Garza and Brewers Finally Reach an Agreement

t was reported by most news and internet sources last Thursday that the Brewers and free-agent, RHP Matt Garza had come to terms to a four-year $52 million deal pending a physical. Apparently, the sources used by the media were not as credible as first thought. Later in the day the Brewers posted a statement saying,

Despite media reports, negotiations between the Brewers and Matt Garza are ongoing, but there is no deal yet.

So that made some of us in the media feel a little bit silly about having jumped the gun on this one. Many thought it implied that Garza, having just come off of two injury plagued seasons, had not passed his physical. We had all seen what happened to an all but done-deal between the Baltimore Orioles and All-Star Closer Grant Balfour. After his phyiscal the team decided it wasn’t worth it to remain in talks with Balfour who eventually signed with the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was announced early Sunday morning that a deal had indeed come to fruition between the Brewers and the 30-year old pitcher. The deal is still four-years but only for $50million, while Garza can earn up to $4 million more in incentives and has a vesting option for 5th year at $13 million.

The Brewers are hoping Garza can bolster their rotation that already contains pitchers like Yovani Gollardo, Kyle Lohse, Willy Peralta, and Marco Estrada. The Brewers rotation in 2013 could have been called decent, finishing sixth in hits allowed, ninth in ERA and 11th in batting average allowed, in the National League. According to Brewers’ general manager Doug Melvin,

Matt is an established top-of-the-rotation pitcher who provides our staff with experience and quality depth.

The Brewers, who finished at just 76-69 last year in the wins column, do need the help. Garza has some impressive stats in his career. He was the MVP of the 2008 League Championship Series with the Tampa Bay Rays and in 2010 he threw his first no hitter against the Detoit Tigers. He then went on to pitch well for the Cubs and the Rangers albeit fighting injuries.

If Garza can remain healthy he offers stability and balance to the Brewers’ rotation. He also has a good track record at the Brewers’ Miller Park posting a 3.42 ERA and 27 strikouts in 23 2/3 innings in four starts there.

To learn more go to MLB Nation

Garza Contract NOT Confirmed by Brewers!

Contrary to all of today's media reports, including my own, Matt Garza has NOT finalized a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. It was reported early Thursday morning that a four-year, $52 million deal had been reached between the two parties, pending a physical. But come afternoon Thursday the Brewers released the following statement, 

Despite media reports, negotiations between the Brewers and Matt Garza are ongoing, but there is no deal yet.

 There is no indication that the lack of a concrete deal has anything to do with Garza medically but the 30-year old pitcher is coming off of two injury plagued seasons.

As of now, Garza is still the most coveted free agent pitcher on the market, since Masahiro Tanaka was signed by the Yankees, followed by Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez and Bronson Arroyo. Jimenez is the most available as both Santana and Arroyo have draft picks tied to them.

Garza Signs 4- year Deal with Brewers

Dominoes Start to Fall; Brewers Sign Garza to 4 Year Deal

28-year-old right-hander Matt Garza is the first domino to fall after the Tanaka signing. Everyone’s been ready for it to start happening and happening quickly as the free-agent pitchers need homes and all the teams waiting out to see if they would get Tanaka are now scrambling to get their starting rotations in order.

Honestly, the Brewers were a huge surprise in the Garza signing as they were not in the race to sign the Japanese phenom and were until today the only big league club to have yet to sign a free agent. So Garza has agreed now to a four-year, $52-million deal, pending a physical. It  is a good fit for them though to bolster their rotation. Garza started 24 games for the Texas Rangers last season and posted a 3.82 ERA.

With those numbers though do come concerns about his health. He’s had trouble the last few seasons battling a rib cage strain in 2013 and elbow issues in 2011-2012. But the physical should answer any questions there. But there are still the questions of his temper and sometimes erratic behavior. A quick and poignant example would be the tirade Garza took to on Twitter after Oakland Athletics’ second baseman Eric Sogard bunted in a run. He openly disrespected and violated the privacy of not only Sogard but of Sogard’s pregnant wife Kaycee making Garza look at best, a bit unstable. But the key factor is that they guy can pitch, period. And that is what the Brewers need.

Garza was in Milwaukee Thursday apparently to take a physical and when the contract is confirmed by the club, he will become only the fourth pitcher in Brewers history signed for at least four years. The others were Jeff Suppan, Yovani Gallardo and Ben Sheets.

Garza will join the Brewers expected starting rotation of Kyle Lohse, Yovani Gallardo, Wily Peralta,Marco Estrada and Tyler Thornburg. Thornburg is likely going to be the depth in the rotation, ending up in a relief role as he is relatively new and unproven. Gallardo is entering the final year of his contract in Milwaukee and with the addition of Garza could be used as trade bait.

Garza started out his career being drafted in the first round by the Minnesota Twins in 2005 and made the big league club by 2006 after the departure of Lohse to the Cincinnati Reds. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2007 where he was highly successful in the tough American League East Division. In 2008 he was named MVP of the American League Championship Series and in 2010 he threw a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers.

Garza is a surprising yet good addition to the Brewers. In his 3 seasons in the National League with the Chicago Cubs he went 21-18 with a 3.45 ERA. Overall in his career which includes last season with the Texas Rangers, Garza, is 67-67 with a 3.84 ERA. Hopefully for the Brewers this surprising turn of events will be beneficial as long as Garza stays healthy and off of Twitter. 

For more news check out MLB Nation

With Tanaka Taken, What's in Store for Santana and Company?

The free agent market has been nearly dead since Masahiro Tanaka was posted by the Rakutan Eagles in December. But now that Tanaka has signed a 7-year $155million deal with the New York Yankees there's going to be a lot more action in a short period of time.

The left over major contenders for Tanaka: the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mariners  and even some smaller less-likely contenders like the Toranto Blue Jays or the Chicago White Sox, for example, are going to be scrambling to get the good players who have been waiting to sign with a team. Scarily enough, even with the signing of Tanaka, the Yankees could still be in the mix. With the amount of money they've been spending what's a little more for another starter to help out their aging rotation?

Of those  starting  pitchers who are still free-agents four stand out: Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Garza and Bronson Arroyo. 

• Ervin Santana is a right handed pitcher who played for the Royals last season. He has been one of the most reliable pitchers in baseball with the exception of 2012. He posted a 3.24 ERA in 30 games last season. He has had an ERA below 4.00 in three of the last four years. So his potential to do well is certainly high. His value has been diminished slightly this off season as most interested teams with the exception of the Blue Jays would have to give up a first round draft pick to sign him. The bottom 11 teams in the league have protected first round draft picks so they would only have to give up a second round pick for Santana.

• Ubaldo Jimenez was considered one of the best pitchers in the game until he had some major problems in the end of the 2011 season and most of the next season. Jimenez bounced back in 2013 posting a 3.30 ERA  in 32 starts with the Indians. Even though he made a comeback last season Jimenez could be considered a risk because he has control issues. Last season he walked 80 batters in 182 2/3 innings. He could be a liabilty but he's overall ERA stands well for itself. The right handed Dominican might just be lucky enough to grab a spot on someone's big league roster.

• Matt Garza, well there are a lot of things I would like to say about Matt Garza but I will stick with his stats unfortunately I cannot be biased here. One, the guy can pitch period. Last season with the Rangers he started 24 games and posted a 3.82 ERA. But there are health question regarding the 28 year old right hander. He was injured part of last season and there are always the questions of his temper and erratic behavior. Here is what I was not going to mention this but it should make a difference to the club who signs him. Last year he went on a well documented tirade on Twitter against Oakland's Eric Sogard and his wife Kaycee, making him look, at best, a bit unstable. It was all over a bunt. So regardless of how Garza can pitch he has his downfalls as well.

• Bronson Arroyo could be a catch for any team. He reportedly had a deal with the Twins in the works but it never panned out. So here he is still on the market just a month away from Spring Training. He's one of the most durable pitchers in the league, pitching at least 200 innings in all but one of  the past nine seasons. In 2011 he missed that mark by one inning.  Here's the issue most teams will have with  Arroyo, he is seeking a three year deal at the age of 37 and most clubs won't want to put too much money into that kind of risk. But in reality a lot of  pitchers, including starters, have been pitching into their 40's. It's not exactly a new thing. Yet the age factor can sometimes go a long way when deals are being made.

So now the question remains who is going to end up where?