The Astros and right-hander Luis Garcia have avoided arbitration, per the Associated Press. The righty will make a salary of $1.875MM in 2025. That’s the same salary he made in 2024, a year he missed while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The arbitration system operates in such a way that salaries almost never go down. As such, it’s fairly common for a player to miss an entire season and then see his salary hold steady into the next year.
Tomorrow is the deadline for players and teams to exchange salary figures, so a large number of arb-eligible players should have their salaries finalized in the next 24 hours or so. Those who don’t reach agreements will be slated for arbitration hearings in the coming weeks. With Garcia now settled, the Astros still have an arb class consisting of Framber Valdez, Mauricio Dubón, Bryan Abreu, Chas McCormick, Isaac Paredes, Jake Meyers and Jeremy Pena.
Garcia has a career earned run average of 3.61 in his 352 innings, mostly as a starter, though he has been on ice for quite a while now. He had his surgery in May of 2023 and attempted to return to the mound last summer, though he had some trouble recovering between outings during his rehab assignment and was eventually shut down. In a recent mailbag, Chandler Rome of The Athletic suggested it may not be likely that he’s ready for Opening Day of 2025.
As spring training ramps up next month, it’s possible that there will be more clarity on his status, though the Astros have a notorious reputation for obfuscating when it comes to the health of their players. Whenever Garcia gets back on the mound, he should slot into a rotation mix alongside Valdez, Hunter Brown, Ronel Blanco, Spencer Arrighetti and Hayden Wesneski. Like Garcia, pitchers like Lance McCullers Jr., J.P. France and Cristian Javier will be looking to come back from surgeries this year.