The Milwaukee Brewers reportedly signed veteran free-agent pitcher Matt Garza. The deal is reportedly for four years and $52 million for the right-handed pitcher according to Ken Rosenthal, who first reported the deal.
This deal comes to a surprise to many after General Manager Doug Melvin was clearly keeping his interest in the pitcher on the down low.
This signing is the first major deal to happen after the signing of Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. Melvin was leading people to believe that the Brewers were going to have a quiet offseason considering the biggest acquisitions were pitcher Will Smith and first basemen Lyle Overbay and Mark Reynolds. Melvin seemed to be happy with letting the Brewers’ young pitchers fill out the back of the rotation and seeing who can step up for the club.
This isn’t the first surprise acquisition of a pitcher for Melvin. In the past there was the memorable CC Sabathia trade that help propel the Brewers to their first trip to the post season in over 20 years. In the winter of 2010 he made another memorable trade to create excitement for the club when he acquired Zack Greinke. Melvin has a talent for keeping a low profile on acquiring big name pitchers and it helps keep Brewers’ fans on their toes.
Melvin must have realized that he could get Garza for a contract that the Brewers could manage to pay. The Brewers do not have a large payroll due to being in one of the smallest media markets in the MLB. They were never in the running for Tanaka but this caused Melvin to look to other options and he found his man.
This signing adds a pitcher who can fill in behind Kyle Lohse and Yovani Gallardo to form a potent one-two-three to pitch to in a strong NL Central. With Wily Peralta as the number four starter, the last spot goes to Marco Estrada or Brewers’ prospect Tyler Thornburg. Estrada seems to have the edge for the last spot as he has had some success in the major leagues.
I think that this move could be a huge addition for the Brewers. This could make the Brewers a dark horse contender to make the playoffs. Last year they were plagued with injuries, poor pitching and of course the Ryan Braun distraction and suspension. This season should be smoother with a large factor in how well Ryan Braun plays this season. Also the health of third-basemen Aramis Ramirez could help the Brewers offense that struggled at times without their three and four hitter. With another solid pitcher to add to the rotation the Brewers my not be plagued with the pitching problems they had last year. The Brewers seems to be ok with his checkered health issues and decided to pull the trigger on the deal.
Garza was 10-6 and had a 3.82 era last year with the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers.
What do you think of the signing? Was it too much or too little for a player with a sketchy elbow. Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
**Update
It appears that the two sides have not agreed to terms yet and that the deal is being held up. There is no reason yet as to why the deal has not gone through yet.