The Yankees and Mets are among at least nine teams monitoring the progress of Freddy Garcia as he intensifies his workouts to come back from shoulder surgery.
Garcia will begin throwing breaking balls off the mound this week in Miami, according to one of his agents, Ed Greenberg, and as long he avoids setbacks the plan is to schedule a showcase for teams to judge his abilities. Up until this point, Garcia has only thrown changeups and fastballs off the rubber, and Greenberg said his fastball has ranged from 84-87 mph. Greenberg said his client has suffered no pain or setbacks.
Besides the Yanks and Mets, the Astros, Rangers, Royals, Red Sox, Phillies, Tigers and White Sox are keeping steady tabs on Garcia, who last pitched in the majors on June 8, 2007. Greenberg said that he does not anticipate allowing a club to negotiate a 2009 option.
“We think he can help somebody this year,” Greenberg said.
Alex Rodriguez, who played with Garcia in Seattle, has privately been pushing Yankees management to be serious about the veteran righty because he thinks so much of Garcia’s fortitude. Garcia is 6-2 with a 3.11 ERA in nine postseason starts. He also is a two-time All-Star.
The Yanks certainly are not against reclamation projects. Sidney Ponson is currently in their rotation, they recently signed Eric Milton to a minor-league deal as he goes through the final phases of recovery from Tommy John surgery and they have been having Victor Zambrano work out at their minor league facility. The Yanks have yet to make a determination if they will sign Zambrano, who is trying to come back as a reliever.
Milton will not pitch in games for about a month, but as a way to speed up his progress, the Yanks may consider him as a lefty reliever for the remainder of the schedule.
“He is 13 months removed from Tommy John surgery and is feeling better than he has in four years,” said Casey Close, Milton’s agent. “It is a nice opportunity for him whatever the role.”