Garcia's arrival: Drumroll, please
ONLY PHILS SEEM EXCITED ABOUT ACQUISITION OF VETERAN PITCHER
CLEARWATER, Fla. - When Jimmy Rollins made waves by declaring the Phillies the new team to beat in the National League East, his manager, Charlie Manuel, wasn't surprised.
He figured his players would be chest-thumping, despite the lack of much hoopla, when the Phillies got Freddy Garcia from the White Sox on Dec. 6 for stagnated pitching prospect Gavin Floyd and promising lefty Gio Gonzalez.
Philly media outlets went bonkers . . . but not about the team nabbing its most accomplished starter since Curt Schilling.
The departure of Floyd, the fourth overall pick in the 2001 draft, overshadowed the other components of the deal, mainly because Floyd was an unmitigated disappointment. Gonzalez served as a solid second story line, since he was a vestige of the 2005 deal that sent franchise first baseman Jim Thome to the Sox.
Incredibly, the arrival of Garcia in Philadelphia lacked much punch . . . that is, until Garcia's new teammates gave voice to the reality that the long-sought, top-flight successor to Schilling had arrived.
Then Rollins began his "We're No. 1" campaign.
The tandem of Brett Myers and Cole Hamels might be ascending but Garcia, 30, is more accomplished. And, with no disrespect meant to the former would-be No. 1s - Andy Ashby, Kevin Millwood and Eric Milton - who turned out to be less than No. 2s, Garcia is better than them, too.
"No doubt. It's not even close," Rollins said. "Brett has that profile, but he was homegrown. Freddy came in with the reputation. He has the field work that earned that reputation. And he has the [2005 World Series] ring, and the big games that he's pitched in, to back that up."
So, yes, Rollins was a bit incredulous that the addition of Garcia caused little impact. So was his boss.
"I was surprised, because he's a big-name pitcher, and that's what we were looking for," said Manuel, whose starters were the worst in the National League through the trading deadline last season and third-worst at season's end. "But that's when Jimmy Rollins and some of our other players said, 'We know we have a chance to win.' With the media and the fans, it might have been underplayed. But it definitely had a big impact with the players."
With a little prodding, the defending NL East champion Mets bristled at Rollins' declaration. Indeed, Rollins seemed to have forgotten that the 2004 edition of the Phillies, which included Millwood, Milton, Thome and closer Billy Wagner, was the consensus favorite to represent the National League in the World Series.
Maybe Rollins knew something no one else did.
"I knew there were a couple of pieces missing. Bringing Freddy was a piece-and-a-half, to me," Rollins said. "One, for what he's going to bring in the win column. Two, for what he's going to bring in the experience column, and how he's going to be able to push [Myers and Hamels]. He's already the man. They want to be the man. Who's going to be the man? They'll look and say, 'He went seven innings. I want to go eight.' "
It might be a while before Garcia goes seven, or even six. A strained right biceps sidelined him the latter part of spring training and he is opening the season on the disabled list.
When Garcia does return to full strength, he'll be expected to resume his Ironman role. While compiling a 116-71 record in his 8-year career, he has averaged nearly 183 innings pitched per season.
He will not be asked to be the ace - not that that is such a bad thing, said Jamie Moyer, Garcia's stablemate for 5 1/2 seasons in Seattle.
"No disrespect to Freddy. I don't think he is an ace," Moyer said. "To expand on that, to me, a No. 1 starter is a guy who - say you've lost four in a row - he can stop a losing streak. Freddy can do that. Can he do it all year long? Maybe not.
"The other side to that is, how many legitimate No. 1 starters are there out there? You know and I know, I never was. To me, you're talking about very few, all time.
"A Bob Gibson. Dwight Gooden. Tom Seaver. Roger Clemens. A Roy Halladay, when he's healthy. A Johan Santana.
