It was reported yesterday, and it’s been debated already, but I feel it’s best to create a new thread for it: The Phillies have scouted Freddy Garcia.
Garcia, as you’ll remember, went 1-5 with a 5.90 ERA for the Phils last season. He then underwent shoulder and labrum surgery, and now he’s healthy. Other teams have scouted him, as well.
Forget the crap he gave us last season – is Garcia right for this team? I don’t know. He has a great past, but has declined in the past few years. He wouldn’t be much more than a contingency plan, a la Kris Benson. And with six starters already on the big league club, there’s really no reason to stack more starter contingency plans.
Instead, the Phils need to find a reliever. Seeing last night and what they got from a back end that now includes Clay Condrey, Les Walrond and misappropriated JA Happ, the Phils badly need some insurance there.
Tim MalcolmTim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.