Fantasy Baseball: Can Jaime Garcia Rebound In Minnesota?
By Mike Marteny
Can Jaime Garcia Rebound In Minnesota?
The Minnesota Twins finally sealed the deal for Jaime Garcia after it was rumored late last week. Here are the particulars of the deal that will send Garcia to the American League.
The Twins are wasting no time playing with their new toy. He is going to make his American League debut on Friday night in Oakland after spending the first nine years in the National League. His first eight were spent with the Cardinals. He was traded to Atlanta in December for Luke Dykstra, Chris Ellis, and John Gant.
Garcia was 4-7 with a 4.30 ERA in 18 starts for the Braves this year. He will provide another veteran arm in the Minnesota rotation while they wait on youngsters Stephen Gonsalves, Fernando Romero, Felix Jorge, and Tyler Jay, all of whom could make it to the majors next year.
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While Garcia is clearly a rental, this is a chance worth taking for the Twins. They likely have little interest in signing him beyond this season, but Atlanta is footing the bill for the rest of his contract, and picking up 2/3 of Recker’s remaining contract. This is essentially a free trial run of Garcia for the Twins.
Garcia is a second half pitcher, and has held his own in interleague over the years. In 20 starts against A.L. teams, Garcia is 6-7 with a 4.39 ERA. He has only pitched one game in Target Field so far, but it was six shutout innings.
As far as fantasy impact, this will have more of an implication in AL and NL only leagues. If you were relying on Garcia in mixed leagues, he is likely going to be just as serviceable now as he was last week. Garcia is still mostly a spot starter to use based on matchup. This trade will have a much bigger impact in the real world than fantasy.
It appears as though Garcia will take the rotation spot of Kyle Gibson. Gibson was better this time through the rotation, but he still holds a 6.08 ERA on the season. This will take away a favorite stack play for DFS players as Gibson will likely move to the bullpen.
Recker started the season in Atlanta, but was just 1-7 in six games for the Braves. Recker likely will not make an impact on the Twins unless an injury strikes starting catcher Jason Castro of lefty-mashing backup Chris Gimenez.
Not much is known about the prospect that the Braves received, Huascar Ynoa. Ynoa has a 5-11 record with a 3.38 ERA in 31 starts in rookie and A ball. He is only 19, so if he does have a fantasy impact, it will be far down the road.
The rotation spot of Jaime Garcia will likely be occupied by Aaron Blair. Blair is 2-7 with a 7.59 ERA in 15 major league starts over his career. He was also scuffling with a 4.86 ERA in 18 starts for AAA Gwinnett, which isn’t even in the Pacific Coast League. Blair isn’t worth fantasy consideration unless he starts proving himself at the major league level.
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The Twins also picked up some cash from the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Nick Tepesch. Tepesch is 9-19 with a 4.69 ERA in 41 major league starts, most with the Rangers.
Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all of your DFS needs, and all the breakdowns of the deadline deals and what they mean for your fantasy teams!