The Blue Jays have inked lefty Jaime Garcia to a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $10MM. That includes a $8MM salary for the coming season as well as a $2MM buyout on a club option valued at $10MM.
Garcia, a client of Moye Sports Associates, can also reportedly earn up to $2MM annually in incentives based upon innings pitched. He’ll receive $500K upon reaching 150, 160, 170, and 180 frames in a given season.
With the move, Toronto has seemingly completed its starting five for the coming season. Garcia will presumably step in at the back of a rotation that also includes quality youngsters Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez along with veterans Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ.
[RELATED: Updated Blue Jays Depth Chart]
Garcia, 31, rated among the winter’s fifty best free agents in the estimation of MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes. We predicted that Garcia would be able to command a two-year contract at a $8MM annual salary. While this deal falls short of our best guess in terms of a guarantee, it does include avenues for Garcia to end up earning more.
The results haven’t been all that exciting for Garcia over the past two seasons. While his 4.55 ERA since the start of 2016 isn’t terribly appealing, it’s notable that Garcia has accumulated 328 2/3 innings in that span — nearly as many as he registered over the prior four seasons. He has also continued to generate grounders on over 55% of the balls put in play against him and boosted his swinging-strike rate to 11.1% last year.
So long as Garcia is able to maintain his health, then, he figures to represent a useful addition to the Toronto staff. The shoulder problems that haunted him in 2013 and 2014, especially, have not been a limiting factor of late. Garcia averaged a career-high 91.3 mph with his fastball in 2017.
SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (inclusion of options and incentives, via Twitter), Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (total guarantee, Twitter link), and Bob Nightengale of USA Today (incentives detail, Twitter link) reported contract details.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Poor Blue Jays!
I agree. I was not impressed with Garcia during his time in New York. He always came off as a guy who should have been a long arm out of the bullpen. I don’t like this signing because I do not think Garcia can last as a starter in the AL East. The Yankees lineup will be a juggernaut. The Redsox will add a bat and will look a lot more like the 2016 version. The Orioles have an incredibly good and possibly underrated lineup- their projected starting lineup had 170 homeruns last year. I don’t think he can maintain an era under 5 facing those lineups as much as he will.
Off topic.
Can’t wait for jimmertree #notascout tells us how Garcia is not a number 1 starter
Let’s temper expectations, he is brought in to be a 5th starter
agree. he isn’t a number 1 but he’s what the jays needed. a second lefty at the back of the rotation. Good pickup.
Glad to oblige. I like this signing. Good 5th starter type, but a tad overpriced for a 5th. With the health issues in the rotation and Sanchez only going to last 25-50 innings as a starter and Estrada probably only good for 50 innings+ this year, the Jays need all the pitching help that they can get.
It is time for the the Jays to trade the farm for a true #1 starter.
Put Biagini and Sanchez back to the pen, acquire a true #1 and this club is playoff bound. #Scoutseyes
So many bad ideas in such a short response. Can you suggest a true number that is currently available ? David Price maybe. The Jays will go as far as their starters take them. Sanchez could make them one of the best AL rotations. He was an all star a couple of years ago.
If Sanchez blister issues what good does moving him to a bullpen do? The blisters were developing in the first inning lol. He only going to pitch to one batter.
I just registered to say you’re a dumbass
My #scoutseyes tell me you are either a troll or completely clueless about anything baseball-related.
> Sanchez only going to last 25-50 innings as a starter and Estrada probably only good for 50 innings+ this year
In 2019, jimmertee will tell us he predicted Sanchez’s Cy Young and Estrada’s World Series Game 7 11-inning no-hitter.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the 3ish months in NY Jaime. It was a pleasure.
You spelled alex Cobb wrong
That seems unlikely, since there is a major league baseball player with the name Jaime Garcia.
It’s a joke. He wanted the Jays to sign Cobb.
Whoosh
MORE SIGNINGS FOR THE SIGNING GOD
Beats the cashner deal
It’s literally the same as the cashner deal and cashner is better
It’s not at all the same thing as Cashner deal and Garcia is better. Lol
Lefties are always more valued than righties and it’s one year less, so yup it’s gonna be way easier for the jays to flip Garcia at the deadline
Look again
Not to mention it’s one year instead of two, club option instead of mutual/player option and less incentives.
Garcia didn’t pitch well last year
by no means is Garcia better
Thank you
I mean, if you ignore everything but 2017 ERA, Garcia is vastly inferior.
This thing about signing guys then flipping them at the deadline four months later is largely a mythical scenario, not sure why people keep talking about it in relation to like half of free agent signings.
Clearly this guy hasn’t seen the work of Ross Atkins the last two years. Because that’s what he does. If Toronto’s not a contender, there will be a number of these guys flipped at the DL.
Most of them will be on the DL though.
I don’t think the orioles goal is to flip cashner at the deadline for a marginal prospect. The jays may flip Jaime but it’ll be for a marginal prospect. Both players fill a hole in the rotation.
Look beyond ERA and you’ll see troubling signs that Cashner was pretty lucky considering he was extremely hittable, his K rate was well below league average and his xFIP was in the mid 5’s.
Of course he could do it again, but if I was a betting man, I’d bet regression.
With his sterling ERA he produced, why wasn’t he signed to more $$$ and years? There was no draft pick tied to him….
He was even worse in 2016. I’m shocked his numbers weren’t worse pitching in Atlanta in 2017.
He’s always been a bit of a enigma and seems to have to be right in the head to get the most out of him. Maybe the injuries he’s had throughout his career are catching uo to him. Either that or the more he goes deeper in a season the worse he gets.
As if these guys who are flipped for teams #30 organizational prospects at the deadline do anything but shed payroll 99% of the time. Guys are signed to fill a need right now.
Cashner better? his last two jobs were with Texas and Baltimore. literally the worst rotations in baseball.
and Texas didn’t even want him back.
You can spin either one being better depending on your point of view. Garcia’s FIP was 4.28 and Cashner’s was 4.61. That’s a difference but not huge. Cashner got the better results clearly but they’re different pitchers. Garcia nearly averaged 5 walks Per 9 and cashner couldn’t strike out that many. Both have their warts. You could delve deeper but it’s anyone’s guess who will find more success. Neither deal is bad for either team. The orioles will need pitching again next year because we don’t have 3 guys on the way up to take those rotation slots… 16 million guarantee for 2 years is not a bad deal.
the difference is the jays are using Garcia as a 5 on a one year deal who they could flip with semi decent results (see liriano). I highly doubt Cashner sees much to any success in Baltimore as their #3
that’s highly questionable
Better than Tillman lol
well he can go 5 innings, that’s about it
So he went from $12M to $8M. Proof where the market is for meh pitchers.
It’s still 12mil if you include the buyout and the incentives.
O’s should have added him too.
Hmm, will be interesting to see how he does in the AL East. He should be a pretty good 5th starter. Gives the Jays time to develop some of their pitching prospects. Only one, Borucki, is close to being ready for the Majors.
Makes the Cashner deal look horrendous. Plus Garcia>Cashner.
What numbers are you looking at?
Literally anything but ERA
Is ERA the only thing you look at?
what year are you looking at!?!
Exactly
FIP isn’t a perfect measure either. Michael Pineda routinely posts a much higher ERA than his FIP indicates. Anyone with cashners K profile will be hurt by FIP. High K guys tend to have a lower FIP though I do believe it’s a better estimator it also has its issues.
Disregard the Pineda comment. Definitely not true.
Will the 2015 Cardinals be able to compete in the AL East?
Had upvoted you but realized it should have been the 2016 Cardinals (when Diaz was actually on the team.)
If the Oh deal with the Rangers falls through maybe the Jays can sign him to set up and then he can take over the closer’s role by the end of the season.
if the sign oh, toronto should just finidh trading the rest of their roster for st louis’s
Next will be backup catcher
Next will be JD Martinez.
I would have rather seen pitch for a large media market team. Not those minor league clubs like the jays.
At least he won’t get shot!
If you wanted him a bigger market then that would leave only 3 cities in the MLB…dimwit
Sorry friend was a making joke from the comment section of the Stroman article below, where a commenter says he wishes stroman played for a better media market. Sorry you weren’t able to get my humour, better luck next time
GOOD ONE ha ha!
I just heard from the big media in LA that the winner of celebrity big brother wins $250,000 and will become the next president of the United States. I’m cheering for Meta world Peace!
He’s America SMART
I’m sad that chuck got voted out would have been a great president!
Lol that minor league team made it to back to back ALCS’s and had the 2015 MVP
That was 3 seasons ago. The Royals won the WS that year. This year they will have one of the worst records in baseball.
That’s relatively cheap for him.
Great signing. Was the one I was hoping for. Knew we weren’t getting Cobb or Lynn. Makes the bullpen way better with Biagini back in the pen. Unfortunately I think that completes the free agency period for the Jays unless they can send off Pearce. Zeke or Morales (doubtful).
I think Watson could still happen.
Maybe Watson, Boatman, but they have signed Breslow, who is also decent, and who will act as bullpen player-coach, which may have been missing last season, esp the second half. I feel that this is a great #5 signing,
Breslow is a decent human being. Terrible pitcher at this point in his career. On a minor-league deal. If he suits up for Toronto this season, it means the Blue Jays are in significant trouble.
i) …. the Blue Jays are/have been in significant trouble ——
with Giboons as manager.
………………….
ii) I feel, that it would have a different approach this year, if the Jays had had a deeper farm system and had landed Yelich.
As of now, the team is competing for third place in the Ame. Why not strive for worst place possible, and its top draft pick, and take this year and build up the team using its greater assets ( Stroman, Osuna )?
Viz:, the Cubs need a closer: would they give up Iann Happ?
Just imagine what AA of the Braves, with its high end prospects, and with what he did in his last year(s) in To., would give to the Jays for Stroman?
iii) Watson has gone to the Giants, btw.
They have around another $6M left to spend. So yeah, Watson and maybe a backup catcher.
They only had about 12M before this signing and you have to think one of the relievers they signed to minor league deals will end up making the team. Somebody like Axford which will be another million and change. I think backup catcher is going to come from the minor league system. Jansen is it?
Jansen is more of a late season add. McGuire is a better option than Maile.
They should just have Danny backup Martin. give the kid 250ab this year and a chance to learn from the vet.
I put big big money on this guy once when he was with St Louis when they were facing Cincinnati and he got absolutely hammered. I laid big odds on them game and he got clobbered put everything right down the center and these guys beat him like a pinyata. I haven’t cared to him since.
I’m sure he struggles to sleep each night because you don’t care.
It was pretty bad he gave up at least 4 runs I can’t remember exactly but he was bad. Back then he was a good pitcher but not when I bet on him LOL
That’s cuz baseball is the worst sport to bet on! LoL
I shouldn’t have bet on a man with a ladies name that was my mistake.
I was really hoping for Cobb but Garcia was the only other pitcher on the market who I wanted them to get
Interesting that your depth chart has Solarte as the starting 2B and Devon Travis projected to spend the year in AAA. Although he could again be sidelined by injuries, I imagine he’ll be the starting 2B on opening day.
SHAMPOO IS BETTER
Blue Jays sure like ex cardinals and they seem to work good with cards on trades. Hopefully they get together at deadline for Donaldson !
Rasmus worked for you for a bit.
As a Jays fan I’m happy with this. To be competitive we just need Stroman, Sanchez, Estrada and Happ to pitch the way they all previously have or close to it. We don’t need career years only to replicate things they’ve already proven they can do. Garcia is depth and innings and anything more is a bonus.
Wade Miley left the al east which saddened me buuuut he was replaced with Garcia, YAY !!!!!!!!
Sad is Miley would be the #3 on the Yankees. Of course I could be putting too much faith in Sonny.
You can play in my fantasy baseball league any time if you think wade Miley would be the Yankees number 3 starter.
This guy probably has a show on fox sports 1.
Hey. No. No.
I was going to to make fun of you and this comment but decided it does the job all on its own.
Good for them?
Toronto’s rotation isn’t horrible.
Looks like Toronto love Cardinals players
Between the Garcia signing in Toronto and Cashner going to Baltimore…. this makes me very, very happy as a Yankees fan.
More excited than facing joe biagini and Gabriel ynoa? Probably not.
Osuna > Judge
Tought about the edit… but nope.
Osuna > Judge
Osuna=/= clutch; Judge=clutch
Not true. The vast majority of Judges homers came in low leverage situations.
Yeah I don’t see how you can think facing Garcia is preferable to facing the revolving door of minor league journeymen the Jays had in the rotation last season.
Should take a shot on Lincecum. He’s had his issues but a former 2 time cy young winner who is real cheap.
Timmy’s been not good for a while now. He better be more effective than he’s been in the recent past years or he’s not worth a non roster invite. Makes one wonder how a guy that’s so dominant can get so off track that quick
This is expected from a guy sporting a jmac username.
Roger clemens has a few cy Young awards too but it doesn’t mean he can throw a 95 mph heater anymore. Sadly lincecum is probably done.
Garcia is not who I wanted but he could be, potentially, one of the better fifth starters in the AL. Much better than anyone Baltimore signed, or anyone Baltimore jettisoned.
Let’s face it: fifth starters are TERRIBLE. If Garcia can stay healthy and have an ERA of 4.75, he’ll easily provide more value than the parade of has-beens and never-will-bes that make up the back end of most rotations in a full season. The fifth starter is where a lot of teams could “raise the floor,” which seems to have been the Jays’ strategy this winter for the whole roster.
(Now where’s the guy who said the Jays will prove they’re not competing if they don’t upgrade the backup catcher? Was that jimmertee TOO???)
Yep. His job is to keep his team in the game twice through the order, and turn it over to the pen. Get through 5 innings with a chance to win, and he’s done his job. Another lefty in the rotation, too. bonus
After all, they have 4 other starters that can go deep.
Garcia also puts Biagini back in the pen, which is a big improvement there, too.
Which deal is better, Garcia to Toronto or Cashner to Baltimore? I think Cashner has the capability of putting up a bigger year where you know what you are getting with Garcia.
He’s the #5 starter, not the ace. Let’s not forget, if he pitched like an ace, they would pay him twice what they signed him for. I like this signing because:
1) He’s a lefty and still breathing.. In 9 seasons, he’s only allowed 19 homers against lefties (.02/PA) Think of Yankee Stadium III.
2) He should pitch 150-170 innings, which is fine for a #5 starter..
3) His 55% ground ball rate will play well in the ALE.
As a Yankees fan, I was less than impressed with Garcia last season. He gets a lot of ground balls and K’s, compared to fly balls, so that should help him in Toronto and the AL East. Still, he looked pretty pedestrian to me, and wasn’t someone I had much confidence in when his turn came up in the rotation. $10m seems like a lot of money for a guy who has had health problems, and mediocre results.
The one thing about Garcia that has always seemed to be the case, both in ST Louis, and in NY for the short time he was there, is his feast or famine pattern. He pitches really well for 3 or 4 starts, and then gets destroyed in one.
For a number five guy I can live with him pitching well four starts in a row and then getting destroyed in one.
That is the reason why free agents have elevated their prices. Fool teams pay too much for bad players, so the others look for more and more.
The best the jays can ask for here is for Garcia to have a average season , then hope someone overpays at the trade deadline for a back of the rotation lefty.
The Jays aren’t signing a guy they figure to win 20. They are paying for 20 wins, either. If Jaime can win 10-13 games, give the jays 160 innings….they would be very happy.
excuse me….they AREN’T paying for 20 wins.