Oct
Chicago White Sox General Manager Ken Williams is a thief.
Williams can also be called one of the craftiest GMs in all of baseball after getting Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez for Freddy Garcia back in December 2006. The team on the other end of the deal, the Philadelphia Phillies, had no idea that Garcia was damaged goods and was throwing with significantly less velocity than usual.
The Phillies didn’t care. They were just happy to finally get their “big game” pitcher. They did not have him for very long, however, as Garcia made just 11 starts and had his season cut short in early June 2007 due to a torn labrum in his right arm.
What did Williams get out of the deal? A young prospect in Floyd who just needed a change of scenery to tap into his potential. That certainly worked, as the 25-year-old went 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA in 2008. So yes, Williams got a steal with the deal and was able to dump about $10 million in salary.
Garcia missed most of the 2008 regular season while rehabbing his surgically repaired right shoulder. He was a free agent for most of the season until the Detroit Tigers signed him to a minor league contract on August 12th. His contract was then purchased from the minors on September 17th and started three games for the Tigers. He finished with 15 innings pitched, a 1-1 record, and an ERA of 4.20.
As we find out from Jason Beck of MLB.com, Garcia will be pitching in his homeland of Venezuela over the winter. How effective Garcia is during his time home will determine how many major league GMs come calling for the two-time American League All-Star.
As far as a fantasy spin to this story, here’s the deal: Garcia didn’t make ImaginaryDiamond.com’s top 50 starting pitchers for 2009 and I don’t think he would even make my top 300 starting pitchers for ‘09. If nothing less, keep an eye on Garcia’s progress in Winter Ball and draft low, very low if you decide to draft him at all.