According to Jon Heyman at SI.com, free-agent RHP Freddy Garcia has been seen at Mets camp in Port St. Lucie.
…if you recall, through much of the off-season, i had been writing that the Mets had been viewed as the front runners for garcia…so, either that continues, or he has resulted to begging…
Garcia, 32, is rehabbing from shoulder surgery on his labrum and rotator cuff and should be ready to pitch by midseason.
During his nine-year career, he is 117-76 and has a 4.07 ERA – though he was just 1–5 last season for the Phillies.
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I don’t see the downside in signing this guy to an incentive based contract… He’s got good numbers… think of Jon Leiber.
Even if it is a 2 year deal….. low base…. high ceiling contract. We may need him next year with El Duque gone And the possibility of no Pedro or Ollie
Hmmm…I suppose it couldnt hurt to sign a Garcia type. Who knows where the Mets 1-5 will be in late June. He could potentially slip right in, or be used as trade bait if he makes a good start or two. I say bring him aboard. A 10x better risk than Anna Benson and wife Kris.
If they can get this guy on a minor league deal that would be great. He’s the perfect mid season insurance policy.
If he’s begging, what’s the harm in offering him a minor-league deal?
I was thinking on my way to work this morning that the Mets starting rotation could be in deep trouble next year. It’s quite clear by now that Bora$ will have Perez try the free agent market, so he’s going to cost serious money. El Duque will be gone and Pedro is a question mark and probably won’t be cheap to re-sign either if he does well this season (in terms of money and/or years).
Even if Pelfry steps up this year, that still leaves two big holes in the rotation. Plus there’s the 1B situation and the possibility of going after Teixieria (with the Yankees AND Bora$ in the mix). So money will be tight.
The 2009 slogan could be “Santana and Maine and pray for rain.”
if we can sign Garcia to a minor league deal, he may take it just to be on this team, thinking he’ll come back and contribute in June or whatever, which is fine, the more the merrier, as long as its not a guaranteed spot. As for ‘09, I think Pelfrey will be at least a #5 starter, he could be this year, but by next, who knows, could be a lot better, so that leaves 2 open spots. A lot can change in the mean time, Omar pulled 3/5’s of our rotation for ‘08 out of a hat (Maine, Ollie, El Duque) so I wouldn’t be too worried.
I think that we can figure on Pedro signing for another 2 years, which means that Garcia would dovetail nicely with Pelfrey into the 4 & 5 spots.
Unfortunately, I agree Perez is probably gone. :-(
Exactly. There is no harm in signing him … if he produces it’s icing on the cake … if he doesn’t, no loss. And if it does work out, you got a quality arm for the rotation next year. Sign him up!
lol, have faith in Omar, he’s a great GM and no way Citi Field debuts with a weak starting 5. All should concern themselve’s with one season at a time.
So… your saying Omar is going to sign CC…. you heard it here first folks!!!
lol, Im saying if Pedro gets locked up for a few more seasons, our 1-2 punch will dominate MLB. Im also saying whoever is brought in to replace Perez does not have to be an all star for this team to continue the dynasty.
08Garcia will be simular to 07Pedro, on pace to play for the stretch run. The Mets should be able to underpay for Garcia’s services, I mean who dosnt want to be a NY Met these days?
Good point, plus it gives pelf even more reason to work his butt off to earn a spot, since he’d be competing with duque and garcia. after all of this i’d prefer to see pelf over those two anyway, maybe it’ll make him mature.
Absolutely, if we can get him in with a minor league contract and have him be ready by midseason that would be fantastic, we need someone like him for insurance god forbid someone goes down. sign him omar!
I think he is the perfect pick up for us, because we all know one of our starting 5 will be out by the time he is ready. I say low base and high incentives over 2 years and we will do well with him.
This would be a great deal. No doubt a steal if he produces and a forgetable move if he does not.
I think Pedro will come back and I hope Ollie does but this takes pressure off Pelfrey and gives us insurance for this and next year.
Pedro WILL sign a 2 year deal in the off season, I gaurantee it , he wants to retire a MET….So next year that gives us Santana,Maine, Pedro, and hopefully Pelfrey….so basically we will be needing 1 – 2 solid arms…there is asmall chance we land C.C. , but if not , Im thinking Ben Sheets maybe….who knows..but next years FA pitching crop is far better than this one was , and we landed the best pitcher in baseball…IN OMAR I TRUST..LETS GO METS!!
I’d give him a 2 yr minor league deal for $1.5m then $2.5m. Incentives, based on IP at the bigs could increase Yr 1 by $1m at 50 IP and Yr 2 by $2.5m at 150 IP with $500k pops for every additional IP. A third year option vests at 170 IP pitched in the Bigs in Yr 2 for $8m with a $1m pop for each additional 10 IP acheived. The option can be bought out for $2.5m if vested.
Near term insurance policy at reasonable cost with upside.
I guess we should say -
Get it done nevets72!
Now there’s some talent for Rick the Jacket to work with when Duque inevitably goes down. In the words of Ben Stiller, Do It Do It Do It Do It Do It.
I think it’ll be a great move, that’ll give us great depth, Garcia is good # 2, which he wont be here, so he can be a great # 3, basically there will not be a rotation with that kind of depth in all of baseball.
GET HIM OMAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can’t loose here. I always liked this guy but his shoulder betrayed him. If he comes back and is effective, Omar will look like a genius.
JohanMartinez, Do you really think we have a shot at C.C.? I can not fathom that. I would say too good to be true but I thought that when we were chasing Santana. I think I’ll just focus on this year and be FIRED-UP!!!!!!!!!!
OMG.
Go back and re-read SOME of these posts…
– “trust in Omar”
– “have faith in Omar”
– “who doesn’t want to be a Met these days”
Now, before you get the wrong idea, let me state I am also a Met fan. So I am NOT knocking any of the comments. We should get Garcia and he would be a steal if he produces.
My only comment is the “first impression” I had reading the posts…it just sounds a little like the arrogant Yankee fan in all of us coming through. LOL.
Two weeks ago we were all wondering how we’d make it through the season, and some of us were privately wondering how long it would be before the Evil Empire got their man from Minnesota.
Can you tell it’s Spring Training?
The tone has clearly changed. I’m enjoying it.
For now.
Cheers!
Jerry
C’mon people, CC Sabathia is not going to be a Met. Just because he’s a potential free agent doesn’t mean the Mets will get him, or even try. These aren’t the Yankees we’re talking about here. Put that notion out of your minds.
Freddy Garcia to a minor league deal sounds like a great idea. Jon Lieber is a perfect comparison; the Yankees paid him to rehab for a year then got one decent year out of him.
2006 rotation back-ups: Alay Soler, LimaTIme, Dave Williams, Geremi Gonzalez, Victor Zambrano
2007 rotation back-ups: Chan Ho Park, Brian Lawrence, Jorge Sosa, Jason Vargas, Mike Pelfrey
2008 rotation back-ups: Mike Pelfrey, Freddy Garcia?, Tony Armas Jr., Jason Vargas
With those arms waiting to fill in, along with the fact that our 2008 front 5 rotation is the best Mets rotation in decades, means we can finally stop worrying about our starting pitching….for once.
No Brainer…Omar should sign Freddy to a one year deal and continuing bolstering this team.
Omar is a genious and i am totally on board with move if it gets done. Minaya has a way of pulling these tricks from his sleves with pitchers. Let’s look at the starters that he has taking a flyer on. Traded for John Maine, El Duque, Oliver Perez, and signed Jorge Sosa and Darren Oliver to minor league deals. Yes the Schoenweis’s, Ambi Burgos, and Jorge Julio did exactly work out. His philosphy is you can never have enough pitching, and this lineup is good enough to eleviate the pressure off average/mediocare pitchers.
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