Report: Garcia Wants To Go To Yankees
CARACAS, Venezuela (CBS) -- The White Sox have said they want Freddy Garcia back, but a new report says he might want to go to the Bronx instead.
NESN reports Garcia wants to play for the New York Yankees for the coming season.
Quoted in the Venezuelan paper Meridiano, Garcia said, "My preference is to be with the New York Yankees, and it's not unreasonable to have that in mind, because I've demonstrated that I can be useful."
He went on to say a team like the Yankees would be "ideal for my age," as would "playing in a successful, media-heavy, demanding division," NESN reported.
Last week, MLB.com reported that the White Sox hoped to bring back Garcia for the 2011 season. The team had expressed interest in keeping Garcia as far back as the end of last season, but his name was later linked to virtually every team with pitching needs, according to MLB Fanhouse.
Garcia was the starting pitcher for Game 4 of the 2005 World Series, in which the White Sox won the title. He was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in December 2006, but was later placed on the disabled list for a shoulder injury.
After stints with the Detroit Tigers and New York Mets, Garcia returned to the White Sox in minor league contract, and started for the first time in three years for the Sox on Aug. 18, 2009. The Sox exercised their 2010 option on Garcia to keep him for another season afterward.
