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Freddy Garcia is aiming to throw for scouts on Aug. 5, and strongly disagrees with the assessment of Ozzie Guillen that he won't be able to help a contender this year, according to Garcia's agent.

"He does feel like he can help somebody," said Peter Greenberg, Garcia's agent.

Garcia

Garcia, an unsigned free agent who has a career record of 117-76, has been working out in the Miami area, and had intially hoped to throw for scouts in the last days before the trade deadline and demonstrate that he has recovered from shoulder surgery enough to sign with a team for the stretch drive. Garcia tweaked his hamstring last week, which has backed up the timetable for about a week.

"We're not trying to trick anybody, we're not trying to sell anybody a bad bill of goods," Greenberg said. "We're going to showcase him, and [teams] can come down and take a look."

Garcia went 17-9 for the White Sox in 2006, and then was traded to the Phillies in 2007, when he went 1-5 before his season ended with surgery. Guillen told MLB.com over the weekend that he doubted Garcia could return this year.

"I hope he is," Guillen said. "He's my friend. But when I see him and where he's at right now, I don't see that happening. I don't think by August, maybe September. Freddy hasn't even thrown off the mound yet.

"He's throwing flat and he's throwing good and he said his velocity is coming around. Everything is fine, but people think because you play catch, you are pitching. That's not the same. You don't have people on the mound or hitting. I hope he do it, but it's going to be a little bit difficult for him to do it."

In fact, Greenberg said, Garcia began throwing off a mound in June, and the agent indicated that while Garcia is a friend to Guillen, he was "very, very upset" with the manager's comments. Garcia's velocity, which was 85-87 mph earlier this month, was at 82-84 mph recently, and Garcia wanted to have some more bullpen sessions to build up his arm strength.

"He does feel like he can help somebody [for the pennant race]," Greenberg said, "and in the playoffs."

Many teams have been monitoring Garcia's progress in rehabilitation from labrum surgery, and it figures that when he does have his throwing session -- tentatively scheduled for Aug. 5 at the University of Miami, at about 4 p.m. -- many scouts will be there, at a time when contenders are scrambling for pitching. Interested teams will watch him and examine him, Greenberg said, and Garcia believes he will be in position to help one of them.

"If not, then he's prepared to play winter ball and focus on next year," Greenberg said.

Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine.