Some notes from modern-day baseball…

• Adam Warren headed into the free agent market after undergoing Tommy John surgery last September, so amidst all of that uncertainty, he “didn’t look anywhere else” once he received interest from the Yankees, the right-hander told George A. King III of the New York Post.  Having already pitched for the Yankees in two separate stints earlier in his career, Warren said the Bronx Bombers “were my ideal team….It was a situation where I didn’t have that much bargaining power and I wanted to catch on with a team that would take a chance on me.  I was very fortunate the Yankees wanted to do that.”  Warren signed a two-year minor league contract with New York, with the expectation being that he would spend the 2020 season recovering from surgery and be ready to pitch in 2021.  If a reworked 2020 schedule leads to games deep into October or November, Warren admitted that “kind of tempts me to come back quicker, but the timing of the surgery it would feel like I am rushing back.  The most realistic goal is treat this as a gone year.”  The recovery process seems to be going rather smoothly for Warren, who said “fortunately I haven’t missed a beat too much with my rehab” even while being limited to working out at his home.
• The Jose Quintana-for-Eloy Jimenez (and Dylan Cease) trade may not be a fond memory for Cubs fans, though an even more lopsided deal between Chicago’s two teams took place back in 1998.  The Athletic’s James Fegan looks back at what he described as the best trade in at least the modern era of White Sox history, when the Sox acquired Jon Garland from the Cubs in July 1998 for right-handed reliever Matt Karchner.  The Cubs wanted some bullpen help for their playoff drive, and picked up Karchner even though he was in the midst of struggles that lasted both before and after the trade.  Karchner pitched two more injury-plagued years and was out of baseball after the 2000 season, while Garland went on to become a mainstay of the White Sox rotation.  Garland averaged 179 innings per season from 2000-07, and played a major role for the Southsiders’ World Series-winning team in 2005.

The 2005 White Sox deserved more attention than they got, but not just because of their own broken curse. Ozzie Guillen’s club accomplished an amazing feat just in getting to the World Series, one that we may never see again. After dropping game one of the ALCS to Vlad Guerrero Sr. and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the White Sox won the American League pennant behind four consecutive complete games.

There were zero complete games thrown in the 2019 playoffs. Not a one. There weren’t any in 2018 either. We got one in 2017 (Justin Verlander) and 3 in 2016 (though two of those were in losses where the starter only went 8 innings to get the CG). Not only did the 2005 White Sox rattle off eight straight wins to clinch the World Series, but after taking that game 1 loss (their only loss of the postseason), they strung together four straight complete games from this unlikely quartet: Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Freddy Garcia, and Jose Contreras.

It’s not impossible that we’ll see this kind of feat again. I mean, hey, Deacon Phillippe threw five complete games in a single postseason. For the 1903 Pittsburgh Pirates. But as far as this century is concerned, Ozzie Guillen’s likely to hold the record for fewest pitching changes in a postseason series.

Speaking of Guillen, you gotta give the guy props for the trust he had in his starting staff. Not only did he ride his starters for all four wins, but not a one of them put up a shutout. There were trials. There were tribulations. But either Guillen forgot the extension for the bullpen phone, or he believed in his horses. It’s not as if this was all that long ago and complete games were a dime a dozen. The four thrown by the White Sox in the ALCS were the only complete games thrown that postseason. There was just one complete game thrown in the playoffs the year before and none the year after. This was a feat. If it were the Red Sox or the Cubs, we’d probably talk about it a lot more.

So let’s take a moment to appreciate the run.

In terms of all-time rotations, Buehrle/Garland/Garcia/Contreras wasn’t exactly Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz/Avery. But it was a solid group who put together a remarkable run. These four starters not only came together at the perfect time, but at the perfect time in their individual careers.

Buehrle had the best career of the four as the long-time ace of the Southsiders, but his chief abilities included otherworldly defense and durability. The soft-tossing lefty led the AL in innings pitched in both 2004 and 2005. He put up 200-inning seasons for 14 consecutive years, falling short of the line only twice: his rookie season when he made just 3 starts and totaled 51 1/3 innings, and his final season in the majors, when at age 36 he put up “just” 198 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays (while still leading the majors with four complete games). Buehrle only once cracked the top-5 in Cy Young voting, but he was the definition of a reliable workhorse, and in limiting the Angels to just 5 hits and no walks over a tidy 99 pitches, he set the tone for the 2005 White Sox. The Sox won game 2 behind Buehrle 2-1, and they wouldn’t look back.

Jon Garland struggled to stay healthy for much of his career, but he was peaking in 2005. The 25-year-old, hulking right-hander won 18 games that season with a 3.50 ERA, earning his lone All-Star appearance. He threw three complete game shutouts that season, but the amazing piece for Garland was that his game 3 complete game was his first-ever postseason appearance. Not only that, but he’d only have one more, as the game 3 starter in Houston for the World Series. Garland made the most of it, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 7.  Paul Konerko capped off a three-run first inning with a two-run shot off John Lackey, and Garland took them the rest of the way, using 118 pitches to finish off a 5-2 victory and put the White Sox up 2-1. Garland would give the White Sox two more solid seasons in the rotation before they traded him to the Angels following 2007 for Orlando Cabrera. His run with the White Sox, particularly 2005, would easily go down as the highlight of Garland’s playing days.

The White Sox turned to Freddy Garcia in game 4, but they used the same script from the prior night. Konerko hit a 3-run homer off Ervin Santana in the first and the White Sox never trailed. Garcia had failed to capitalize on the tremendous potential he showed as a 24-year-old for the 2001 Mariners, and by 2005 his best years were already behind him. Still, the White Sox acquired him midseason the year before along with another one-time heralded prospect in Ben Davis for a package of Mike Morse, Miguel Olivo and Jeremy Reed. Garcia put up 3.9 bWAR in his first full season in Chicago, going 14-8 with a 3.87 ERA/4.06 FIP. He threw 228 innings in total, and it was probably his best season outside of Seattle.

His game 4 performance put the White Sox on the brink of the pennant, using 116 pitches while giving up 2 runs, 5 hits, and 1 walk. The Sox tacked on solo runs in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings, and the Angels never came closer than in the bottom of the second when Garcia surrendered a walk and made an error on an infield single. But with the tying run on first and runners on the corners, Garcia coaxed a double play off the bat of Steve Finley to end the threat. Garcia went the distance and the White Sox won 8-2.

After three straight complete games to put the White Sox up on the Angels 3-1, what really was Jose Contreras to do but go out and do the same? Like Garland, 2005 and 2006 was the pinnacle of Contreras’ stateside career. The Cuban import made his MLB debut as a 31-year-old with the Yankees in 2003, but they shipped him to the White Sox after 18 disappointing starts in 2004 for Esteban Loaiza. In 2005, the 33-year-old Contreras finally posted the type of season that was expected of him after coming over from Cuba. He went 15-7 with a 3.61 ERA/4.21 FIP, good for 3.6 bWAR (second only to the 3.8 bWAR he’d put up the following season).

In many ways, Contreras was the perfect guy to wrap up this incredible run. These outings weren’t the high velocity, high spin types of outings of the current era. Contreras, like the others before him, simply put the ball over the plate and let his defense do the work. He finished with 114 pitches, 3 earned runs, 5 hits, 2 walks, and just 2 strikeouts. Only twice did he allow more than one baserunner in an inning, and 5 times he put together 1-2-3 innings (including the final 4 frames).  The White Sox trailed 3-2 entering the 7th inning, but they’d tie it with a Joe Crede solo shot, then take the lead in the 8th when the Angels defense got sloppy. As for Contreras, after giving up the lead with those two runs in the sixth, he wouldn’t allow a baserunner the rest of the way.

The White Sox had some cushion in games 2-4, but there may have been cause for Guillen to let his starters go long. Dustin Hermanson (yes, Dustin Hermanson) saved 34 games for Chicago that year, but he was out of the role by the playoffs and would make just 6 more appearances in the majors. Bobby Jenks had taken over as closer in the playoffs, but he had just 6 saves and 32 appearances under his belt. Maybe Ozzie Guillen didn’t trust his bullpen, but either way, when Konerko and Aaron Roward each doubled home a run in the ninth, Guillen went back to Contreras to finish out the 6-3 victory and secure the White Sox’ first pennant since 1959. Amazingly, Guillen didn’t even have to lift a finger to do it.

More from around baseball:

• At 33-40, the Cardinals are already 12 games out of a wild-card spot in the National League. Consequently, their only realistic avenue to the playoffs is to erase a 5.5-game deficit in the NL Central. They’re going to have to start making up ground by next month’s trade deadline, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak admitted to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com. “This team has a chance to do good things, but we have to get it going,” said Mozeliak. “Urgency has to be on the forefront of our thinking. There is no clock in baseball, but time is moving.” Mozeliak revealed that the Cardinals are “open-minded” to buying or selling, but Crasnick argues that taking the latter path could be difficult because they’re not exactly chock-full of trade chips. They already sold one veteran last month, sending first baseman Matt Adams to the Braves for minor league infielder Juan Yepez. While Adams has caught fire since the trade, Mozeliak doesn’t regret shipping him out. “Sometimes a change of scenery for players is what they need,” he noted. “Matt’s killed it, but that’s not to say he didn’t get opportunities a year ago. Sometimes when you make decisions, you know there might be more upside in a player. But unless you can create that availability [for playing time], it’s pretty tough.”
• The Yankees, mired in their worst stretch of the season, are likely to place outfielder Aaron Hicks on the DL, manager Joe Girardi announced Sunday (Twitter links via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Hicks left the Yankees’ loss to the Rangers on Sunday with right oblique tightness and will undergo an MRI on Monday, relays Hoch, but the player indicated that he’ll miss three to four weeks. Hicks has surprisingly been among the majors’ most valuable players this year, with a .290/.398/.515 batting line and a 2.7 fWAR. Fortunately for the Yankees, they have a quality replacement in Jacoby Ellsbury, who could come off the DL on Monday. Ellsbury has been out since late May with a concussion. Meanwhile, another of the Yankees’ top performers, second baseman Starlin Castro, has been dealing with a wrist issue for six weeks, tweets Hoch, who adds that he received a cortisone shot Sunday.
• In better news for the Yankees, left-hander C.C. Sabathia is “progressing very, very well” as he works back from a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, Girardi said (via Matthew Martell of MLB.com). Sabathia threw 35 pitches Sunday in his first bullpen session since hitting the DL on June 15, relays Martell, who writes that the former ace could be back in New York’s rotation by month’s end. Sabathia has been one of the Yankees’ steadiest starters this year, having logged a 3.46 ERA, 7.41 K/9, 2.87 BB/9 and a 49.8 percent ground-ball rate over 75 1/3 innings.
• The goal is for Orioles closer Zach Britton to return by July 5, manager Buck Showalter told Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com and other reporters on Sunday. Forearm problems have forced Britton to the disabled list twice this year, limiting the two-time All-Star to just nine innings (he last pitched on May 4). While Brad Brach has filled in with aplomb as Baltimore’s closer, the team’s Britton-less bullpen hasn’t been great overall. Orioles relievers entered Sunday ranked 13th in the majors in ERA and 23rd in fWAR.

• One potential hangup in the Stephen Drew market could be the fact that Cuban shortstop Aledmys Diaz will be cleared to sign in two weeks. The 23-year-old was declared ineligible to sign after falsifying his age last year (Diaz claimed to be 23 then, in order to be eligible for MLB one year early). Morosi reminds that MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez listed (MLBTR link) the Red Sox and Yankees as two of eight clubs to have shown interest in Diaz back in December, and both have been linked to Drew.
• Morosi spoke with Tommy Hanson's agent, Greg Genske, and was told that Hanson has received multiple offers. Genske said Hanson is in a great place both mentally and physically, which could not be said last year as he dealt with the tragic death of his brother.
• Agent Craig Landis tells Morosi that his client, Jon Garland, is unlikely to pitch in 2014. Garland is not retiring and is willing to sign and pitch in the right circumstances, Landis told Morosi.
• Morosi also chatted with Landis regarding another of his clients — lefty Joe Saunders. Saunders is fully healthy and plans to pitch this season, according to Landis. Saunders is coming off the worst season of his career, though his 4.23 xFIP was more than a full run lower than his 5.26 ERA. Saunders maintained his career strikeout rate, posted a career-best ground-ball rate but was plagued by a career-worst 14.5 percent homer-to-flyball ratio.

• Last November, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks expressed interest in Alex Rodriguez, Ken Belson and David Waldstein of the New York Times report. The Yankees never discussed the matter with the Japanese team, because they knew Rodriguez required hip surgery that would limit him in 2013, and because they knew Rodriguez would not consent to playing overseas.
• Ike Davis' poor performance (and subsequent demotion) may make him a non-tender candidate in the coming offseason, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York argues. Davis will make $3.125MM this season, and will be eliglble for arbitration next season. He hit .161/.242/.258 in 207 plate appearances this year before the Mets shipped him to Triple-A Las Vegas.  Last month, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes discussed many potential non-tender candidates, including Davis, Clayton Richard, and Chris Perez.
• The Pirates have had a number of surprisingly good pitching performances this year, and what connects them is catcher Russell Martin, Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. Martin's pitch-framing is highly-regarded, and he also wins praise for his game-calling. His impact on the Pirates' pitching staff makes the two-year, $17MM contract to which the Bucs signed him this offseason look like a very good one, Sawchik argues.
• The Astros are rebuilding the right way, says ESPN's Jim Bowden in a new video. Bowden argues that GM Jeff Luhnow, manager Bo Porter and new president Reid Ryan are the right leaders for the Astros. Bowden also says the Astros' top draft picks help set them up to the future. The Astros selected Carlos Correa first overall in 2012, then grabbed Mark Appel with this year's top pick. They'll also have a very high pick next year. Not trying to spend their way out of last place is the right strategy for the Astros, Bowden says, because of the top picks they get as a result.
• The Orioles are not interested in Jon Garland, MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko tweets. The Rockies released Garland this afternoon after he posted a 5.82 ERA with 4.2 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 for them.

Garland struggled in his brief stint with the Rockies, pitching to a 5.82 ERA with 4.2 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 68 innings of work (12 starts). He did manage a solid 49.1 percent ground-ball rate — markedly better than the league average of 44.5 percent. That positive trend is one of the reasons stats like FIP (4.95) suggest he's been the recipient of some poor luck.

In parts of 13 Major League seasons, Garland has pitched to a 4.37 ERA with 4.8 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 45.2 percent ground-ball rate.

Garland, 33, has a 5.82 ERA, 4.2 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.19 HR/9, and 49.1% groundball rate in 68 innings across 12 starts this year.  His first three starts went well, but he posted a 6.80 ERA over the next nine.  Garland had shoulder surgery in July 2011, and didn't pitch again in the Majors until his Rockies debut on April 6th this year.  He inked a minor league deal with the Mariners in February, but exercised an out clause in March when they chose not to commit a roster spot out of Spring Training.  He then signed a Major League contract with the Rockies with a $500K base salary and an additional $2.6MM in incentives for innings pitched and games started.

Garland was drafted 10th overall by the Cubs in 1997, one spot after soon-to-be former teammate Michael Cuddyer.  The White Sox pilfered him from the Cubs for reliever Matt Karchner in a cross-town swap the following year.  From 2002-07, Garland averaged 207 regular season innings per year, making the All-Star team and picking up a World Series ring in '05.  A California native, he later had stops with the Angels, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Padres.

• Garland has substantial incentives in his contract with the Rockies that could raise its total value to $3.1MM, explains Troy Renck of the Denver Post. In addition to his base $500k deal, which will fully vest if he stays on the 25-man roster for 45 days, Garland can earn up to $1.35MM for innings pitched (the pay starts at 105 IP and increases up to 195 IP) and up to $1.25MM for starts made (with the incentives kicking in at 20 starts and continuing to 32 starts). 
• The Rockies are expected to consider the possibility of inking righty Aaron Cook, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tweeted earlier today. Cook, who was released earlier today by the Phillies, is (like Garland) known as a groundball artist.
• In spite of being sent to Double-A today by the Dodgers, Yasiel Puig has been so impressive that he may enable the club to effectively buy even more young talent from other clubs, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. As Rosenthal explains, if L.A. is able to replace either Carl Crawford or Andre Ethier with Puig, they could then offer to pay for much of the balance of the contracts of those expensive veterans to extract quality prospects from a trade partner. According to an unnamed rival executive, "It's smart actually — the only way to really build a farm system under the new rules. And you can only do it if you've got big dollars."
• The Kyle Lohse signing was a substantial investment for the Brewers at three years and $33MM, but owner Mark Attanasio says that it will not prevent the club from "being able to make another move," reports Rosenthal. In particular, Attanasio expects to be in a position to re-sign first-baseman Corey Hart, who falls just outside the top 10 anticipated 2014 free agents in MLBTR's TIm Dierkes's 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings. While the Brewers sought to add to their rotation without losing a draft pick when they made an offer to Ryan Dempster before he joined the Red Sox for two years and $26.5MM, Attanasio explained that, "at the time we made the Dempster decision, we thought Kyle would go at a higher price." Finally, Rosenthal notes that Lohse can earn three separate paydays totalling an additional $1MM for reaching 190 innings pitched over each of the next three seasons.
• Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano has been a popular topic of trade speculation, with the presumption being that Chicago would try to get whatever prospects and/or salary relief it could. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times wonders, however, whether Soriano is now too valuable for the team to consider dealing. For his part, Soriano raves about the team's new front office and coaching staff, explaining how they changed the culture from one in which he felt singled out for the team's failings to one in which, "if we lost, we lost like a team; if we won, we won like a team."

• Gurnick also notes that many of those same scouts (and possibly others) are likely to gather tomorrow for Aaron Harang's start. Capuano, Harang, Ted Lilly and Matt Guerrier are all trade candidates for the Dodgers.
• Troy Renck of the Denver Post tweets that new Rockies pitcher Jon Garland said he "strongly considered" signing with the Rox as a free agent this offseason before accepting a minor league deal from the Mariners. When that didn't work out (they released Garland on Saturday), he quickly reached an agreement with Colorado on a one-year, Major League deal.
• Top prospect Nolan Arenado has had a great Spring Training and is still in camp with the Rockies, but MLB.com's Thomas Harding tweets that the team isn't planning a Chris Nelson trade to clear a starting spot for Arenado.
• The Giants are in the market for a backup middle infielder, according to CSN Bay Area's Andrew Baggarly, who opines that Nick Noonan makes for a fine internal option (Twitter link).

2:25pm: Garland will sign a Major League contract worth $500K with more than $2MM in incentives and he will be in the starting rotation, tweets FOXSports.com's Jon Paul Morosi.

12:41pm: The Rockies have reached an agreement with Jon Garland on an incentive-laden deal, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.The LSW Baseball client was released by the Mariners over the weekend.

Colorado's interest in Garland became known last night, and it was reported earlier today that Garland was in the Rockies' camp to take a physical.

Garland, 33, hasn't pitched in the Majors since 2011 due to a host of shoulder injuries. In 2083 1/3 career Major League innings, he owns a 4.32 ERA, 4.9 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 to go along with a 45.1 percent ground-ball rate. In 12 Spring Training innings with the Mariners, Garland allowed three runs on 10 hits (including a pair of homers), five walks and four strikeouts.

Edward Creech contributed to this post.

Garland, 33, hasn't pitched in the Majors since 2009 due to a host of shoulder injuries. In 2083 1/3 career Major League innings, he owns a 4.32 ERA, 4.9 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 to go along with a 45.1 percent ground-ball rate. Garland is a client of LSW Baseball.

Jhoulys Chacin, Jeff Francis, Jorge De La Rosa and Juan Nicasio appear to be set in the Rockies' rotation, and Drew Pomeranz will likely join them if the Rockies don't acquire anyone from outside the organization. Chacin and De La Rosa have both recently missed spring training starts with what appear to be minor injuries.

Garland missed all of the 2012 season and much of the 2011 season with shoulder problems. He pitched 12 innings for the Mariners this spring, posting a 2.25 ERA while striking out four batters and walking five.

Jon Morosi of FOX Sports writes that Garland will also likely draw interest from the Padres and Rangers. Both teams appear to be in the market for starting pitching.

• The Rangers are "among the teams who have a scout watching free agent pitcher Kyle Lohse throw simulated games” at a local community college, but "this may be more due diligence than anything," writes T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Sullivan further reports that "Rangers officials acknowledged they are keeping an eye on Kyle Lohse," but "are still holding to their stance they will not sign Lohse this spring." According to Sullivan, "the Rangers are ready to go with what they have here in camp," most likely either Nick Tepesch or Michael Kirkman.
• Mariners manager Eric Wedge discussed the team's unwillingness to commit a rotation spot to Jon Garland, as reported by Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. Wedge explained that Garland's out clause created an "unusual situation" because the club has "multiple non-roster guys in this camp that have a chance to make this club." Garland was released on Saturday.
  
• The Astros are close to deciding whether to keep Rule 5 pick Josh Fields, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Odds look good for Fields, "considering how wide open the bullpen is." Another Rule 5 pick previously in Astros camp, Nate Freiman, has already been claimed by the Athletics.

The M's signed Garland in February. He has not pitched in the big leagues since 2011 following a shoulder injury. He appeared likely to opt out of his deal with the Mariners after the team made clear that he would not make the team out of spring training. His name plate was removed from his locker Friday.

Jacobs appeared in 13 games with the Diamondbacks in 2012, which is the most games he's played in any season in the majors since 2009. He hit .279/.362/.486 in 378 plate appearance at Triple-A Reno last year.

Garland signed a minor league deal with the M's in February that contained an opt-out clause Garland could exercise if he wasn't on Seattle's Major League roster by today.  The 33-year-old pitched well during Spring Training but it appears as if the Mariners will instead go with younger arms (Blake Beavan, Erasmo Ramirez, Brandon Maurer) to fill out their rotation behind Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma and Joe Saunders.

The Rockies have scouted Garland but only have "lukewarm" interest due to concerns about his durability, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports.  Garland has battled shoulder injuries that have kept him out of action since July 2011 but he averaged 205 IP per season from 2002-2010 and has a 4.32 ERA over 2083 1/3 career innings with the White Sox, Angels, Padres, Diamondbacks and Dodgers.