White Sox consider bringing back Freddy Garcia [UPDATE #2]

Heyman @ SI tweets:

chisox considering freddy garcia. they like him. issue is return of peavy (june maybe) would make it 6 starters.

UPDATE: Kenny says there hasn’t been any recent contact with Freddy:

Williams talked to Garcia’s camp about the White Sox rotation situation, although no numbers were exchanged and Williams said there haven’t been talks with Garcia for at least two or three weeks.

and

“We have no idea what is going to happen in Spring Training, regarding Peavy at this point, other than what Peavy tells us,” said Williams with a laugh. “So, [Garcia] would be coming in with no guarantee that he would start at all.

“If he did start, it would only be for a shorter time and then he would move to the bullpen. Somebody would move to the bullpen, as [manager] Ozzie [Guillen] tends to go with whoever is pitching the best.

“That situation doesn’t seem like one Freddy wants to be in,” Williams said. “But I’m not sure what’s out there for him or what motivates him. I know he likes Chicago.”

UPDATE #2: Freddy wants to go to New York (MLBTR):

The White Sox may be considering Freddy Garcia, but Garcia had a different team in his sights when he spoke yesterday with Israel Pacheco Velásquez from the Venezuelan paper Meridiano. “My preference is to be with the New York Yankees, and it’s not unreasonable to have that in mind, because I’ve demonstrated that I can be useful,” Garcia said. “A team like New York would be ideal for my age, [as would ] playing in a successful, media-heavy, demanding division. Without doubt it would be an inspiration.”

Freddy says he plans to sign soon.

Most Important Sox, 2011 and beyond edition (#21-30)

Ballantini @ CSN:

As the coals in the hot stove are just beginning to get stoked up, it’s time to rank the current Chicago White Sox, in order of importance for 2011 and beyond. It’s not intended to be a strict list of merely the best players, or best values, on the White Sox. Rather, it takes into account team depth, the free agent market, or answering the question of which player would hurt the most not being on the team? …

… 30. Eduardo Escobar, SS

One great AFL season does not make a prospect. But given that Escobar has lit up a fall season that earns more than its fair share of attention from major-league eyes, Escobar becomes an important trade chip this winter. Perhaps the inclusion of the shortstop in a Carlos Quentin-Colby Rasmus deal with St. Louis gets that trade done.

Chuck Garfein’s 2011 off-season predictions

Garfien @ CSN:

Let’s start with the four World Series heroes, and their chances of coming back:

Paul Konerko: 50 percent

A.J. Pierzynski:  40 percent

Bobby Jenks: 1 percent

Freddy Garcia:  25 percent

I’d go with those numbers too. More predictions at the link.

“White Sox have options if Garcia can’t go”

Merkin:

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen had no plans for a starter this Sunday against the Royals other than Garcia, who is coming off of a rough month of August during which he posted a 1-1 record with a 5.53 ERA in five starts. Garcia has a 2-3 mark with a 5.85 ERA since the All-Star break.

But Guillen does have backup plans in the form of September callups such as Harrell and Carlos Torres.

Harrell and Torres? Oh no…

Fangraphs on Freddy Garcia

Anderson:

Rare is it when a pitcher’s ERA, FIP, and xFIP are in a state of complete accord. Nearly as rare is Freddy Garcia pitching more than 100 innings in any given season during these twilight years of his career. All together, I suppose that makes Garcia’s 2010 season an exotic bird with colorful – if frangible – feathers. Twenty-one starts into the season, Garcia holds a 4.90 ERA, 4.90 FIP, and 4.70 xFIP with 119 innings pitched. …

Freddy Garcia would love to come back but…

Gonzales:

“Look around,” said Garcia, a 10-game winner who can become a free agent this winter. “Now they got (Edwin) Jackson, another pitcher with a lot of money. So they want to get (Jake) Peavy back next year, who knows? They got (John) Danks, (Mark) Buehrle and (Gavin) Floyd. I don’t know what the situation is for me.”

Bobby Jenks doesn’t like Freddy Garcia

Merkin says “Jenks has wasted two three-run leads in quality second-half starts made by Freddy Garcia.”

White Sox set their post All-Star break pitching rotation

Merkin:

The White Sox rotation to start the second half in Minnesota has been set, with left-hander John Danks opening the final 75 games of this exciting 2010 campaign at Target Field on July 15.Danks will be followed by Gavin Floyd, Mark Buehrle and Freddy Garcia, with Daniel Hudson most likely getting the call for the series opener in Seattle on July 19. Although pitching coach Don Cooper said there was no special process used in coming up with the alignment, the lefty tandem of Danks and Buehrle have been split after working back-to-back in five consecutive turns through the rotation.

Buehrle and Garcia, veteran hurlers whose workloads the White Sox will monitor to increase the chances for second-half success, also receive an extra day’s rest.

Kenny Williams-Ozzie Guillen at odds [UPDATE]

Gonzales:

During a seemingly casual morning conversation in spring training in Glendale, Ariz., Williams was asked if the team was planning to make roster cuts soon.

“If I can ever get a hold of that guy,” replied Williams, pointing in the direction of Guillen’s office.

UPDATE: Ozzie confirms there are disagreements:

“There are a lot of things that happened this year and we’re not going to deny it, since spring training, a lot of disagreements between each other, but that doesn’t mean we have personal problems. Personal problems, everyone has personal problems, but in the meanwhile, we respect each other the way we should. We still talk about the ballclub. One thing about it is the relationship between manager and GM in baseball, we played together, we grew up together, and that’s the difference between another GM and manager and us. It’s like a divorce, it’s like a you’re married – you argue with your wife, with your kids and then all of a sudden you turn the thing, blow it away and move on. Right now, there are a lot of things that have happened out there, I don’t want to say miscommunication, a lot of disagreements, and they get to the point like we hate each other, well, I don’t remember hating anyone. Is the relationship the same way it was? Not really, because a few things have happened in disagreements, but that’s part of life.”

UPDATE: The guy that told the Sun-Times about the Ozzie-Kenny feud was Ozzie’s nephew, Freddy Garcia:

”They used to be good friends,” pitcher Freddy Garcia said. ”I don’t know what’s happened. It doesn’t bother me because we play. They don’t play. We have to come to the field and do what we’re supposed to do. Now they have this fight, this yelling, whatever it was the other day, but if we play bad, that’s our fault.”

White Sox are open for business

Buster Olney via MLBTR:

Heard this from multiple executives: The White Sox have made it clear they are open for business, and ready to trade off parts … from what has been a very disappointing team. The perception of other teams is that Paul Konerko is available right now, and … as we know, Chicago GM Ken Williams is a deal-maker,someone who will move quickly — as he did with the Contreras and Thome deals last fall.

Other players mentioned by MLBTR: A.J. Pierzynski, Mark Buehrle, Bobby Jenks, J.J. Putz, Scott Linebrink, Tony Pena, Matt Thornton, Andruw Jones, Freddy Garcia, Mark Kotsay, Omar Vizquel, Ramon Castro.

Sox win 4-3. Pitch F/X, videos, and boxscore. (6/3)

Andruw hit a solo HR. Rios hit a solo HR. Quentin hit a 2-run HR.

Boxscore:

Chi White Sox	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Garcia, F(W, 5-3)	7.0	7	3	2	1	4	0	4.94
Thornton(H, 4)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1.52
Jenks(S, 8 )	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	5.68
Totals	9.0	8	3	2	1	8	0	4.70

Pitch F/X:

Joe Cowley says season’s over; but he has a plan!

Cowley says replace Mark Buehrle and Gavin Floyd with Cliff Lee and Daniel Hudson, re-sign Freddy Garcia, trade Bobby Jenks, re-sign J.J. Putz, pickup Matt Thornton’s option, say goodbye to Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski, Carlos Quentin, promote Dayan Viciedo and Tyler Flowers, sign Carl Crawford or Adam Dunn, and sign the one and only Juan Uribe.

I say forget free-agents and the money in the draft and international scouting.

Freddy Garcia on the pitches he threw tonight (Joe Maddon too)

Merkin:

It was welcome relief for Garcia, who already has exceeded the expectations held by the White Sox for him as a fifth starter. He might not top 90 mph on the speed gun, or even 85 mph on some days, but most importantly, Garcia knows how to win.

“Castro caught me and called a great game,” Garcia said. “[I] threw a lot of changeups, a lot of [garbage], but sometimes you feel good and that thing works. You got to go the way the catcher tells you and you can get out of those innings, and he called a good game. I threw [the changeups] because you throw them and they swing and miss. I want to keep throwing them until they start hitting them.”

“Very good changeup, nice slider, didn’t really use his fastball that much,” said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon of the White Sox winning pitcher. “But Freddy has readjusted to life after the 95-mph fastball, and I give him credit for that. He used to be a mid-90s guy with a great changeup off of it. Now, he’s pitching primarily with his changeup and his slider. He did a great job.”

Sox win 4-2. Pitch F/X, videos, and boxscore.

Alex Rios hit a 2-run HR. And Ramon Castro hit a solo HR. That was the only XBH for the Sox. Gordon Beckham went 2-4 and crossed the Mendoza line.

Boxscore:

Chi White Sox	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Garcia, F(W, 4-3)	7.0	4	2	2	2	7	0	5.26
Santos(H, 4)	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.50
Thornton(S, 2)	1.1	1	0	0	0	3	0	1.77
Totals	9.0	5	2	2	2	11	0	4.49

Pitch F/X:

Freddy holds the Tigers to 2 runs over 6 innings. Sox win 6-2.

Carlos Quentin had 3 hits (2 singles and a double). Andruw drew 2 walks.

Boxscore:

Chi White Sox	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Garcia, F(W, 3-2)	6.0	5	2	2	2	3	1	4.50
Santos(H, 1)	1.0	1	0	0	2	1	0	0.63
Putz	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4.15
Jenks	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	5.79
Totals	9.0	7	2	2	4	7	1	4.57

Pitch F/X says:

Garcia:

Pitch Statistics
Pitch Type	Avg Speed	Max Speed	Avg H-Break	Avg V-Break	Count	Strikes / %	Swinging Strikes / %	Linear Weights	Time to Plate
FF (FourSeam Fastball)	87.49	89.7	-6.00	10.47	24	18 / 75.00%	0 / 0.00%	-0.2146	0.434
CH (Changeup)	80.49	83.7	-6.48	5.99	31	16 / 51.61%	2 / 6.45%	1.5801	0.472
SL (Slider)	81.15	84.6	2.00	3.41	31	26 / 83.87%	4 / 12.90%	-1.3669	0.466
CU (Curveball)	70.40	72.4	5.52	-5.05	4	3 / 75.00%	0 / 0.00%	-0.3832	0.539
FS (Splitter)	81.08	84.6	-0.83	5.86	6	2 / 33.33%	0 / 0.00%	0.0420	0.470
Pitch classifications provided by the Gameday Algorithm and may be inaccurate. Pitch Type LWTS correspond to how many runs were likely to score on a particular pitch based on average run expectancy when each pitch was thrown and what happened as a result. Negative scores indicate more effective pitches. Time to Plate is the time, in seconds, that it takes an average pitch of this type to reach the plate. This is strongly correlated with velocity, but also factors in movement.

Inning-by-Inning Pitch Totals
Inning	Pitches in Inning	Strikes in Inning	Strike% in Inning	Cumulative Total Pitches	Pitch LWTS in Inning
1	18	11	61.11	18	0.611
2	18	13	72.22	36	0.494
3	15	11	73.33	51	-0.532
4	17	10	58.82	68	-0.335
5	18	12	66.67	86	0.283
6	10	8	80.00	96	-0.862