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Jaime Garcia

Braves Acquire Jaime Garcia

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6:04pm: Both teams have announced the trade via press release.

5:20pm: The Braves have been one of the most active teams of the offseason thus far, and that continued on Thursday as the team reportedly struck a deal to acquire veteran lefty Jaime Garcia from the Cardinals in exchange for minor league infielder Luke Dykstra and young right-handers John Gant and Chris Ellis.

[Related: Updated St. Louis Cardinals Depth Chart and Atlanta Braves Depth Chart]

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Garcia, 30, has long been a steady member of the Cardinals’ rotation but struggled a bit in 2016, working to a career-worst 4.67 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a very strong 56.7 percent ground-ball rate in 171 2/3 innings. He’s controllable only through the 2017 season, as the Cardinals exercised his $12MM option at season’s end. Despite the fact that St. Louis picked up that option, though, trading Garcia has long seemed like a highly plausible outcome. The Cards already have Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright, Mike Leake and Alex Reyes in the fold in addition to right-handers Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn returning from injuries.

As for the Braves, Garcia will be the third veteran arm they’ve added to their rotation already this winter. He’ll join fellow newcomers Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey in the Braves’ rotation behind right-handers Julio Teheran and Mike Foltynewicz. Like Colon and Dickey, Garcia is a one-year commitment that can function as a reasonable stopgap to upper-level arms in the Braves system like Sean Newcomb while also give young righties Aaron Blair and Matt Wisler, who have struggled in the Majors, additional time to develop in Triple-A.

Despite Garcia’s 2016 struggles, he’ll bring to the Braves a career 3.57 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 56.5 percent ground-ball rate in 896 innings as a Major Leaguer. Shoulder injuries have limited him throughout his career, and he missed time with a groin strain as well in 2016, but he’s averaged 151 innings in 2015-16 and made a total of 50 starts in that time.

While the Braves have been connected to Chris Sale and other front-of-the-rotation names in trade chatter, the addition of Garcia lessens the chances of that hope becoming a reality for Atlanta fans, though it doesn’t eliminate the possibility. Both Mark Bowman of MLB.com and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports note (Twitter links) that the Braves still intend to pursue front-line starters. The rotation certainly looks full at the moment, but it’s possible that as a young right-hander with a fair bit of MLB experience under his belt, Foltynewicz himself could be added to a trade package to help bring in a significant upgrade (though that’s merely speculation).

Each of Ellis (No. 17), Gant (No. 21) and Dykstra (No. 29) appeared on MLB.com’s midseason list of the Braves’ Top 30 prospects. Ellis, who turned 24 in September, was acquired with Newcomb in last year’s Andrelton Simmons trade. The former third-rounder posted a strong 2.75 ERA in 78 innings at the Double-A level this year, averaging 7.0 strikeouts against 4.0 walks per nine innings before moving up to the Triple-A level. He struggled in 67 2/3 innings with Triple-A Gwinnett, though, working to a 6.52 ERA. He did register an improved 8.6 K/9 mark, though he also averaged 6.9 walks per nine innings there as well. MLB.com’s report on Ellis notes that he has the size, strength and repertoire to become a No. 4 starter with three average to above-average offerings but slightly below-average command.

Gant, also 24, was acquired from the Mets in the 2015 Kelly Johnson/Juan Uribe trade and made his MLB debut last year, totaling 50 innings with a 4.86 ERA. Gant logged 49 strikeouts against 21 walks with a 42.1 percent ground-ball rate. He also worked to a 4.18 ERA with better than a strikeout per inning in 56 Triple-A innings. Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com call Gant’s fastball, changeup and curveball each an average offering but also note that he has a tremendous feel for pitching. Nonetheless, they peg his ceiling as a back-end starter, albeit one that could conceivably join the Cardinals’ staff immediately out of Spring Training if necessary.

Dykstra, the son of former Mets/Phillies outfielder Lenny Dykstra, is a 21-year-old middle infielder that the Braves plucked with their seventh-round pick back in 2014. He went through his second stint in the Class-A South Atlantic League in 2016, hitting .304/.332/.363 with no homers and seven stolen bases in 81 games. Callis and Mayo call him a fringe defender with an average arm and note the he hasn’t shown any power to this point in his career, but his hit tool draws strong marks — and that skill is reflected in his career .300/.335/.385 batting line through parts of three minor league seasons.

ESPN’s Mark Saxon first reported that Garcia had been traded to the Braves. FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported (on Twitter) that three prospects were going to St. Louis in exchange. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that Dykstra and Ellis were in the deal (Twitter link). SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo reported Gant was the third piece (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL Central Notes: Cubs, Montero, Mozeliak, Stearns

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The Cubs’ celebration of their World Series win took them to the Saturday Night Live stage, as Anthony Rizzo, Dexter Fowler and David Ross made two cameo appearances on last night’s show.  The players first appeared in a sketch as (of all things) dancers at a bachelorette party, and the trio returned later in the show to sing “Go Cubs Go” alongside SNL legend and Cubs superfan Bill Murray.  Since Fowler officially elected to become a free agent last evening (slightly before SNL went on the air), this may mark the last time we see the outfielder in a Cubs uniform.  Here’s the latest from Wrigleyville and elsewhere around the NL Central…

  • In a recent interview on ESPN 1000’s Waddle and Silvy Show (hat tip to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune), Miguel Montero admitted that he frustrated by his diminished playing time during the season and wished he had received more input from Joe Maddon about his role on the team.  Montero appeared in 86 games and hit .216/.327/.357 over 284 plate appearances, with Ross and Willson Contreras getting an increasingly large share of the catching workload throughout the year and in the postseason.  Though Montero is owed $14MM next season, he’ll likely still be limited to backup duties behind Contreras and possibly Kyle Schwarber if the Cubs still consider the slugger an option behind the plate.  As Gonzalez notes, Montero’s large salary will make him a tough sell on the trade market unless the Cubs are willing to eat some of the money.
  • Exercising Jaime Garcia’s club option gives the Cardinals rotation depth and some possible breathing room to make a trade, GM John Mozeliak tells Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  “As we look to the trade market as we get to the GM meetings, we want to be able to not have our hands tied.  For example, if we had not picked up the option, and all of a sudden we feel there’s a trade that might make sense for us that’s going to have to include a starter, then we’re left with having to backfill,” Mozeliak said.  “Given what Jaime was able to accomplish last year, clearly it didn’t end the way he would’ve liked it to, but he still ate a lot of valuable innings for us.  When I think about what’s out there on the free-agent market, I still think it’s an asset to have….And what if we have to move someone else? It would be nice to still have the depth in our rotation.”  Hochman figures the Cards will be more active on the trade market than in free agency this winter, and he thinks the team will look at upgrading the defense in the wake of club-wide defensive metrics ranging from middling to below-average.
  • Brewers GM David Stearns doesn’t expect as busy an offseason as last winter’s roster overhaul, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes.  “I think the amount of transactional volume that we had over the past 12 months was probably unprecedented.  It would be tough for me to imagine that we would see a similar-type volume,” Stearns said.  The GM also spoke of the importance of keeping a flexible 40-man roster, so the club has the opportunity to make additions if they unexpectedly arise.

Cardinals To Exercise Jaime Garcia’s Option, Decline Option On Jordan Walden

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5:05pm: SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets that right-hander Jordan Walden will have his option declined by the Cards. That’s hardly a surprising development, as Walden pitched just 10 1/3 innings over the life of what is in hindsight an ill-fated two-year, $6.6MM deal signed prior to the 2015 campaign. St. Louis acquired Walden from the Braves alongside Jason Heyward in exchange for Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins back in 2014, but injuries have prevented Walden from taking the hill much at all in the past two seasons. Walden’s option would’ve paid him $5.25MM had it been exercised, but he’ll receive a $250K buyout instead.

11:57am: The Cardinals will exercise left-hander Jaime Garcia’s club option for 2017, reports Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com (Twitter link). Garcia will make $12MM next season.

The injury-prone Garcia tossed 171 1/3 innings this season, easily his most since 2011, but run prevention was a serious problem. On the strength of a bloated home run-to-fly ball ratio (20.2 percent), Garcia put up the worst full-season ERA of his career (4.67). However, he did strike out just under eight batters per nine innings (7.86) while posting a respectable walk rate (2.99) and generating ground balls at a 56.7 percent clip.

Despite his history of injuries and a disappointing 2016, Garcia should draw trade interest if the Cardinals shop him. General manager John Mozeliak already did so during the summer, but Garcia ended up finishing the season in St. Louis. Garcia would certainly be among the most talented starters on the free agent market had the Cardinals bought him out, though, and a $12MM investment could be preferable to teams over signing a flawed free agent for more. The Cardinals could also retain Garcia as depth, of course, as Michael Wacha is a candidate to shift to the bullpen and Lance Lynn missed all of this season because of Tommy John surgery.

Mozeliak On Cards’ Offseason Needs

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Cardinals GM John Mozeliak spoke about several notable topics impacting the team in an interview with 101sports.com. You can find audio of the full chat at the link, but here are some of the highlights:

Generally, Mozeliak said that he is “still sort of reflecting on our past year,” which just ended a hair shy of qualifying for a sixth-straight postseason. That means that he doesn’t quite yet have a clear picture of how the club will tackle the winter to come. “I’m still sort of reflecting on our past year and I haven’t necessarily set out our offseason strategy,” says Mozeliak.

That being said, the veteran executive obviously has a good idea of where the needs will be. The rotation, in particular, suffered a significant fall-off in 2016. Mozeliak suggests that he sees room for more from veterans Adam Wainwright and Mike Leake, though he notes that’s hardly a sure thing. Michael Wacha remains a bit of a wild card, too, while the club sees reason for optimism in Carlos Martinez and Alex Reyes. With Lance Lynn returning to join a list of possibilities that also includes Luke Weaver, Marco Gonzales (if he makes it back), Tim Cooney and others, Mozeliak says he hopes to “have the depth we thought we were going to have a year ago,” though he notes “that just means maybe something else is going to go wrong.”

Notably absent from that list of hurlers? Lefty Jaime Garcia. The club is reportedly still weighing whether to pick up his option, though Mozeliak’s comments seemed to throw some doubt on the idea that he’d be with the organization in 2017.

“What we’ll do is spend the next two to three weeks sorting through our roster and getting a feel for what we think makes the most sense for us,” Mozeliak said when asked about Garcia. “I just went through our rotation and I didn’t mention Jaime because I think, given how he finished, it’s going to be tough for him to fit in there. But I also would say last year when we were sitting here talking, I thought we were going to have Lance Lynn and then two weeks later he ends up having Tommy John. So you just never know.” 

Of course, even if Garcia doesn’t end up with the Redbirds, he could have his option exercised and then be traded. Mozeliak also says he won’t hesitate to trade young players to drive improvement, though he suggests that he won’t overreact after just missing the playoffs.

“You can’t always react to just today’s needs,” says Mozeliak. “When you’re looking to build long term success you damn well better be keeping some assets in your system. I think, historically, we’ve proven right on that with that strategy. We’re not going to deviate.”

Otherwise, the organization has already stated an intention to improve defensively, and Mozeliak adds that he’d like to see the team become “a little bit more aggressive on the basepaths.” For the former, he notes that getting Kolten Wong more time at second base and “trying to find a consistent position for Matt Carpenter” would help with the infield, while the team has to figure out a center field solution.

Reading between the lines a bit, since Jedd Gyorko and Aledmys Diaz seem all but certain to command significant playing time, it’s fair to wonder where this assessment leaves Jhonny Peralta. He could conceivably share time at first or end up on the trade block. It also certainly seems as if the center field spot could be filled from the outside, with Randal Grichuk sliding over to a corner role. Perhaps there’s also a way the club can address the baserunning issue through a new up-the-middle performer; Mozeliak notes that he’s interested in “trying to get a little smaller on the basepaths, trying to add a little speed to this team,” and this may be the spot to target to find such a skillset.

Certainly, speed and defense are not the calling cards of slugger Brandon Moss, though defensive metrics rated him surprisingly well in the outfield in limited time there this season. Mozeliak says that the overall results from Moss were good, and praised his work in the clubhouse, but added that it was tough to deal with his lengthy slumps. Ultimately, there’s interest in bringing him back, says Mozelik, “but it’s going to be at what price?”

Cardinals Still Weighing Jaime Garcia’s Option; “Floated” Him In Trade Talks This Summer

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The Cardinals are still debating whether to pick up the $12MM club option over southpaw Jaime Garcia, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. St. Louis would need to pay a $500K buyout if it declines.

Garcia, 30, just made thirty starts for only the second time in his career, representing a highly promising return to health for a pitcher who has battled shoulder problems. But his results fell well shy of his established benchmark. Between his first full season in the majors through last season (i.e., 2010-2015), Garcia compiled a 3.25 ERA over 708 1/3 innings.

In his 171 2/3 frames in 2016, Garcia ended up allowing 4.67 earned runs per nine. His peripherals weren’t that far off of his career norms — 7.9 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 were both on the high side of his typical range, while his strong 56.7% groundball rate was nearly an exact match for his lifetime average.

Really, Garcia suffered most from an elevated home run susceptibility. He was touched for dingers on over one of five flyballs put in play against him, with opposing hitters launching 1.36 per nine. Whether he can pare back the long balls may be the biggest question remaining. Ultimately, ERA estimators suggest that his down year occurred at least in part due to some poor fortune (4.49 FIP; 3.77 xFIP; 3.93 SIERA.)

In terms of the underlying physical tools, there are indications that Garcia has continued to adapt with a shoulder that will probably never be fully normal. His release point continues to drift (see here and here), with his breaking balls showing marked changes in behavior as well as some inconsistencies. With those changes, Garcia’s typically double-digit swinging strike rate has resided just below that level (9.2%) for each of the last two years. On the other hand, his average fastball velocity is better than ever.

Garcia acknowledged that some of his struggles may be related to his efforts to stay ahead of the shoulder problems that have plagued him for so long. “I got caught up so much in being healthy and working hard to stay healthy that sometimes mechanics took a hit,” he said. But he says he’s glad to have ended the year on an uptick, proclaiming: “I found it now. … I know the kind of pitcher I am.” 

All told, it seems hard to imagine that the Cards will punt Garcia onto an open market that is starved for arms. There’s certainly an argument to be made that it would be unwise to sacrifice the depth after a season in which Lance Lynn, Marco Gonzales, and Michael Wacha were among the club’s hurlers who dealt with varying degrees of injury problems.

If anything, a trade would seem the more likely scenario. According to Goold, St. Louis “floated” Garcia’s name over the summer to assess his value. Whether or not there was ever serious consideration of moving him in 2016, that could become an option this offseason. As Goold explains it, promising the $12MM payday to Garcia “would give Mozeliak control of an asset for 2017 and pitching depth that he could use in deals even into spring training.”

NL Notes: Giants’ Pen, Garcia, Murphy, McCarthy, Rodriguez

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As the Giants have struggled to lock up the ninth inning down the stretch, GM Bobby Evans discusses his decision not to push harder for a top-tier closer at this year’s deadline, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Evans told Jon Heyman of Fan Rag that the struggles have made him feel like a “knucklehead,” though he notes to Schulman that he was saying that in jest. The San Francisco general manager went on to explain a bit more about the team’s efforts to acquire Mark Melancon, who ended up with the Nationals, from the Pirates. “It was very comparable to what they ultimately got,” he said of the Giants’ offer. “You think about it. ’Was there something else I could have done? Was there another name I could have pushed across the table?’ They ended up getting one guy who throws 100 and another who throws 98.” But as Evans went on to discuss, it’s ultimately a matter of hindsight. “Those are just reflections,” he said. “… All I can do is think about how I handled it and how far I went.”

  • The Cardinals are still tinkering with their pitching mix, and will now re-insert Jaime Garcia into the rotation in the place of Luke Weaver, as Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports. Garcia has shown well in his brief move to the pen, while Weaver has struggled in his most recent outings after an excellent start to his major league career.
  • Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy has been diagnosed with a strained glute, as MLB.com’s Jamal Collier reports on Twitter. Murphy last played a full game on September 17th and will rest for a few more contests before returning to action. Obviously, the Nats will be sure to rest him well with the NL East in hand, as Murphy figures to be a key piece of the team’s postseason hopes after posting a remarkable .347/.391/.596 batting line thus far.
  • Brandon McCarthy will become the latest Dodgers pitcher to return to action on Saturday, when MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick says the veteran righty will be activated (Twitter link). The 33-year-old has produced strong results despite allowing over six walks per nine in his eight starts on the year, with a 9.9 K/9 mark and just twenty hits allowed helping to offset the free passes. It remains to be seen what role he’ll play in the postseason for Los Angeles after working back from a hip injury.
  • Phillies reliever Joely Rodriguez looks to be a keeper, as Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Acquired in the Antonio Bastardo trade, the 24-year-old southpaw has developed upper-nineties heat in a relief capacity. He has allowed just a single hit in his first 5 1/3 major league innings, with four strikeouts and two walks also on his ledger.

Cardinals Shopped Jaime Garcia Before Trade Deadline

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The Cardinals offered left-hander Jaime Garcia in talks with other clubs prior to the August 1 trade deadline, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports (subscription required).  Garcia was deemed expendable since Alex Reyes and Luke Weaver are ticketed for roles in next year’s St. Louis rotation; indeed, both young starters have already stepped into starting roles, with Reyes recently taking Garcia’s spot.

It has been an up-and-down year for Garcia, who has a 4.70 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 2.54 K/B rate and 56.7% ground ball rate over 166 2/3 innings for the Cards this season.  On the bright side, that innings total is the second-highest of Garcia’s eight-year MLB career, an encouraging sign for a pitcher who has been plagued with injuries in recent years.  Unfortunately, Garcia also has a career-high home run rate (19.2%) that has inflated his ERA.  Advanced metrics such as SIERA (3.99), FIP (4.43) and xFIP (3.82) indicate that Garcia has been a bit unlucky to post that 4.70 total, though he hasn’t helped himself with some rough recent outings.  Garcia has an 8.28 ERA over his last 29 1/3 innings, a cold streak that forced the Cardinals’ hand in moving Reyes into the starting five.

Despite these issues, Garcia certainly still has some value to other teams.  It’s possible that with a full season under his belt after years of shortened campaigns, Garcia will be better suited to avoid a late-season fade in 2017.  The Cardinals have a $12MM club option on the 30-year-old for 2017 and Olney notes that some in baseball believe St. Louis will decline that option to part ways with the lefty and allocate that money elsewhere.

This winter’s starting pitching free agent market, however, is so incredibly thin that it might be worth it for the Cards to exercise their option and shop Garcia during the offseason, rather than let him go for nothing.  As Olney observes in his piece, the Cardinals will face some difficult decisions in addressing their defense and one-dimensional offense in the winter, so Garcia’s presence gives the club an extra trade chip.

Alex Reyes Moves Into Cardinals’ Rotation; Trevor Rosenthal Activated

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The Cardinals are set to make some changes to their pitching staff, with rising young righty Alex Reyes taking the rotation slot of Jaime Garcia, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch was among those to tweet. Garcia is slated for a move to the bullpen.

[Related: Updated Cardinals Depth Chart]

Also heading to the major league relief corps is former closer Trevor Rosenthal, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on Twitter. He had been sidelined by elbow and shoulder issues, but will be activated in advance of tonight’s contest.

The Cardinals’ pen certainly has a different make-up than would have been anticipated at the outset of the year. Garcia is accompanied by Michael Wacha in moving into a different role, though the latter’s switch occurred primarily because his injury issues did not allow time for him to ramp up to make it back to the rotation. Both, though, have had their share of troubles this year.

Tonight’s moves have some broader implications as well. Reyes will potentially make three starts, which could drive his innings up — when one includes his extended spring training work — to a level that could be uncomfortable if the Cards make a deep postseason run. Dealing with that issue would probably be a luxury, though, as the team faces a tough test to qualify.

Certainly, it’ll be interesting to see how Reyes fares while handling critical outings from the rotation. He only just turned 22, and has enjoyed star-caliber results thus far, allowing only four earned runs with 34 strikeouts while surrendering just 16 hits in 28 frames (including two starts). But he has also handed out 16 free passes and unleashed three wild pitches, so there still seems to be some polishing left to his mound work.

Garcia may be the most interesting element to consider. He has finally been healthy enough for a full season for the first time since 2011, but carries only a 4.65 ERA over his 164 2/3 frames. That’s rough enough to raise questions about his $12MM club option for 2017, but with a barren market for starters this winter, that’s probably a reasonable-enough price tag for the veteran southpaw.

As for Rosenthal, reports of his progress have been encouraging. But he had been a major question mark before the injury issues came to light. Despite striking out 13 batters per nine innings, Rosenthal lost his hold on the closer role with a 5.13 ERA and troubling 7.3 BB/9 over 33 1/3 frames on the year. He’ll be due a raise on his $5.6MM arbitration salary, making for an expensive tender decision. It still seems likely that St. Louis will take the risk on a pitcher who has been excellent for the bulk of his major league career, but any ongoing struggles or added injury concerns might conceivably shift the analysis.

Cardinals Activate Michael Wacha For Pen Duty, Consider Rotation Change

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The Cardinals have activated righty Michael Wacha today, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweets. While that represents a welcome return, he will not slot into his accustomed spot in the rotation. After missing over a month with shoulder issues, there simply isn’t time for him to build up to a full workload.

[Related: Updated Cardinals Depth Chart]

When Wacha moves into the pen, he may soon find company from another starting stalwart. According to ESPN.com’s Mark Saxon, St. Louis is still undecided whether to allow Jaime Garcia to take the ball when he is next scheduled. The 30-year-old lefty has struggled to a 4.65 ERA over 164 2/3 innings on the year, and has been hit hard particularly of late.

Instead, the Cards may turn to young righty Alex Reyes, who continues to impress in multiple roles. Whether functioning as a single-inning reliever, starting, or taking a long relief role, Reyes has racked up the strikeouts (34 in 28 innings) and kept runs off the board (1.29 ERA). After opening the year with a suspension for marijuana use, Reyes has still yet to hit 100 frames — a fair bit shy of his prior career-high of 116 1/3. While he also threw in extended spring training, St. Louis ought to have some flexibility in utilizing him without concern of over-use.

Though the team certainly faces some tough decisions, it seems at least two starters will end up in the pen. That could come in handy down the stretch and (the team hopes) in the postseason, giving skipper Mike Matheny the ability to piggyback starters, get multiple quality relief innings, and generally stay flexible in managing his pitchers’ workloads.

Regarding Garcia, it’s tempting to wonder whether a potential move out of the rotation could be the beginning of the end of his time with the Cardinals. His $12MM club option isn’t exactly a slam dunk given his rough year and past injury issues, though a barren market for starting pitching likely makes that a reasonable value. Even if it is picked up, St. Louis could conceivably market the talented lefty.

Cardinals Exercise Jaime Garcia’s Option

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NOV. 2: The Cardinals announced that they have indeed exercised their option on Garcia (Twitter link).

NOV. 1: The Cardinals have informed Jaime Garcia’s representatives that they will be picking up his $11.5MM option for 2016, Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes.  Had the Cardinals declined his option, Garcia would have received a modest $500K buyout.

Garcia’s option wasn’t a given to be picked up, but comments from GM John Mozeliak back in October seemed to hint that the club was leaning in that direction.

“You think back to Garcia, and the impact that he made on our roster was extremely positive,” said Mozeliak. “If we were having this conversation in February, I don’t think any of us would have thought he was going to contribute, especially the way he did.”

Garcia, 29, pitched to a 2.43 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 across 20 big league starts this season.  Despite his rough outing in Game 2 of the National League Division Series, the left-hander gave the Cardinals solid pitching overall, no small feat considering that he began the year on the disabled list.  As Strauss notes, Garcia’s talent has never really been in question, but his durability has been.  Garcia has made more than 30 starts in a season only once (2011) and he took the hill only 16 times between 2013 and 2014.

Garcia’s deal is only guaranteed through 2016, though he could be brought back to St. Louis on a second option year in 2017.  Next year, the Cardinals will have the option of retaining Garcia for $12MM or instead buying him out for $500K.

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