Jon Garland Signs with the Indians

Another former Dodger has moved on to greener pastures. Former Dodger starting pitcher Jon Garland has signed with the Indians. This according to a tweet from Garland’s cousin Jon Garland’s cousin Tweet  It’s a minor league deal, with an invite to spring training, and is pending a physical.

The 32-year old right hander has been pitching in the majors since 2000. Garland was originally drafted by the Cubs in the first round of the 1997 amateur draft. Garland is from Valencia, CA, and went to Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, CA. Garland has pitched for five teams: White Sox, (2000-2007), Angels (2008), Arizona (2009), Dodgers (2009), San Diego (2010), Dodgers again (2011), and now Cleveland.

Garland pitched in only nine games for the Dodgers last year. He posted a 1-5 record, a 4.33 ERA, 54 innings pitched, and won his only game on the same night the Dodgers announced the MLB takeover. Garland was placed on the DL after the Dodgers learned he had a torn shoulder, and he had to have season ending rotator cuff surgery. The Dodgers decided not to pick up his option year, which was no surprise. That made Garland a free agent.

Garland had been known as a notorious innings eater. He had six seasons of over 200 innings pitched, and 9 seasons with at least 190. However it looks like all of the innings took its toll on Garland’s arm. Garland’s best year was in 2005 when he was 18-10 with the White Sox, posted a 3.50 ERA, 221 innings, an all-star selection, and a World Series title. Garland also won 18 games the following season for the White Sox.

Garland has a career 132-119 record, with a 4.32 ERA. He has pitched in 353 games, and has posted a career 3.0 walks per nine rate, and a 4.9 strikeout rate. He had career bests in those two categories in 2009 (6.1 strikeout rate for San Diego), and a career low 1.7 walk rate in 2006 for the White Sox.

Steve Kinsella  wrote a piece about the move over at Wahoos on first. Apparently the Indians could be worried about all of the innings piling up on Josh Tomlin’s arm, and Garland is considered as depth, and could compete for Cleveland’s fifth starter spot in spring training.

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