Okay, I see it's official- Garcia signs

So Garcia signs with the Sox- espn link

I suppose if you don't like Freddy, then you think this is a terrible deal. If you think Freddy is a good pitcher, then you think it sounds pretty reasonable.

All in all, I'd say both the M's and Sox win. We get position players, the Sox get a pitcher who will be around next year.

Is this too much money for Freddy?

Well, I think we all agree Freddy is not a superstar pitcher- ala Randy Johnson, Pedro, Curt etc...

But then again, those types of pitchers make closer to $15 million.

So is Freddy a number 1 pitcher?

By definition there should be around 10 in the AL (several teams clearly don't have a number 1 type pitcher). So if you are one of the top ten pitchers in the AL, I think it is at least fair to mention you as a possible number one pitcher.

Per the espn story-

"He currently is fifth in the AL in baserunners per nine innings (10.99) and strikeouts, and sixth in ERA. Since the start of the 2001 season, Garcia ranks third in the AL with innings pitched (776.2), fifth in strikeouts (578) and eighth in wins (51)."

If Freddy was pitching for a good team this year, he'd likely be going to the All Star game.

Is it really so clear cut that Freddy is not a #1 pitcher for a lot of teams in baseball?

For the Yanks and Red Sox, he is not a number 1. But for plenty of teams, Freddy is just what they need, an innings eater who is durable and wins games.

In the weird world of baseball, this deal is very fair. To put it into perspective, he's making roughly what Olerud and Boone make.

We'll see if the M's regret trading Freddy in the years to come. We do know the M's never offered him 3 years at $27 million, and will never know if he would have taken it.