Freddy Garcia Is Going To Be A Thing?
- Updated: April 4, 2015
(Image via Twitter)
I wrote a few weeks ago about Erik Bedard, and how I couldn’t believe he was going to be a thing. And then he became a thing!
He was pitching relatively well for the Dodgers and he was looking like a guy who might even make the Opening Day roster after Hyun-jin Ryu got hurt, until Bedard, too, went down with an injury.
Now, for reasons I can’t fathom, the Dodgers have signed Freddy Garcia to, I guess, get outs in real live games that count in the standings next week.
I know, it’s just a minor league deal, so he may never see the big leagues. This is the epitome of taking a flyer on a guy and just being like, hey man, so, you have pitched a long time. Could you maybe help us out for a couple of weeks? We’re hurting over here. If not, it’s no biggie. We appreciate whatever you can do.
The Dodgers aren’t counting on Garcia to start 30 games this summer or come out of the bullpen 60 times (for goodness’ sake, I hope they’re not). So if the 38-year old has a little left in the tank, maybe they’ll squeeze it out of him. Hell, there are older pitchers in the big leagues; the Rockies alone have two 40+ year old hurlers in their bullpen.
But Garcia’s signing once again points to the scary situation surrounding the Dodgers pitching depth. When you’re a team that supposedly can spend the most money out of anybody in baseball, and your first depth thoughts when injuries strike are Bedard, Chad Gaudin, and Freddie Garcia? Um.
There could be a few better options out there for the Dodgers than Freddy Garcia.
Jamey Wright was just released by the Rangers. He’s an old friend! And he’s old! It’s a dream come true for the boys in blue!
Mike Pelfrey indicated he wanted to be traded (and then… he walked back those comments) after not making the starting rotation for the Twins (despite, to his credit, pitching pretty well). Pelfrey has either been injured or bad for about four straight years, so… it seems like a match made in heaven.
And even though maybe he says on record that he doesn’t want to be traded any more, I’ve still got to believe he wants an opportunity larger than the Twins can give him.
Another old friend, Paul Maholm, has been let go by the Reds. Maholm threw pretty well this spring, like Pelfrey, but was an odd man out and lost a competition for a big league job.
Are any of those three guys significantly better than Garcia? Probably not (well, maybe Wright, but it’s not like we’re talking about three potential All Stars). The fact that the pickin’s are slim underscores the fact that, despite having a nice lineup and a much improved defense, the Dodgers still have major problems, and they come down to pitching.
It probably won’t hurt them in the regular season, unless somebody else goes down, because they are light years ahead of the division in a lot of ways and should stand to make the playoffs. But once there. . . .
I don’t know. I guess we’ll see. Garcia may never see a Dodgers uniform and there’s still a lot that can happen between now and Opening Day.
Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Dodgers and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, All the time!
Related Posts
About Bobby DeMuro
