Yes, I am on Twitter.
1. I do not think that Freddy Garcia could have helped much with this Mets season. So this is really about how the Mets treated a player, and whether this is another area that they have to re-examine this offseason.
Garcia was part of the battle in spring for the No. 5 starting job with Livan Hernandez and Tim Redding. It was obvious early on that his shoulder was not at full capacity. So the Mets mapped a plan for Garcia in which he would pitch in extended spring and be brought along slowly to see if he could help at some point during the year.
He was scheduled to pitch mostly in Florida, especially early, to keep him in warm weather. Instead, the Mets panicked due to some early season rotation problems, and Garcia pitched two late April games at Triple-A in cold Northeastern cities. He was bad both times. Tony Bernazard, then the Mets’ head of minor league operations, attended the second start, according to a source. After the game, the source said, Bernazard told Garcia he would see the pitcher the next day.
Instead, he called Garcia, asked where he lived. Garcia said Miami. At that point, the source said, Bernazard told Garcia to go back home that this was not going to work.
The Mets, of course, had a right to change Garcia’s plans and to release him at any point. But this would be no way to treat any player, much less a veteran with a strong major league pedigree such as Garcia. Mistreating and disrespecting players travels by word of mouth around the majors. And the Mets certainly do not want to get the rep as an organization that could be this cold and dismissive. Of course, the Mets could blame it all on Bernazard, who is gone now.
Garcia has hardly been great with the White Sox, going 0-2 with a 5.94 ERA. But he did hold an excellent Yankee lineup to three runs on four hits in six innings on Sunday.
2. Alfredo Aceves won his ninth game in relief on Sunday, which is high in the majors out of the bullpen this year. He could be Joba Chamberlain’s caddy in a few more innings-restricted starts, so Aceves very well might get to double-digits in wins out of the pen.
He would join an interesting group of Yankees who have won in double-digits out of the pen in the past half century: Luis Arroyo (15 wins, 1961), Ron Davis (14, 1979), Sparky Lyle (13, 1977), Goose Gossage (13, 1983), Dave Righetti (12, 1985), Lindy McDaniel (12, 1973), Lee Guetterman (11, 1990), Gossage (10, 1978).
3. The Yanks spent huge in the offseason, but the return has been pretty darn good. The identity of the first AL pitcher to 15 wins: CC Sabathia. The identity of the first AL Player to 100 RBIs: Mark Teixeira.
