MLB News: Freddy Garcia Set To Retire After Two-Decade Career


After spending 21 years in professional baseball — 15 of those years in Major League Baseball (MLB) — longtime pitcher “Sweaty” Freddy Garcia is set to retire from the game, according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com.

Last night’s start for Venezuela’s Aragua Tigres in the Caribbean Series championship game was Garcia’s final career outing, per Sanchez’s report. While Garcia has not pitched in the MLB since the 2013 season, the Venezuela native still finished his career on a high note.

Garcia, 39, threw five-and-one-third innings, holding Mexico’s Mazatlan Venados to four hits, two earned runs, and striking out three batters, according to the Seattle Times. Garcia’s Tigres team lost 5-4 on a ninth-inning walk-off home run by Mexico’s Jorge Vazquez. However, Venezuela manager Eddie Perez, the Atlanta Braves’ bullpen coach, told reporters before the game that “knowing that it’s his last game is going to make it very special.”

Originally drafted by Houston Astros in 1993 when he was just a teenager, Garcia spent five years in the Astros’ system before finding success. Alongside Carlos Guillén and John Halama, Garcia was traded to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson. The next season, Garcia got his chance at the MLB level.

Making his debut for the Mariners in 1999, Garcia went 17-8 with a 4.07 ERA in 201-and-one-third innings. Those efforts didn’t go unnoticed, as Garcia finished second in Rookie of the Year voting and ninth in the American League Cy Young award voting. Utilizing his blazing fastball and sharp slider, Garcia developed into one of baseball’s top young starters.

[Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images]
Garia was a two-time All-Star with the Mariners. [Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images]

Garcia pitched for four-and-a-half more seasons with Seattle, making two AL All-Star teams in the process. He was traded for the second time in his career during the 2004 season, going to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Michael Morse, Miguel Olivo, and Jeremy Reed. Garcia went 76-50 with a 3.89 ERA and 819 strikeouts during his near six-year stint in Seattle.

Spending parts of the next three seasons with the White Sox, Garcia helped lead the team to a World Series championship in 2005, which included a seven-inning scoreless outing in Game 4 of the World Series. After the 2006 season, Garcia was traded yet again, this time going to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez.

Injuries set in for Garcia as he only made 23 starts from 2007-09 for the Phillies, Detroit Tigers, and White Sox, re-signing with the team during the 2009 campaign.

With a renaissance 2010 season (12-8, 4.64 ERA) under his belt, Garcia joined the New York Yankees prior to the 2011 campaign. With the Bronx Bombers reeling from injuries to several starters, Garcia posted his best statistical season since 2006 as he went 12-8 with a 3.62 ERA in 26 games (25 starts). That earned him a $4 million guarantee from the Yankees for 2012, but the results weren’t as good. Garcia pitched to a 5.20 ERA in 17 games (1o starts) during the 2012 season.

[Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images]
Garcia during his stint with the Yankees. [Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images]

Latching on the Baltimore Orioles during the 2013 season, Garcia went 3-5 with a 5.77 ERA in 11 games (10 starts). He was traded one final time, going to the Atlanta Braves in late August of the season. He even made a postseason start for the Braves in 2013, the last year Garcia spent on an MLB mound.

Garcia bounced around between the Chinese Professional Baseball League and the Mexican Baseball League between 2014-15. He also attempted an MLB comeback in 2015 with the Los Angeles Dodgers but ended up released after struggling in the minors.

Through 15 MLB seasons, Garcia compiled a 156-108 record with a 4.15 ERA and 1,621 strikeouts in 2,264 big league innings.

[Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images]

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