Tag: Freddy Garcia

Milwaukee Brewers Acquire Sergio Mitre: Smart Move or Stupid Mistake?

It was recently announced that the Milwaukee Brewers acquired Yankees’ pitcher Sergio Mitre in a deal that sent outfielder Chris Dickerson to New York in return.

At the moment, this seems like a win-win situation for both teams: New York announced that Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia will round out the rotation, and Bartolo Colon will move to the bullpen, most likely as a long reliever, a role which Mitre possessed last season.

Dickerson, on the other hand, has seemed like a bit of a nuisance for the Brewers. At age 28, he was acquired from Cincinnati in the deal that sent Jim Edmonds there from Milwaukee. Once in Milwaukee, he posted a very slight .206/.250/.268 split last season, though he was a bit in 2009, where he posted a .275/.370.373 split. However, he’s still only 28, so he’s got time to develop.

This is hailed as a smarter move for the Brewers, whose rotation is currently suffering. Zack Greinke is currently on the DL due to a cracked rib and will miss a handful of starts at the beginning of the season, and Shaun Marcum, who was acquired from the Blue Jays this offseason is experiencing some shoulder issues, though he will only miss one regular season start, which is good news for Brewers fans.

Because of these issues, the Brewers are lacking some depth.

Yovani Gallardo, who has been an outstanding pitcher for the Brewers and is currently predicted to pitch 219 strikeouts this season, will most likely make the start on Opening Day, though the Brewers have yet to confirm who will start for them against the Reds for the season opener.

Slated to start after Gallardo for Opening Day weekend is Randy Wolf and Chris Narveson, respectively. While this currently doesn’t pose too many risks, the Brewers need a pitcher to fill the role.

This is most likely why they went after Mitre.

Mitre, who is 30 years old, has made at least one start each of the past seven seasons, but he has primarily served as a reliever in the past. Could this be his opportunity to become a starter again?

For right now, it looks like the Brewers plan on using him as a starter until Greinke is healthy again, and he could potentially be the long reliever once Greinke returns.

But is this really a smart move to make?

Mitre’s career record is 13-29, and his career ERA stands at 5.27. He’s posted a 1-1 record this spring training for the Yankees with a 5.73 ERA.

ERA that is consistently over five and a 31 percent win rate over his career? Are these the stats of a truly reliable pitcher?

While Mitre may get more opportunity in Milwaukee, there’s still not a lot of certainty with him as to whether he will succeed or fall.

Like Dickerson, Mitre still has time to develop in the minors if necessary, but that’s probably not the reason the Brewers pursued him.

Regardless of what role he plays, can Sergio Mitre get the job done in 2011?

Please share your thoughts. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


New York Yankee Rotation: How Important Will 4th and 5th Starters Be?

A great deal of attention has been paid this spring to the open slots in the New York Yankees’ pitching rotation.

The failure to sign Cliff Lee as a free agent and the retirement of Andy Pettitte are thought by some to leave glaring holes in the Yankee ranks.

The Yankees have three established pitchers at the top of the rotation in C. C. Sabathia, Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett. 

Sabathia is the ace, a pitcher who can be counted on to go out every fifth day and pitch spectacularly most of the time.  He finished with 21 wins last year against only seven losses.

Hughes, though still young, is durable and dependable.  He notched 18 wins in his first full season as a starter in 2010.

Burnett is always a concern as he is Forest Gump’s proverbial “box of chocolates.”  You never know what you’re gonna get.

After those three, the competition has been wide open for the other two starting jobs.  Ivan Nova, Sergio Mitre, Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia have all been given a chance to start in the back end of the rotation.

And some young kids named Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances have had Yankee fans salivating with the idea that these baby arms might be just what the Bombers need.

It might be a good idea to analyze just how important the fourth and fifth starter positions are in baseball, and to the Yankees in particular.

This analysis includes a look at all major league teams in 2010.  The Top Three starters on each team were excluded, and the remaining pitchers who made a significant number of starts for each team were considered in terms of wins and losses.

In the American League, the pitchers who saw regular work at the back end of rotations garnered 261 wins against 291 losses.  That is a winning percentage of .473.  If that were the winning percentage for a team over a 162 game season, that team would win just short of 77 games.

In the National League, back end guys got 277 wins against 334 losses.  The winning percentage is .453 which would translate to 73 wins if the percentage held for the entire staff.

Okay, that doesn’t necessarily mean very much, because you are including the pitching staffs of the Pirates and Mariners and all the other ne’er-do-wells.

So, let us analyze the playoff teams.

The Giants won the World Series, of course.  Through their regular season, the back end of their rotation had 23 wins and 20 losses.  That is a winning percentage of .535 or 87 wins if it were true of their entire staff.

The Rangers lost in the World Series.  Their back end had 25 wins and 20 losses for a winning percentage of .555 or 90 wins if applied as though the entire staff performed at this rate.

The Yankees lost to the Rangers but had a better record in the 4-5 slots in the rotation.  Javy Vazquez and Andy Pettitte combined for a record of 21-13 which is a .617 percentage which is better than the staff as a whole and would have meant 100 wins.

The Rays won the AL East and had a back end record of 24-18 or .571 percentage worth 92 wins if the staff average had been the same.

The Twins had a 23-18 average almost identical to the Rays in percentage and projected wins.

Let’s get back to the NL.

The Braves had a much worse performance at 14-18 for a percentage of just .437 which would have given them only 70 wins if the other pitchers had not been much better.

The Phillies were 25-16 for a .609 percentage or 98 wins.

The Reds were 15-14, and so they were just barely over .500 which would have been 84 wins.

For a little bit of fun, and to give Yankee fans a look at what the fourth and fifth starters have meant to the Yankee teams from 1996 through 2009, let’s look at the World Series champs for that period and how well their back end of the rotation did.

In 2009, Joba Chamberlain started 32 games and was 9-6 with a 4.75 ERA.  Sergio Mitre started nine games and went 3-3 with a 6.79 ERA.  Chien-Ming Wang started nine games and was 1-6 with a 9.64 ERA.  Chad Gaudin started six games and was 2-0 with a 3.43 ERA.

So for the most recent Yankee champions, the back end of the rotation was 15-15. 

In 2000, David Cone, Denny Neagle and Ramiro Mendoza filled out the back of the rotation for the Bombers.  They combined for a record of just 18-25.

In 1999 Roger Clemens and Hideki Irabu started 62 games and combined for a 25-17 record.  No one would think of Clemens as a fourth or fifth starter, but he had fewer starts that year than any other regular.

In 1998 Irabu and Orlando El Duque Hernandez started 47 games and had a combined record of 25-13 on perhaps the greatest team in major league history. 

In 1996 David Cone, Dwight Gooden and Ramiro Mendoza were a combined 22-14.

So, what does the analysis show?

To this writer, who did the research, there is no conclusion. 

The results are really all over the board.

Last year, some good teams had better winning percentages with the back end than with their top starters.  In the Yankees case, that is primarily because AJ Burnett was so horrible. 

No one who is a Yankee fan would want Javy Vazquez back.  It was Andy Pettitte who had the great winning percentage that elevated the Yankees’ starters last season.

In some winning seasons, Yankee 4-5 starters have been very good.  In other years, they are less than mediocre.  The same is true for other teams.

Ivan Nova has looked very good this spring, including a no-hitter over the Orioles for six innings on Wednesday.  Garcia, Colon and Mitre have certainly shown they are all at least serviceable.

But for the Yankees to win, they cannot depend on any of these guys.  If Sabathia and Hughes don’t match or come close to last year’s numbers, there has to be a pick up somewhere. 

Perhaps Burnett gets his head on straight and shows what a guy with great stuff can really do.

Perhaps, Jeter, A-Rod and Tex all bounce back to have years far superior to last season, and the offense makes up for weakness in the starting rotation.

Perhaps, the bullpen, with the addition of Soriano and Feliciano and the maturation of Robertson, reduces the pressure on starters to win.

At least for now, although it is intriguing, the fourth and fifth starters don’t necessarily mean very much to a major league team.

 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


MLB News and Rumors: New York Yankees Pitching Better than Expected

A lot of questions surrounding the New York Yankees pitching rotation entering spring training are being answered half-way in.

The biggest question mark had to do with starting pitching.

Many experts felt as though after C.C. Sabathia, Phil Hughes and AJ Burnett, the Yankees really had no one one on their roster to fill the final two spots of the rotation.

The Yankees went out and signed a few players who may be past their prime, but were great pitchers in the MLB at one point or another. This list included Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and Mark Prior.

Garcia and Colon have both impressed as potential starters, and Prior has looked solid coming out of the bullpen.

Garcia is still yet to give up a run in five innings, while Colon has allowed three runs in nine innings. Obviously, spring training stats do not always translate to the regular season, but both of these are promising signs.

Prior has pitched a single scoreless inning so far, but may find himself in AAA to start the season until he builds up his arm strength.

A lot of baseball enthusiasts thought pitching would be the weakness of the Yankees, and it is still obviously not their strength. With that in mind, the Yankees may have found some veteran pitchers who want to revive their careers and pitch for a World Series ring.

Another possibility for the Yankees is to start off the season with a four-man rotation and either give the fourth spot to Colon or Garcia or have them split starts.

This is an interesting suggestion because obviously the Yankees rotation is very top heavy, and the more starts for Sabathia and Hughes, the better. If Sabathia and Hughes can stay healthy and don’t wear their arms out, I think it would be smart for the Yankees to limit the starts of the back of the rotation.

With Opening Day only about 20 days away, the Yankees have some time to figure out their rotation, but not a lot. Fortunately for them, their offseason signings have looked smart so far and they could potentially have three pitchers reviving their careers this season.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


AL East Positional Analysis and Ranking: Starting Rotation (No. 4 Starter)

I am in the midst of a series examining the relative strengths and weaknesses of the teams in the AL East, on a position-by-position basis. The players at each position are being ranked in relation to their peers within the division, with each team being assigned points based on where their player ranks in comparison to the other players.

Today, the series continues with a look at the No. 4 starters in each rotation.

The best player will earn 10 points for his team, with the remaining players being assigned points as follows: 7-5-3-1.

At the end of the process, I will accumulate all of the points for each team and create a divisional power ranking.

Begin Slideshow


I Am No. 4: Freddy Garcia Reportedly Has Leg Up in Yankees Camp

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman tweeted this morning that “freddy garcia has leg up for no. 4 starter spot but its wide open for no. 5.”

The veteran right-hander was signed this offseason by the Yankees to provide some depth for what looks to be a shaky back-end of the rotation.

With the rotation being headlined by ace CC Sabathia, young righty Phil Hughes and the inconsistent AJ Burnett, the Yankees are looking to capitalize on production from the final two spots.

Garcia, largely considered to be the favorite for the fourth spot, leads a group of starters who are vying for the last two spots in the rotation. Bartolo Colon, Sergio Mitre, Ivan Nova, David Phelps, Hector Noesi and Andrew Brackman are fighting desperately for that last spot, now that it seems Garcia has cemented himself as the fourth starter.

Out of the aforementioned group, look for Nova to win the battle. Look out for David Phelps, though. Last season he split between the Yankees Double-A and Triple-A affiliates and was very successful.

In Double-A for the Trenton Thunder, Phelps pitched to a 6-0 record with a 2.04 ERA in 14 starts. In 88.1 innings he struck out 84.

After being called up to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, he pitched to a 4-2 record with a 3.07 ERA in 11 starts. His strikeout totals went down, however, as he struck out just 57 batters in 70.1 innings.

Phelps is a finesse pitcher who likes to get ahead in the count and pitch to contact. He has command of all of his pitches and is not afraid to throw any of his pitches in any count.

With Garcia occupying the fourth spot, the Yankees have a relatively solid front four if everyone produces as expected. Garcia should match last year’s successes, when he went 12-6 with a 4.64 ERA.

The Yankees would love an ERA closer to 4.00, but the offense should keep Garcia off the hook in some high-scoring games.

As spring training continues to take shape, the race for the fifth spot will continue to grow. But for now, Garcia is No. 4.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Freddy Garcia the Latest in New York Yankees Back-End Rotation Search

The New York Yankees agreed to terms with Freddy Garcia on Tuesday, the latest in a succession of bargain basement signings of once-great pitchers rendered ordinary (or worse) by age, injuries—or in the case of Bartolo Colon—the soft late-night glow of the refrigerator.

This strategy was last employed with success by the 1989 Cleveland Indians, which would be cause for encouragement if it didn’t occur in the fictional world of the movie Major League.

(Seriously, this is the only example I can think of where this strategy was effective.)

Signing ostensibly “over-the-hill” players with the hope of a return to form is a very un-Yankee like move. These are the types of transactions usually reserved for luxury tax-pocketing bottom feeders of baseball. Witnessing the Evil Empire pulling the same routine is jarring to say the least.

It gives you an idea of how thin the pitching market really is this offseason. As long as Andy Pettitte keeps up his Brett Favre routine, Brian Cashman has little choice but to throw crap against the wall and hope something sticks.

The Yankees had a similar dearth in rotation depth back in 2005 only to be miraculously bailed out by Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon, two men now remembered as one-hit wonders on the level of Hoobastank.

Cashman is hoping to catch lightning in a bottle again this season. If Pettitte stays gone, Garcia, Colon, Mark Prior, Sergio Mitre and Ivan Nova will all get their shot to claim the final two spots in the rotation.

There’s no hiding that this is a huge gamble for the Yankees. This is a potentially season-wrecking problem for which there’s no easy solution. If none of the pitchers prove up to the task—and let’s face it, that’s certainly possible—the Yankees will be staring down the barrel of a dark October.

They’re going to need some luck. Like with Prior and Colon, the Garcia signing is an admission of that on some level. Cashman knows he doesn’t have any ideal fits, but the more pitchers he involves in the process the better his odds that he hits on another Chacon or Small.

It’s the same story, different day for the Yankees, who continue their scramble to create a rotation while simultaneously praying Pettitte decides Deer Park can wait another year.

Dan Hanzus writes three columns a week on his New York Yankees site, River & Sunset. He can be reached at dhanzus@gmail.com. Follow Dan on Twitter @danhanzus.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman Signs Another ‘Maybe’ Pitcher: Freddy Garcia

In 14 days, pitchers and catchers will report to their respective camps as 2011 spring training means baseball is finally back again.
 
For the New York Yankees, it means pitching tryouts will begin, as there are two big holes that need to be filled in the starting rotation.
 
GM Brain Cashman is trying to fill the fourth and fifth spots, while Yankees fans are holding their breath hoping southpaw Andy Pettitte will appear.
 
For now the auditions are among Sergio Mitre, Ivan Nova, Bartolo Colon and newly signed right-handed pitcher Freddy Garcia. This is presuming Mark Prior is only trying out for the bullpen.

 
Who is Freddy Garcia?
 
Garcia is a 35-year-old, right-handed pitcher who used to have a lot of promise. Debuting in 1999 with the Seattle Mariners, Garcia was considered one top youngster in the league. In his five seasons in Seattle, Garcia was voted to two All-Star teams, came in second for Rookie of the Year and almost won the Cy Young in 2001.
 
That is not the Garcia the Yankees just signed for $.1.5 million, with another $3.6M in incentives pending on number of starts he makes.
 
This Garcia was traded in 2004 to the White Sox and played in Chicago for the next two seasons. Then it was the Phillies in 2007, where he had season-ending surgery after going making 11 starts, winning just one and posting an ERA just shy of 6.00. In 2008, Garcia made three starts as a Detroit Tiger, before heading back to the White Sox where he pitched the last two seasons.
 
The only promise Garcia has shown was last season, making 28 starts, posting a 12-6 record with a 4.64 ERA over 157 innings pitched.
 
It’s not great but the Yankees need to weigh all their options.
 
Still, Garcia is not going to be the permanent solution because he doesn’t strikeout enough batters and gives up too many home-runs. The AL East, especially the Boston Red Sox, could devourer Garcia for dinner. In 2010, Garcia only had 89 strikeouts, while giving up 23 home runs.
 
Earlier in his career, Garcia’s home run numbers were awful but his strikeout numbers were tremendous and that provided enough of a bolster.
 
Garcia wants to pitch for the Yankees and says it will motivate him, which are just words for now.
 
Garcia is a signing that could work out, but at the very least he could hold down the fort until the trade deadline.
 

So, What Are the Yankees’ Other Options?

 
With Cashman trying to make up for a mess of an offseason, Garcia doesn’t provide much comfort for Yankees fans.
 
Maybe it is time to offer Andy Pettitte too much money, so his decision to return would be impossible to refuse.
 
Still, why Joba Chamberlain is not given a chance seems ludicrous to me, as the Yankees should weigh all their options.
 
It is preposterously mind-boggling that Mitre is getting his millionth chance, while Joba is not even mentioned as an option.
 
Mitre is another Kyle Farnsworth, taking losing games over and over to a whole new level.
 
This still doesn’t seem to faze the Yankee brass, but it definitely pisses off the fans. Skipper Joe Girardi is taking a huge risk putting Mitre on the mound because it could cause a riot in the Bronx.
 
There are the prospects, which have a couple of solid arms coming off the farm. For this to work, it would entail the Yankees making a change regarding their methods of dealing with innings limits and pitching counts.
 
This fiasco will definitely make Yankees spring training a more heavily watched event, but it is surely not by choice.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Blast From The Past: Why The Yankees Are Counting On Garcia and Colon

C.C. Sabathia, Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett are the only current locks in what looks to be a very shaky rotation for the Yankees in 2011.

Assuming that Andy Pettitte retires, the Yankees could be in for a long season in the Bronx.

The Yankees entered the New Year thinking that their rotation would be rounded out by the likes of Ivan Nova and Sergio Mitre—far from a solid back of the rotation. It’s difficult to gauge how Nova will pitch, as it’ll be his first full season in the league and Sergio Mitre has never really been a productive starter.

To combat the shakiness of the rotation, the Yanks have signed both Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia. The team hopes that Colon and Garcia can regain some of their early to mid-2000’s form, where each starter won his share of games.

Colon’s first full season was in 1998 and he was a very consistent hurler up until the 2006 season. Through 2005, he had won 20 games in a season twice, 18 games four times, 15 games six times and had an ERA under 4.00 six times.

The two seasons since 1998 that he didn’t win 15 games were in 1998 and 2001. 

Guess how many games he won in those campaigns: Fourteen.

Colon enjoyed his best season in 2005 with the Angels, when he pitched to a 21-8 record with a 3.48 ERA in 222.2 innings. He racked up 157 strikeouts. Colon won the American League Cy Young Award that season, beating out Mariano Rivera by a whopping 50 points.

To say there was a drop off after 2005 would be a significant understatement.

Since his award winning campaign, Colon has earned just 14 wins with an average annual ERA of 4.89; to go along with his 14 wins, he has compiled 21 losses.

His struggles in 2006 came after missing most of the season after right shoulder soreness and inflammation, resulting from a partially torn rotator cuff that he suffered in a playoff game against the Yankees in 2005.

In 2007, his last season with the Angels, Colon took a few trips to the disabled list and started just 18 games. In 2008 with the Red Sox, he started just seven games and was cut from the team after attending to “personal matters” in the Dominican Republic and deciding to stay. 

After starting 12 games for the White Sox in 2009, he sat out the entire 2010 season.

Freddy Garcia burst onto the scene in 1999, compiling a 17-8 record in his rookie season with the Seattle Mariners. He achieved varying levels of success through 2006, winning 14 or more games five times, pitching over 200 innings seven times and compiling an ERA under 4.00 four times.

Garcia, a pitcher who has been prone to giving up the longball throughout most of his career, has always had a reputation of being a pitcher who can win games while also giving up a moderate amount of runs.

His highest ERA, through 2006, was 4.53. Despite the high ERA, Garcia was successful; he won 17 games that season and pitched 216.1 innings.

After his strong showing throughout most of the decade, Garcia dropped off the face of the baseball world until last season. From 2007-2009, he won just five games in 23 starts. His average annual ERA during that stretch was 4.83.

He spent much of the 2007 season on the disabled list with a shoulder injury; he sat out the 2008 season until August and didn’t receive a call to the bigs in 2009 until June.

Garcia essentially resurrected his career last season. He started 28 games for the Chicago White Sox and earned 12 wins with a respectable ERA of 4.64.

The Yankees hope to maximize production from the back end of the rotation, and having Colon and Garcia can’t hurt. The signings are low-risk, high-reward and didn’t cost the Bombers much money. 

If either of them should falter, the Yanks will have Nova and Mitre waiting in the wings. Plus, there is always a possibility that GM Brian Cashman pulls off a trade.

The Yankees are expecting more from Garcia this season, so anything received from Colon will be a huge bonus.

If Pettitte returns, then the Yankees rotation suddenly gets rather deep. Pettitte would slide into the third spot, then a healthy and effective A.J. Burnett would give the Yankees a deep front four. Any level of production from the fifth spot would then be a bonus. 

If such is the case, then the team would be thrilled if Garcia could match his 2010 level of production. 

We’ll just have to wait and see though, and thankfully we won’t have to wait too long.  Spring Training is just around the corner.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


New York Yankees Sign Freddy Garcia

The New York Yankees have signed 35-year-old Freddy Garcia to a minor league contract, according to multiple reports.

Garcia was 12-6 with a 4.64 ERA, a 1.38 WHIP, and averaged 5.1 Ks/9 in 157 innings for the Chicago White Sox in 2010.

The Yankees have signed Mark Prior, Bartolo Colon, Andruw Jones and now Garcia this offseason. I will take “guys who were stars back in 2003,” Alex.

Based on their trend of recent transactions, here are some other guys the Yankees are looking at to fill out their roster…

Brian Giles
Jim Edmonds
Garret Anderson
Carlos Delgado
Jeff Conine
Gary Sheffield
Javy Lopez
Ryan Klesko

Look for only Andruw Jones to make the Yankees roster out of spring training.


You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostoflg

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


Albert Pujols: Would Phat Albert Ever Really Leave St. Louis?

Albert Pujols contract is up at the end of the year.  Oh, did you already know that?


Everyone in the baseball universe already knows that, of course, and we’ve got 19 days and counting left before his self-imposed deadline to reach an agreement with the Cardinals on an extension.  The two sides aren’t releasing much info on the progress of talks (to each side’s credit), but indications are that they’re still not especially close on their numbers.


If Pujols becomes a free agent in nine months, where could he go?  He’s been a model citizen in St. Louis, and is more the face of their franchise than any other player in any city.  He’s never played anywhere else, and he’s certainly seen how the LeBron drama played out last summer, with all the bad press he got for leaving Cleveland.  I can’t help but think that even if this reaches that point, he’d come back into the fold with the Cardinals.


Unlike LeBron in Cleveland, Pujols knows that the Cardinals are capable of putting together a team that can win it all, especially since they already did back in 2006.  With Matt Holliday locked up for another six years, he’s also got great lineup protection already in place for the long haul.  Fans of other teams can dream about him jumping ship to a rival (like the Chicago Cubs), but once they get the final questions ironed out, expect to see Pujols mashing in middle America for a long time to come.


Copyright © 1996-2010 Kuzul. All rights reserved.
iDream theme by Templates Next | Powered by WordPress