9:13pm: Additional teams confirmed in attendance: the Red Sox, Brewers, Cubs, Dodgers, Marlins, and White Sox. Garcia’s agent says he’d like to sign by this weekend, and plans to sign only for ’08. Troy Renck says the Rockies are a long shot now that they’ve added Livan Hernandez.
WEDNESDAY, 9:28am: Surprisingly, the Phillies were in attendance at Garcia’s audition yesterday. David Murphy finds the idea intriguing, but says the Phils don’t have major interest. The Phillies traded Gavin Floyd to the White Sox for Garcia in December of ’06, but he only gave them 11 starts while earning $10MM.
Also confirmed at the audition: the Tigers, Yankees, Mets, Rays, Rockies, Astros, and Rangers. MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez thinks the Rangers might be the most interested party.
TUESDAY: Today’s the big day…free agent Freddy Garcia will audition for teams in Miami. He’s recovering from labrum surgery.
We’ve compiled reports over the past few months. Teams interested in Garcia at one point: the Mets, Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, White Sox, Rangers, Tigers, Rays, Astros, Cubs, Cardinals, Dodgers, Twins, Indians, Mariners, and Royals. That’s 16 of 30 teams, though the non-contenders may have dropped out.
Garcia’s friend and former manager Ozzie Guillen doubted the pitcher’s ability to contribute at the big league level this year. Garcia was upset by the comments.
