NOTE TO YANKEES: KEEP FREDDY GARCIA AROUND

The Yankees are facing a decision; they need to decide who gets sent down/released when David Robertson gets activated off the disabled list. The candidates boil down to four guys: Cody Eppley, Clay Rapada, David Phelps, and Freddy Garcia. Whether you agree with it or not, cutting the latter member of this group would be a mistake.

I know, I know, Freddy Garcia has been awful this year, but let’s get some perspective here. After his blowup start against the Detroit Tigers on April 28 (1.2 IP, 5 H, 6 ER) he was shifted to the bullpen in favor of David Phelps. But, since his transition to the ‘pen, he’s been pretty serviceable, to say the least, pitching to a 1.64 ERA in his last 11 innings since May 2. Opponents are also hitting just .238/.288/.333 (BA/OBP/SLG) in that span, too. It’s pretty hard to ignore those numbers.
The Yankees also made an investment in Garcia. They gave him a $4 million contract during the off-season with a chunk of that money still left. It’s easy for us to sit here and say “cut him” because he “sucks”, but it’s not our money, it’s the Yankees’ money. Hell, it even seems like Girardi has faith in Garcia as it is. He had him warm up twice in the series against the Atlanta Braves when the games were tight. Point is, Freddy’s staying put, like it or not.

Now, with that out of the way, that leaves us with three other candidates on the chopping block: Phelps, Rapada, and Eppley. Rapada and Eppley have been very serviceable for the Yankees this year, as the former is great against lefties (.163 BAA), while the latter is great against righties (.250 BAA). In other words, they’re doing what they’re asked to do. Rapada also pitched a scoreless eighth inning in a two-run game on Tuesday, as did Eppley in a one-run game the following day. Girardi trusts these guys; it wouldn’t make much since to replace them on the roster.
That leaves us with one final candidate: David Phelps. Phelps is a guy everyone roots for and we all want him to succeed, but as of now, he has no place on this team. For starters, he’s only appeared in one game (June 2 at Detroit) in the last 16 days. Phelps is rotting in the Yankee ‘pen right now, to put it bluntly. The solution: send him to AAA and put him back in the rotation. Joe Girardi believes he’s a starter long-term, as does Brian Cashman, and you should too.

It’s funny how people’s moods can change so quickly. Freddy Garcia was a rock for the Yankees last year, but after four bad starts to start 2012 (well, really two awful starts, and two not-so-good starts) everyone wants his head on a platter. But the reality is, as noted earlier, the Yankees have made an investment in him. If they really wanted to let him go, they would have done so already. We’re not asking him to be Cy Young, we’re asking him to be an effective mop-up man, and for the last month he has been just that.



--Jesse Schindler, BYB Lead Staff Writer

Follow me on Twitter @SchindlerJesse

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