In his 2007 rookie season, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga looked like a great young arm on the rise. Since then he's fallen off the fantasy radar with subpar seasons. Now that the Tigers have signed veteran Brad Penny, Galarraga becomes the odd man out.
The Tigers avoided arbitration with Galarraga with a one-year, $2.3 million contract announced last Tuesday morning. The team then designated him for assignment leaving the Tigers 10 days to either trade him, release him, or outright him to the minor leagues. Aside from the contract, Galarraga would appear to be a low-cost trade candidate or waiver claim for a team needing a fifth starter.
With only a few days left, the Tigers are likely to finish a deal in the next 48 hours, and Galarraga's likely new home, like another former Tiger pitcher Edwin Jackson, will be the Arizona desert.
According to one baseball source Detroit and the Arizona Diamondbacks will likely complete a trade for the Venezuelan right-hander today. The deal will likely send minor league pitcher Kevin Eichhorn and another player to Detroit, with the Diamondbacks picking up most of Galarraga's $2.3 million contract for 2011.
So what's the fantasy impact here? Perhaps none. This may simply be a notable sidebar on a guy who was robbed of a perfect game by a bad call last summer. But Galarraga would add depth to the back end of the D-backs' rotation, which already has Joe Saunders, Ian Kennedy, and Zach Duke.
Still, a change of pace from the American league to the National League along with a chip on the shoulder, and a season to earn a new paycheck, puts Galarraga on the early deep sleeper list.
