In the wake of reports that the Angels made a four-year, $52MM offer to Matt Garza in December and pulled it before he could respond, Garza himself confirmed to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy that the Halos did make (and quickly pull) an offer. Garza says that he was on vacation with his wife, celebrating their anniversary: "I was on vacation with my wife and I didn’t want to be disturbed, and it was like, ‘Here it is, we’ll pull it in a certain amount of hours.’ I didn’t have a chance to respond, so I just said, ‘Whatever. It is what it is.'" Garza wound up receiving a slightly smaller guarantee from the Brewers ($50MM), though his deal could be worth as much as $67MM if his fifth-year option triggers and he maxes out his contract's incentives. Garza told McCalvy that upon meeting Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, he felt the club genuinely wanted to sign him, and that was a big factor in his decision.
Here's more from the AL West…
- Don't rule out a return to the Mariners for Kendrys Morales, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Cafardo hears that the Pirates aren't willing to forfeit the draft pick they would need to sign Morales. He also hears that Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette can't get the financial go-ahead from owner Peter Angelos to meet Morales' asking price.
- Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News wonders if it would be the best fit for all parties if Nelson Cruz returned to the Rangers on a one-year deal. Grant speculates on some contract specifics that could allow Cruz to earn more than the $14.1MM qualifying offer he rejected, and wonders it the two sides could agree in advance not to go the qualifying offer route next offseason.
- Rangers right-hander Colby Lewis knows the timing of the flexor tendon injury that has shelved him for the last season-and-a-half was horrible (he was three months from free agency), but the 35-year-old is keeping his head up, writes ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett. Rather than lament his misfortune, Lewis instead said that he prefers to count his blessings: "Baseball has given me the opportunity to play and make good money and do it as long as I have."
- Athletics lefty Tommy Milone might appear to be behind Scott Kazmir, Jarrod Parker, Sonny Gray, Dan Straily and A.J. Griffin on the depth chart, but he's been assured by manager Bob Melvin that he's in the running for a rotation spot, tweets John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group. The A's currently have six starters for five rotation spots, but there's been little talk of them trading an arm.
he traded a relief pitcher with a 5.50 ERA who had no pitch to get LH hitters out. Not exactly “hot” to get him. Call him Morales insurance. Sea knew Boras wouldn’t come down in price til Feb..
Crazy thought here, give Kyle Seager in a deal for Gomez, move Nick Franklin to 3B.
Thats what Toronto did with Mike Napoli, remember?
Sounds like Matt Garza is trying to save face.
Yeah he should put up pretty good numbers in the Ballpark.
Seems to me if they get Cruz back Moreland will get traded while there is decent interest for him.
The Rangers would forfeit a pick to bring back Cruz, if Cruz signs somewhere other than Texas they would receive the 31st pick, if they bring him back they would lose it.
The Rangers are not going after Morales, they will not give up another pick!
you dont know that dude the rangers are going to trade moreland to the pirates and morales is coming to texas and jd said that the rangers need more offense so please dont tell the future
I’d caution moving Moreland. However, it all depends on the market for him.
Third in four years, actually. Don’t forget Cliff Lee.
To be fair, when your team wins 90+ games year after year, the team in question has their #1 draft picks at the end of the round (if at all). The exception being a comp pick from a team that lost 90+ games the year before. According to studies, about 1 in 5 first round draft picks in the latter half of the first round even become successful major leaguers. Mike Trout was lightning in a bottle, not just for his talent but the fact he was picked near the end of the first round. What are the odds? The farm system was depleting no matter what — and was already so by 2010 — before they even made all those trades.
Have fun with Hart in right field…. Brewer fan here, he was alright out there….2 knee surgeries and 3 years ago. Maybe play him there in a pinch
Garza did the right thing, and I am sure his wife is just fine with him making 11+ million this year.