Brewers say Matt Garza deal is not done
By Matt Fisher
In an off season that has had several deals with free agents fall through due to physicals, it was reported earlier that Matt Garza had signed with the Milwaukee Brewers. That deal, from all appearances, looks to be in some question now.
Despite media reports, negotiations between the #Brewers and Matt Garza are ongoing, but there is no deal yet.
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) January 24, 2014
Several well-respected sources (Ken Rosenthal first) Tweeted today that the Brewers had, in fact, signed the right hander to a 4-year, $52 million contract. The story then was that of free agent pitchers being able to sign with clubs now that Masahiro Tanaka was officially off the table, but now several are speculating that there may be issues with Garza’s medical and how far talks have progressed between the club and Garza.
Garza earlier this off season had been heavily rumored to be a target of teams such as the Angels and Diamondbacks. The 30-year old is not tied to draft pick compensation, as he only spent half of a season with the Texas Rangers and could not be tendered a qualifying offer. This fact alone seemed to catapult him to the top of the Free Agent pitcher ranks following Tanaka.
Matt had an outstanding first half with the Chicago Cubs, going 6-1 with a 3.17 ERA before being traded to the Texas Rangers (who had scouted him and desired him last year and the year before that, but injuries prevented anything from being done) and struggling. In Texas, he went 4-5 with a 4.38 ERA in 13 starts, leading to some wondering whether he could handle pitching for a Postseason contender.
Currently, Adam McCalvy is reporting that the deal is just taking some time to finalize.
Now I'm hearing the holdup on Garza is not related to medical concerns. It's just taking time to wrap up the deal. Stay tuned.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) January 24, 2014
The deal could have major implications on the Angels and Diamondbacks, pending the outcome.