Astros fans bracing for regret after Yankees sign this familiar arm

There's a lot of bad blood between the Houston Astros and New York Yankees. The two organizations have been battling for AL dominance over the past couple of years, and each team has made a trip to the World Series. The Astros, however, won during their trek through October back in 2022 and the Yankees fell short in 2024.

While both teams were on the outside looking in last year, the Astros and Yankees still have a bitter rivalry, which is why it'll pain the Houston faithful to learn that former starting pitcher Luis Garcia has signed a minor-league deal with the Evil Empire.

Former Astros pitcher Luis Garcia signs with Yankees

Now obviously there's a major caveat with this signing. The former Astros left-hander underwent Tommy John surgery this past fall — which was the primary reason he was released by Houston — so the assumption would be that New York plans to keep him around beyond just the 2026 season and carries him on a minor-league deal into 2027.

That move could pay off handsomely for the Yankees if, and this is a big if, Garcia returns to form. In 2021, Garcia looked to be one of the foundational pieces of the Astros rotation. He went 11-8 that season and posted a 3.48 ERA in 30 appearances, including 28 starts.

Garcia followed up that performance with a 28-start campaign in 2022 and racked up 157 punch outs over 157⅓ innings of work. He solidified his spot in the Houston rotation with a 3.72 ERA. But the wheels came off in 2023.

Garcia left the mound during his sixth start of the season and was diagnosed with a torn UCL. Strangely, however, Garcia's recovery from the surgery was anything but typical. Rather than the usual 12-14 months of rehab, Garcia missed all of 2024 and most of 2025 due to a number complications and setbacks.

Garcia finally returned to a Major League mound late last season, but after two appearances, was right back on the IL with another injury that eventually resulted in a second elbow reconstruction surgery.

Astros fans clearly wish Garcia nothing but the best as he recovers from surgery, but there's undoubtedly a measure of regret knowing the team that he decided to join.