December 07, 2006
Garcia to the Phillies
The rumors about the White Sox trading a starter to the Phillies turned out to be true, but the players going to Chicago were a surprise.
In the first major trade of the winter meetings, the Phillies acquire right hander Freddy Garcia from the White Sox in exchange for right-hander Gavin Floyd and minor-league left-hander Gio Gonzalez.
Floyd, to put it mildly, is a poor major league pitcher. He's walked 64 and allowed 20 home runs in 108 2/3 innings. Yes, he's young, but he's also going to a park a lot like the one in Philadelphia. His minor league numbers are decent, but not blow you away decent.
Gonzalez posted great strikeout numbers in the minors, 10.3 per 9. He in fact, was traded away by the White Sox last year to get Jim Thome. So if you put both deals together, the Phillies get Rowand and Garcia for Thome, Floyd and Gonzalez. Looked at in that light, it seems like a fair deal. The current trade, however, as far as the White Sox are concerned, is strictly for the future. If one of the two youngsters they picked up turns out to be a decent major league pitcher, the deal was worth it.
Posted by David Pinto at
08:35 AM
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I like the trade. Assuming part deux will come later this week, Garcia represents a big upgrade over Lieber. Let's hope that Lieber brings Capellan and Mench, not Turnbow and Jenkins.
Actually if you put the two deals together you get this:
Phillies trade Jim Thome and Gavin Floyd to Chicago and get Aaron Rowand, Freddy Garcia and Fabio Castro (acquired for Daniel Haigwood, who came from the White Sox as part of the Thome trade). Castro was impressive in his short stint in the majors at the end of last season (23 IP 1.54 ERA, 0.77 WHIP) He's 21 yrs old.
Money aside, I think that tips the scales a bit in the Phillies' favor.
But you can't look at the deal that way, because the Phillies didn't get a season of Garcia, but got a full season of the injured/mediocre Aaron Rowand, and several starts from bust-ish Floyd. Garcia in the rotation could very well have meant the Wild Card for the Phils in 2006.
re: the Garcia deal & Gonzalez/Haigwood/Castro
(1) Garcia is 6'4" tall, he is just turning thirty, he had 15 win shares last year, and 18 win shares in 2005, coming off his best two years in the majors, and he has been on all of the leader boards virtually all eight years of his career in the majors, especially in innings pitched; significantly, he was a major contributor to two different playoff teams in Seattle and Chicago during only an 8-9 year career. He is a guy you build staffs around. On the Phillies, he will be the #1 starter.
(2) Gio Gonzalez is a very good minor league pitcher, but he's only 5' 11" and there's no way to know at this point if he can translate what he's done in AA to the majors. Gavin Floyd was a GREAT minor league pitcher, but was a big bust in the majors, to cite one example. Also, the Phils like big pitchers, and Gio isn't that big. Still, I don't like this trade from the aspect of giving up a young guy for a one year rent a pitcher; I think that Gillick believes based on his relationship with Garcia from Seattle that he can persuade Garcia to stay longer in Philly, also based on Jamie Moyer probably sticking around as the pitching coach once he's done playing.
(3) It's true the Phils got Haigwood and Gonzalez for Thome along with Rowand last year and then shipped Haigwood for Castro to Texas; Castro is small, but has had good minor and major league numbers, but he looks strictly middle relief. If he continues as a lefty middle reliever, that's a plus from the entire deal. That's as much as the phils could have hoped for from Gonzalez, who could eventually be a closer or set up man in Chicago.
(4) The net trade, since Gonzalez is going Back to Chicago (to quote the song) is Thome for Rowand, Haigwood and Garcia a year later; Haigwood was dealt to Texas for Castro, so it nets out as Roward, Castro and Garcia.
(5) The phils end up clearing about $11 million in payroll off their books, trade 25 win shares at 1B, and make room for the NL MVP at 1B, who is a 35winshare guy; and they get a great defensive CF worth 10-12 win shares; a starting pitcher worth 15 win shares; and a middle reliever worth 2-3 win shares; all told, they picked up 10 win shares at 1st, 10-20 at starting pitcher, and 10 at CF. Garcia makes $9 million a year, so that neuters out the payroll, but he still makes less than Thome, ironically.
(6) On paper, the Phils should be 40 win shares better overall, That should translate into a lot better team next year.
--art kyriazis, philly
1) Garcia is entering his age 32 season.
2) Win shares are not predictive.
3. He is not a pitcher you "build a staff around: his ERA+ the last three years -- 110, 115, 103. Furthermore, his fastball now peaks out at 90MPH instead of the 95 he touched in his shore prime in Seattle.
The best thing he has going for him is that he's an innings eater and durable -- but don't fool yourself -- he's not an "ace", he's a solid number 3-4 starter who is aging and has one year left on his deal.
I still don't like the deal that much from the Sox's perspective but Freddy Garcia just isn't that good.