Freddy Garcia

Originally signed by the Houston Astros as a non-draft amateur free agent in 1993, García was acquired by Seattle in 1998, along with Carlos Guillén and John Halama in the trade that sent Randy Johnson to the Astros.

At the July 31 trading deadline in 2004, García and Ben Davis were traded to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for Michael Morse, Miguel Olivo, and Jeremy Reed. As a Mariner, García posted a 76–50 record with a 3.89 ERA and 819 strikeouts.

In 2006, he surpassed 1,000 strikeouts for his career. In eight post-season games, he was 5–2 with a 3.56 ERA in 48 innings. Also during 2006, on April 29, García recorded his 103rd career win in a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, surpassing former White Sox left-hander Wilson Álvarez as the Venezuelan native with most career wins in Major League history. He finished the season 17–9 with a 4.53 ERA. He was given the nickname "Big Game" while a member of the White Sox.

In December 2006, García was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for prospects Gavin Floyd and Gio González.

In August 2008, García signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers. In his first 2 minor league starts with the Tigers he pitched 5 innings, gave up no runs, and struck out 5. In his Tigers debut in late September, García, with a limited pitch count, threw 5 scoreless innings to get the win.

In January 2009, García agreed to a minor league deal with the New York Mets. He was released on April 28, 2009, after two bad starts for the Buffalo Bisons.

On June 8, 2009, the Chicago White Sox signed García to a minor league contract. García started on August 18 against the Kansas City Royals for the first time with the White Sox since 2006.

On October 5, 2009, the Chicago White Sox exercised their 2010 option on García, adding that the 34-year-old made a $1 million base salary, plus a possible $2 million in incentives.

On January 31, 2011, García agreed to a minor league contract with the New York Yankees worth $1.5 million. On March 25, 2011, the Yankees announced that García would be added to the major league starting rotation. He finished the 2011 season with a solid 12–8 record and a 3.62 ERA, however, he was consistently hammered by teams with .500 or better records, most notably the Boston Red Sox. García was on the mound in relief as the Sox won their second game of the season on April 10, as well as 2 other losses on May 15 and June 7. However, García did manage to defeat the Red Sox on September 24.

In 2012, García was expected to challenge for a starting spot with Phil Hughes, A. J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte and Michael Pineda. However, Burnett was traded in the offseason, and Pineda was diagnosed with a shoulder injury, thereby allowing García into the rotation.

On January 28, 2013, García signed a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres. He was released by the Padres on March 24. He was promptly signed to a minor league contract by the Baltimore Orioles, and assigned to the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. He was called up on May 4 to make his Orioles debut on the road at Anaheim. He was designated for assignment on June 24, 2013. Three days later, García signed another minor league contract and returned to Norfolk.

On August 23, 2013, Garcia was acquired by the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations. Garcia pitched effectively for the Braves, going 1-2 with a 1.65 ERA in September (1-1, 1.83 ERA in 3 starts). He earned a start in game four of the NLDS. Although the Braves lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Garcia pitched well, giving up 2 runs over 6 innings and was in line for the win when he left the game.

García was once a power pitcher, but as he got older, García lost velocity on his pitches and compensated by developing a broad repertoire of up to six or seven pitches. In the 2013 season, García threw the following pitches, in order of their use:

On April 18, 2014, García signed with the EDA Rhinos of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The seven-month deal included incentives that increased its worth up to $392,000, and was the most lucrative in CPBL history until Lin Chih-sheng signed a 3-year deal for $1.36 million in January 2016. In his first game for the Rhinos on May 10, 2014, García pitched six innings of shutout ball on four hits in a no-decision before being pulled after 77 pitches. The Rhinos won the game 5-0 against the Chinatrust Brother Elephants in front of a sellout crowd of more than 12,000.

Garcia opened the season with the Olmecas de Tabasco of the Mexican Baseball League, before signing a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on March 30, 2015. He was assigned to the AAA Oklahoma City Dodgers. He appeared in four games and made one start for Oklahoma City, allowing seven runs in 7.1 innings and was released on April 21. He rejoined the Olmecas de Tabasco in June, then was traded to the Sultanes de Monterrey. In September Garcia was assigned to the Tigres de Aragua. He spent the rest of 2015 with Aragua, where he won a league championship, and started the first and final games of the 2016 Caribbean Series. He retired after the series concluded.

On April 8, 2016, Garcia came out of retirement and signed with the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican Baseball League. He was released on May 3, 2016.

On March 5, 2018, García signed with the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican Baseball League. He was released on April 23, 2018.

Garcia was eligible to be elected in the Hall of Fame in 2019, but received less than 5% of the vote, and became ineligible for the 2020 ballot.