The Saitama Seibu Lions made their second foreign acquisition of the offseason. They announced they signed San Diego Padres left-handed pitcher Frank Garcés to a one year contract on Wednesday afternoon. He will make an estimated ¥60 million for the upcoming season and was assigned uniform number 59.
Garcés, who will be 27 in January, most recently signed a minor league contract with the Miami Marlins in November. He spent his entire career in the Padres organization and made it to the MLB level in 2014 and 2015.
In 55 games and one career spot start over the course of two seasons, he has a career ERA of 4.60 to go with a strikeout clip of 7.1 per nine innings. He spent the entire 2016 with the El Paso Chihuahua's, the Padres AAA affiliate.
In AAA for 2016, he had an ERA of 4.41 and a strikeout ratio of 7.7 per nine innings. He was used both as a starter and reliever with the Padres minor leagues.
"I am happy to be a part of the Saitama Seibu Lions," Garcés said in a statement. "I promise to do my best to help the team win. I look forward to meeting my new teammates and the fans."
He plans to visit Japan in January.Training camp in Miyazaki prefecture should occur sometime in February.
The Lions have shown in the past they've needed bullpen help and hope he can be a contributor for next season. A positive thing is that he's only in his 20s and not an aging veteran waiting for a final paycheck.
Garcés will compete with Brian Schlitter for innings most likely in the bullpen. He is only the fourth foreign import with the Lions on the roster which includes Ernesto Mejia and Chun-Lin Kuo.
With the signing of Garcés, the Lions currently have 67 roster spots filled and Shogo Kimura most likely having a space available for a midseason promotion. There are two spots that are still vacant with the Lions looking for more pitching help.
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