2012 MLB Free Agents: Freddy Garcia, Yankees Closing in on Agreement
By Editorial Staff
David Waldstein of the New York Times is reporting that the Yankees are close to reaching an agreement with free agent starting pitcher Freddy Garcia.
The Yankees signed Garcia to a minor league free agent deal before the 2011 season, and the right-hander rewarded the club with 146 2/3 solid innings.
Now it appears the Yankees are ready to reward Garcia. After the 35-year-old’s strong showing last season, you’d have to figure that New York will be signing Garcia to a major league contract.
Over his 25 starts for the Yankees in 2011, Garcia maintained an ERA of 3.62. The right-hander won 12 games for New York while posting a SO/9 of 5.9 and BB/9 of 2.8.
Garcia will join a current Yankees rotation of C.C. Sabathia, Ivan Nova, A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes.
The Yankees relied heavily on Garcia and fellow minor league free agent signee Bartolo Colon last season. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says he wants to avoid walking that same “tightrope” in 2012, admitting that his club “had a lot of luck” last season.
With the more extreme ages of Nova and Garcia and the inconsistencies displayed by Hughes and Burnett in 2011, Cashman and the Yankees figure to still be in the market for a more consistent, durable arm.
Joel Sherman mentioned a few of New York’s options last week, naming free agents C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle. The Yankees have contacted Wilson’s representation and Buehrle has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the bigs over the past decade.
If the Yankees instead look to find their number two starting pitcher via trade, Sherman lists Gio Gonzalez (A’), John Danks (White Sox), Wandy Rodriguez (Astros) and Ervin Santana (Angels) as possible targets.
For more on the Yankees, be sure to check out Yanks Go Yard.
You can check out all of the available free agents by position below.