The New York Yankees have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with veteran pitcher Freddy Garcia, according to sources.
The deal is worth between $4 million and $5 million, according to the New York Daily News. Garcia wanted to return to the Yankees, despite the fact that he could have found two-year deals with other teams, the Daily News reported, citing sources.
The Yankees had been surveying the free-agent market for pitchers. General manager Brian Cashman met with Bob Garber, the agent for C.J. Wilson and Roy Oswalt. However, team insiders told ESPNNewYork.com's Wallace Matthews that the Yankees are skittish on both pitchers.
Sources told ESPN that there is a quiet confidence within the organization that Phil Hughes will have a strong bounce-back year in 2012.
The Yankees will continue to have talks about available starting pitchers, the sources said, and they could sign some low-cost veterans, as they did last winter when they worked out agreements with Bartolo Colon and Garcia.
Garcia was 12-8 with a 3.62 ERA in 25 starts for the Yankees last season. The 35-year-old righty struck 96 and walked 45 in 146 2/3 innings.
Buster Olney is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine.