Healthy and confident, Garcia ready to help Sox
It was a rare "My Bad" moment for general manager Kenny Williams.
Fielding questions from fans at SoxFest a few weeks ago, Williams reflected on opening the 2009 season with two questionable veterans - Jose Contreras and Bartolo Colon - at the back end of the starting rotation.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time," the GM said with a forced smile.
In retrospect, Williams realizes it was a bad move.
Before being traded to the Colorado Rockies on Aug. 31, Contreras was 5-13 with a 5.42 ERA. Colon, released in mid-September after going AWOL, was 3-6 with a 4.19 ERA.
Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen are feeling much better about the starting five this time around as pitchers and catchers prepare to report for the first day of spring training on Sunday at the White Sox' camp in Glendale, Ariz.
Jake Peavy, acquired in a July 31 trade from the Padres, is now at the top of the Sox' rotation. And after Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd and John Danks, Freddy Garcia fills the No. 5 slot.
In Peavy, the White Sox have their first legitimate Cy Young candidate since Jack McDowell won the award in 1993.
In Garcia, they just might have the best fifth starter in baseball.
"He's in the best shape I've seen in a long time," Guillen said. "Freddy's a gamer. He knows how to pitch and he's going to help his teammates."
Garcia helped the Sox win the World Series in 2005, going 14-8 with a 3.87 ERA in the regular season and 3-0 with a 2.14 ERA in the playoffs.
The 33-year-old righty won 17 games for the White Sox the following season, but his troubles started in 2007.
Traded to the Phillies for Floyd after the '07 season, Garcia made only 11 starts for Philadelphia, going 1-5 with a 5.90 ERA before having shoulder surgery.
Between stops with the Detroit Tigers and New York Mets, it took Garcia the better part of two years to get back up to snuff.
He showed enough with the Sox at the end of last season (3-4, 4.34 ERA in 9 starts) to earn a one-year deal, and Garcia is anxious to get going.
"The last few years have been really tough for me," Garcia said. "I was getting close to 100 percent at the end of last season, but now I'm feeling really good. I've had a good off-season."
A former ace with the Seattle Mariners, Garcia has no problem being the White Sox' fifth starter.
"He happens to be pitching out of the fifth spot, but he's not a No. 5 starter," Williams said. "When I see Freddy Garcia going up against anyone in the league, I'm not afraid. The great thing about him is he's further along from his injury, which could translate into something really special out of that fifth spot."