Garcia Must Go
June 12 , 2007
| By Mike Santa Barbara
| 
Discuss
Freddy Garcia is walking back to the dugout with two outs and six runs on the board in the 2nd inning in Kansas City with his typical blank stare. In 11 games started this season Garcia is 1-5 with an ERA above five. Garcia has been inconsistent, to be nice, all season long. The Phils were on a role having just swept the Mets in New York. They managed to give Garcia a early 3-0 lead only to have it all wasted on Garcia’s either tired arm or apathetic attitude. And now it’s time for Garcia to go. So how to solve this situation? Well, Here are two possible scenarios.
One: In the coming days the Phils announce that yet another player has been playing hurt, and Garcia is the newest member to this unfortunate club. The media will say that Garcia was damaged goods and will point out all the mistakes the Phils made in the trading process. For starters accepting a trade that seemed too good to be true from the start and for not making Garcia take a physical before accepting the trade. It will be yet another bump in the road for this Phils management. Whom the media for poor player evaluation and poor off-season moves will once again attack. Garcia will end up on the 15 day DL, which will be followed, by another 45 days putting him on the 60 day DL. After that DL stint he’ll make a couple of rehab starts in Clearwater. Meanwhile, The Phils will have already picked up another potential starting pitcher and or put Brett Myers back in the starting rotation after picking up some much needed bullpen help. Garcia will never make another start for the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phils will say “ Garcia just isn’t healthy and he can’t seem to get healthy enough to come back to the club this season.” And that will be the end of the very short Freddy Garcia era.
Two: From some reports outside Philadelphia it is said that Garcia isn’t happy in Philadelphia and misses Chicago and never wanted to be traded in the first place. So just like the lack of a fastball this season Garcia will also have a lack of heart, as it resides in Chicago still. Boo hoo, He’ll get no sympathy here in Philadelphia. Most would say to send him back to Chicago if he wants to go. Only problem is I’m not sure the White Sox and any other team in the Majors for that matter would want his dead arm in their rotation. The Phillies could cut their loses and put Garcia on waivers he’d clear and not accept a demotion to AAA Ottawa and become a free agent.
Scenario One is a possibility it’s hard to believe that Freddy Garcia is that bad from one year to the next. It’s hard to believe that a guy who won a World Series clinching game is this bad already. His velocity has gone down significantly throughout the years but only being able to get your fastball to 85 or 86 MPH is a little extreme. It is possible that like Ryan Howard he tried to play through the injury and is now realizing, like Howard, that he won’t be able to play well without rest. Perhaps an examination of his arm and maybe a stint on the DL is necessary.
Scenario Two is also very possible; there have been reports of Garcia’s unhappiness with the situation in Philly. In the end it could be the Phils who are burned hard by Garcia. Ending up without the ace you thought you were getting giving up a former 1st round pick (Gavin Floyd) you’d given up on and a starting pitching prospect (Gio Gonzalez) that you had received in the Jim Thome trade. If Garcia is pitching like he has and been healthy there is no reason for hanging on to him. You most likely will not be able to make him comfortable or change his mind about how he feels. He’s had 11 starts to snap out of whatever mental funk he may be in.
The Freddy Garcia era has started off very badly and it may not get any better. The Phillies have no doubt been hoping that with ever start Garcia would get back that fastball back and be able to pitch well into the 6th or 7th innings. Phillies fans have been through enough already during Garcia’s tenure here. Having to endure a couple of uneventful rehab starts in Clearwater without a return to the big club, or releasing him out right shouldn’t bother the fans that much, they can handle that drama. It’s the 2, 3, or 4 inning outings getting knocked out after giving up 4, 5, or 6 runs kind of drama fans can’t handle. So to the Phillies the Freddy Garcia experiment is over, that’s a wrap, so long Freddy it wasn’t pleasure.
