Free Agent Options

Over at Mets Fever, Ed Ryan did a little research and found out who was still out there on the FA market. Well, there isn't much...

Innings Eater

Kyle Lohse

Livan Hernandez

Injury Risk

Freddy Garcia

Kris Benson

Rodrigo Lopez

Bartolo Colon

Journeyman

Steve Traschel

Tony Armas Jr,

Josh Fogg

Projects

Jeff Weaver

Eric Milton

Odalis Perez

Russ Ortiz

Jaret Wright

David Wells

Longmen or Spot Starters

Shawn Chacon

Ramon Ortiz

Byung-Hyun Kim

Mike Maroth

Tomo Ohka

Casey Fossum

The only names that intrigue me are Shawn Chacon, Jaret Wright and Freddy Garcia. They have all had success in the past. Lets take a look at each of them.


Shawn Chacon:

Chacón was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 3rd Round of the 1996 Draft. Chacón made his MLB debut in 2001 as a member of the Colorado Rockies. He developed into a capable starter and was Colorado's 2003 All-Star representative, finishing 11-8 with a 4.60 ERA. Chacon was traded to the Yankees in July 2005, and finished the season with a stat line like this... 7-3 with a 2.85 ERA. Pretty good, considering many Yankee fans hated the trade. During the July 31st 2006 mid-season non-waiver trade deadline, he was dealt for the less expensive Craig Wilson. Chacon was used as a starter by the Pirates, making 9 starts and going 2-3 with a 5.48 ERA. During this past season, Chacon was mainly used as a reliever by the Pirates, but also made 4 starts. He went 5-4 with a 3.94 ERA in 64 games for the Pirates in 2007. Chacon has a 88-92 mph sinker, a big curveball, a slider, and a changeup.


Jaret Wright:

The son of former major league pitcher Clyde Wright, Jaret attended Katella High School.As a prospect with the Cleveland Indians, Wright threw a two-seam fastball that topped out at 98MPH, along with a hard curveball and a changeup. Currently, after battling shoulder injuries, his fastball tops out in the low 90s. Wright had one good season with the Indians, but never fulfilled his potential while with the team. In 2002, he became a free-agent and signed with the Padres. He did not fare well in San Diego, going 1-5 with an 8.73 ERA in 39 games, all in relief. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves in August. He was unscored upon in all but one his 11 appearances with the Braves, going 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA, and was told that he was going to be made a starting pitcher again for the next season. That next season, Wright became the Braves best pitcher, going 15-8 with a 3.28 ERA in 32 starts that season while amassing 159 K's in 186.1 IP. He then signed with the Yankees for 3 years and $21 million. He has battled injuries throughout his contract and is now a free-agent once again. Maybe he could turn it aroud again, but some people feel that he may retire.


Freddy Garcia

In 1993, Freddy Garcia was found by a Houston scout and was signed as a undrafted free-agent. Garcia was acquired by Seattle in 1998, along with Carlos Guillen and John Halama--in the trade that sent Randy Johnson to the Astros. During the 1999 season with Seattle, Garcia went 17-8 with 170 K's and a 4.07 ERA in 33 starts. After going 9-5 in his second season, he went on to win 18, 16, 12, 13, and 14 games over the course of the next five seasons. He ended up with the White Sox, and won a Championship with them. In December of 2006, Garcia was traded to the Phillies for two very good prospects, but never lived up to the hype of Phillie fans, due to injuries. He is now a free-agent and could possibly return to his form of the early 2000's. If he was to become what he once was, he would be a HUGE asset for the Mets. Garcia throws a fastball that can get into the 90s and a hard slider. He also throws a two-seam-fastball, a curve ball, a changeup and occasionally uses a splitter.


Here is the stats of the last 3 years for each player...

Freddy Garcia:
05- 14-8/3.87 ERA/33 GS/228.0 IP/ 60:146 BB:K ratio
06- 17-9/4.53 ERA/33 GS/216.1 IP/ 48:135 BB:K ratio
07- 1-5/ 5.90 ERA/11 GS/ 58.0 IP/ 19:50 BB:K ratio


Jaret Wright-
05- 5-5/ 6.08 ERA/ 13 GS/ 63.2 IP/ 32:34 BB:K ratio
06- 11-7/ 4.49 ERA/ 27 GS/140.1 IP/ 57:84 BB:K ratio
07- 0-3/ 6.97 ERA/ 3 GS/ 10.1 IP/ 9:7 BB:K ratio


Shawn Chacon-
05- 8-10/ 3.44 ERA/ 24 GS/ 151.2 IP/ 66:79 BB:K ratio
06- 7-6/ 6.36 ERA/ 20 GS/109.0 IP/ 63:62 BB:K ratio
07- 5-4/ 3.94 ERA/ 4 GS/ 96.0 IP/ 48:79 BB:K ratio


Freddy Garcia has been a pretty consistent work horse at the top of a rotation, but he won't be ready until June or July. Chacon looks like a pretty good option out of the bullpen. Jaret Wright looks like a long shot wherever he goes. There are a lot of risky moves that can be made, but they could end up paying off in the end. If you could sign one of these players on the list above, who would it be?