Million Dollar Question – What Free Agent Would You Avoid The Most??
Last week we discussed the best fit for our teams among the current crop of free agents.
This week, we will go with the opposite approach and identify the player that you would avoid at all costs. It could be that you don’t care for his performance history or that you simply feel he is not worth the potential contract that he may score as teams look to fill holes in their rosters.
While very few players are worth the financial or time investment that teams make during this frenzy, some deals work out very well and some are disasters.
There are a lot of players that got consideration for this post from me, but ultimately, one name stood out…
Of the many names getting attention this offseason, the player that I would not touch with a ten-foot pole is starting pitcher, Matt Garza.
Garza is a fair pitcher. But, he is no free agency prize. In the last three major league seasons, he has played for two teams (Cubs and Rangers) – and each thought he could be the answer. And he failed both times.
For the Cubs, he went 21-18 in 60 starts. And then for the Rangers he went 4-5 in 13 starts. He may absorb a bunch of innings, but that effort does not translate into wins. Garza’s career strikeout to walk ratio of 2.55:1 is fine, but it is far from spectacular. And with a career ERA of 3.84 and a WHIP of 1.283, he is not someone I would want to add to the front side of my pitching rotation.

Garza is more than likely seeking a 4-5 year deal worth $12-$15 million per year. In my opinion, I’d rather bring in two pitchers for that price that have a lot less experience but show more promise. At best, Garza is an end-of-rotation pitcher, and he is not worthy of the investment that some teams may make into him…
Whew – that was a bit exhausting.
Who would you go with?? What Free Agent Would You Avoid The Most??