marquee name. This year they are in the starting pitcher market more then the normal season. Philip Hughes and Ian Kennedy both bombed in their first auditions and the team has no bona fide replacements for them. Darrell Rasner is doing good now, but will it continue? Kennedy was lights out in AAA last week, will it translate in his return? The Yankees need pitching, and Freddy Garcia even at 80% can help shore up the back end of that rotation.
• Atlanta Braves - When John Smoltz returns from the disabled list, he’ll be moving back to the bullpen. Tom Glavine has also had his own injury problems this year. If the Braves are still in the running when he’s officially available, they’ll make a pitch and attempt to go for the gold, before the big names retire and move on.
• Detroit Tigers - No team needs a solid pitcher more then these guys. Their rotation, a former strength, has been one of the worst in baseball this season. Jeremy Bonderman can no longer find the strike zone. So taking a stab at Garcia can’t hurt this team one bit.
• Boston Red Sox - Well they had considerable interest in the off-season. A deal looks unlikely as rotation depth is a strength for them right now. They have Bartolo Colon coming off the disabled list soon which would actually give them 6 starters. So there really isn’t a need but who knows they like the guy so you can’t count them out. Especially if the Yankees appear to be a front runner for Garcia’s services.

There are many other teams that could use Freddy Garcia, but in my opinion none more then these teams. Newsday.com has an article up listing all the teams they feel could use Garcia, as well as their own reasonings.

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