Chicago Cubs pitcher Matt Garza avoided arbitration Thursday by agreeing to a one-year deal worth a reported $10.25 million.
Garza, who made $9.5 million last season, going 5-7 with a 3.91 ERA before being sidelined with an elbow injury, announced the signing on Twitter.
“Business side over! Hooray! Time to focus on what really matters 2013,” the 29-year-old athlete wrote Thursday.
The Cubs were expected to make a formal announcement sometime later today.
According to ESPN , Garza has resumed throwing and is expected to be ready for spring training, a sentiment team president Theo Epstein echoed this week:
“We expect [him] to be full-go in spring training and ready to start the year,” Epstein said Wednesday.
Over the course of his seven years in the MLB, Matt Garza owns a career 3.84 ERA with 865 strikeouts in 1027 innings pitched.
Prior to playing for the Clubs, Garza spent time in Minnesota and Tampa, where he threw a no-hitter on July 26, 2010 against the Detroit Tigers.
Garza’s best season (in my opinion), however, came with the Rays in 2008 when he held down a 3.70 ERA, struck out 128 batters, and threw two shutouts in just 184 innings pitched.
He also nabbed the AL championship series MVP award that season.
Garza is currently set to become a free agent following the 2013 season.
