The Blue Jays on Thursday announced that they've signed veteran left-hander Jaime Garcia. The contract will reportedly pay Garcia $8 million for the upcoming season and also includes a $10 million option/$2 million buyout for 2019. That brings the minimum guarantee to $10 million. Also, Garcia's deal reportedly includes some incentives:
Jaime Garcia also receives $2 million in potential incentives that caps off with 180 innings pithced, paying him $500k for every 10 innings beginning with 150 innings. #Jays
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 15, 2018
Garcia, 31, is coming off a 2017 season in which he pitched to a 4.41 ERA/99 ERA+ and a 2.02 K/BB ratio for the Braves, Twins, and Yankees. For his career, he owns an ERA+ of 107 across parts of nine big-league seasons. In Toronto, he'll join a potentially promising rotation that includes Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, J.A. Happ, and Marco Estrada. Provided he stays healthy -- not to be assumed in Garcia's case -- he should be an asset by the standards of fifth starters.
More broadly, Garcia's signing continues a recent spasm of activity when it comes to free agent pitchers. In recent days, we've seen Yu Darvish, Bud Norris, and Andrew Cashner come to terms. Notable arms like Jake Arrieta, Lance Lynn, and Alex Cobb remain on the market, but the real freeze-out right now appears to be confined to free agent hitters.
