| Jon Garland seems to enjoy the NL West. The Los Angeles
Dodgers, who signed the veteran to a one-year deal worth $5 million, are his
third NL West team in as many years. The pitcher started the 2009 season with
the Arizona Diamondbacks but was later traded to Dodgers at the 31 August
waiver deadline. Garland spent last season with the San Diego Padres, where he
enjoyed one of the best years of his 11-year career in the Majors: In 33 starts
he had a 14-12 record, struck out 136 batters in 200 innings and recorded a
3.47 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. He has a 3.74 ERA and 1.36 WHIP as an NL pitcher, as
opposed to a 4.47 ERA and 1.38 WHIP during his 9 seasons in the AL.
Jon Garland is expected to join the rotation as 5th
starter behind Clayton Kershaw, Ted Lilly, Hiroki Kuroda and Chad Billingsley,
which should make for a very solid rotation. It also means that SP Vicente
Padilla may sign elsewhere with another team, as the Dodgers have not offered
arbitration.
Fantasy Perspective
For the past few years I keep saying that Garland is one of
the most underrated and unappreciated fantasy players. He may not have the most
overpowering stuff but he’s good for 14 or 15 wins next season. During his
6-game stint with the Dodgers in 2009 he had a 2.72 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP, which
makes me believe that his numbers shouldn’t to be too far off from last season.
Even though it would not surprise me if Garland went
undrafted he deserves to be on fantasy rosters in all leagues and formats
(well, except for AL-only of course). In the past couple of seasons I have used
him very successfully as a pitch-or-ditch guy and he’ll definitely appear on my
cheat sheet on draft day!
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