Freddy García

Freddy Antonio García born October 6, 1976 in Caracas, Venezuela, nicknamed "The Chief", is a Venezuelan Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher for the New York Yankees. During his major league career, he pitched for the Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox. García throws a fastball that can get into the 90s and a hard slider. He also throws a two-seamer, a curve, a splitter and occasionally uses a changeup. Garcia's best year was in 2001 in which he led the American League in innings pitched and ERA. He made the All-Star team in 2001 and 2002. In 2005, he was a member of the World Series winning Chicago White Sox and started the series winning game 4.

Major League Baseball career,Seattle Mariners

Originally signed by the Houston Astros as a non-draft amateur free agent in 1993, García was acquired by Seattle in 1998, along with Carlos Guillén and John Halama in the trade that sent Randy Johnson to the Astros.

During García's rookie season, he pitched 201 innings, compiling a 17-8 record with 170 strikeouts and a 4.07 ERA in 33 starts. After going 9-5 in his second season, he went on to win 18, 16, 12, 13, and 14 games over the course of the next five seasons. Garcia was the American League pitcher on the mound when the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was called after 11 innings, and ended as a 7-7 tie. The other pitcher was Vicente Padilla of the Philadelphia Phillies.

At the July 31 trading deadline in 2004, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Mike Morse, Miguel Olivo, and Jeremy Reed.

Chicago White Sox

Garcia was the starting pitcher in the championship clinching Game 4 of the 2005 World Series for the Chicago White Sox, going 7 scoreless innings.

Garcia experienced a bit of controversy at the beginning of the 2006 season when he tested positive for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic.

In 2006, he surpassed 1200 strikeouts for his career. In eight post-season games, he was 5-2 with a 3.56 ERA in 48 innings. Also during 2006, on April 29, García recorded his 103rd career win in a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, surpassing former White Sox left-hander Wilson Alvarez as the Venezuelan native with most career wins in Major League history. He finished the season 17-9 with a 4.53 ERA.

Philadelphia Phillies

In December 2006, Garcia was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for prospects Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez.While Phillies fans eagerly anticipated Garcia's 2007 season, he failed to live up to expectations. He hid a shoulder injury for the first several months of the season and was finally placed on the disabled list (DL) in June. Garcia made 11 starts before being placed on the DL and earned one win.

Detroit Tigers

In August 2008, García signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers. In his first 2 minor league starts with the Tigers he pitched 5 innings, gave up no runs, and struck out 5. In his Tigers debut in late September, García, with a limited pitch count, threw 5 scoreless innings to get the win.

New York Mets

In January 2009, García agreed to a minor league deal with the New York Mets. He was released from the Mets on April 28, 2009 because of two bad starts with the Triple-A farm team, Buffalo Bisons. He was released without having appeared on the club's regular season roster.

Second stint with the Chicago White Sox

On June 8, 2009, the Chicago White Sox signed Garcia to a minor league contract. Garcia started on August 18 against the Kansas City Royals for the first time with the White Sox since 2006. In his first game back with the White Sox, Garcia went 4.1 IP allowing 5 ER in a losing effort. Garcia finished the 2009 season with a 3-4 record and a 4.34 ERA. On October 5, 2009, the Chicago White Sox exercised their 2010 option on Garcia, adding that the 34-year-old made a $1 million base salary, plus a possible $2 million in incentives.

New York Yankees

On January 31, 2011, García agreed to a minor league contract with the New York Yankees worth $1.5 million. On March 25, 2011, the Yankees announced that García would be added to the major league starting rotation.