The White Sox announced that they have signed catcher Alex Avila to a one-year deal worth $2.5MM. Avila, who has spent his entire career with the Tigers, will remain in the AL Central and presumably pair with Tyler Flowers behind the plate for the Sox.
Avila, 29 in January, has been with the Tigers since Detroit selected him in the fifth round of the 2008 draft. He’s a lifetime .242/.345/.397 hitter in 2445 Major League plate appearances, but his recent seasons haven’t been near as successful as that relatively productive line would suggest. Since 2013, Avila has batted .216/.326/.351, including a dismal .191/.339/.287 effort in the 2015 campaign.
Knee injuries and multiple concussions have sapped what was at one time a far more productive bat for Avila, who has been forced to begin spending some time at first base. It’s unlikely that the Sox view him as anything more than an emergency fill-in at first base with the roster’s present construction, however, as both Jose Abreu and Adam LaRoche would figure to be ahead of him on Chicago’s depth chart at that position.
More likely is that Avila will see the lion’s share of a platoon with Flowers, who has handled left-handed pitching considerably better than right-handed pitching over the past couple of seasons. Avila is a lifetime .251/.348/.423 hitter when holding the platoon advantage (with most of those at-bats coming at the pitcher-friendly Comerica Park), so if he can remain healthy, there’s the possibility for a productive and reasonably affordable platoon.
While Avila has drawn negative reviews for his pitch-framing efforts in each of the past two seasons, he was considerably above average in that regard from 2010-13. And, while his framing has seemingly declined, his throwing rebounded in 2014-15, as he caught 34 percent of attempted base thieves in each of those two seasons. Avila has been generally strong when it comes to gunning down runners, though he did struggle in 2013, catching runners at just a 17 percent clip. That appears to be little more than an aberration, however, as Avila has caught at least 30 percent of stolen base threats in five of seven seasons in the Majors and 27 percent or better in six of seven.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Wow, surprised my Rangers didn’t take a chance on him for that price.
I think the Rangers are more interested in right handed bats this winter.
His dad is go this is weird
Now the Detroit papers will have 30% less posts from those complaining that Avila Sr. was going to figure out a way to keep his son on the team.
Good luck to Alex!! He is a classy guy and great teammate.
Now the question becomes which will hit for the lower average? Do they carry a third catcher because they may need to PH for both of them?
Much more valuable than $2.5MM. High OBP. Excellent pitch framer. Can throw out runners. Always professional and the “adult in the room”. Pitcher’s ERA is lower when he pitches.
People got on him because of his father (now GM of Tigers) and his sub .200BA. BA is an obsolete stat. It does not mean much if you can do all of those other things.
“When he catches” I mean.
His sub .200 obsolete stat effects his not obsolete OPS. Between his concussions and his growing strikeout rate, there was no way the Tigers were going to keep him as a backup to McCann at an 8MM salary, no matter who the GM was. Always wanted to see him race Victor to see who was slower.
Solid acquisition for the White Sox in a year in which the free agent class for catchers was lacking. Alex Avila is a plus defender behind the plate and if he can even come close to approaching his offensive production from 2011 he could be the ‘steal’ of the off-season. As a left-handed hitter, he should form a reliable tandem with Tyler Flowers at catcher, perhaps even becoming the ‘regular’ in a true platoon scenario.
The White Sox have more pressing needs this off-season than catcher, namely more offensive power production for an inept lineup and a third baseman. The first could come through free agency (Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Yoenis Cespedes), although a trade (Yasiel Puig) is more likely with the White Sox unlikely to spend big dollars on any of the top three outfielders available. Finding a core third baseman would almost certainly come via a trade unless the organization views newly posted South Korean Jae-gyen Hwang as a viable option.
The sox don’t have the prospects or the major league pieces available to pull of a Puig deal. You can probably rule Heyward, Upton, and Cespedes out of their price range after the spending from last year. Plus they still have Garcia, Eaton, and Cabrera penciled in the outfield. Murphy might be a good external option since he can play both third or second.
Considering how fall Puig’s value has fallen in the wake of his poor production and clubhouse issues, this is a pretty ridiculous thing to say.
The White Sox probably won’t try and trade for Puig, but only because they don’t have a history of trading for troubled clubhouse players. But if they wanted to, they could grab him AND a couple of Dodger farmhands for someone like Jose Quintana.
They did sign Albert Belle to a then record setting FA contract in 1996…just saying. (lol)
The White Sox have southpaw Jose Quintana to feature as a centerpiece in a potential deal for Yasiel Puig. White Sox organizational depth is in pitching and their big league rotation leans heavily left-handed. While Quintana is a solid MLB #3 pitcher, he would be the likely candidate to be traded for a foundation piece in an area of need for the White Sox…offense! Of the White Sox three core rotation southpaws, Chris Sale and Carlos Rodon would be deemed less likely to be dealt.
If the White Sox view themselves as contenders in 2016, then any trade involving Jose Quintana must net them a player of comparable impact. Yasiel Puig would fit that description and might also come with an additional asset in any potential trade with the Dodgers.
Imo, Puig is a potential MVP talent who is only available because of other issues surrounding him aside from physical talent. I also believe that the White Sox might have the necessary people on board to correct his behavioral issues, particularly newly named bench coach Rick Renteria, and fellow Cuban slugger Jose Abreu. Abreu was friends with Puig when both played in Cuba and called him out after some of his issues in L.A. became public. I believe the White Sox would be prudent in consulting with Abreu before any potential trade for Puig materializes, to see if their acknowledged ‘leader’ would be willing to take Puig under his wing like a ‘big brother’. If Abreu is amenable then the potential dynamic of him and Puig in the White Sox lineup for the next 4 years could be devastating, perhaps on a par with the former ‘Bash” brothers in Oakland…minus the steroids. (lol)
Btw-I acknowledged in my original comment that the White Sox are unlikely to spend big dollars on any of the top three free agent outfielders available this off-season. That being said, it is not out of the realm of possibility for owner Jerry Reinsdorf to open his purse strings as his ownership of the team nears it’s end. Reinsdorf surprised every one in MLB by inking Albert Belle to the largest FA contract at that time in 1996. He also signed a relatively unknown international FA in Jose Abreu to a then record setting 6 yrs/$68M deal in 2013 and was also prepared to go substantially higher for Masahiro Tanaka the following winter.
Catcher, however, is one of those positions that is lacking in offensive power production, and causing the White Sox to have an inept lineup.
Catching is also a defensive first position and the White Sox tandem of Tyler Flowers and Geovany Soto did produce 18 HR’s as a platoon in 2015, well above the MLB average. Flowers and Alex Avila figure to put up comparable power numbers in 2016.
So many needs, and so little resources. Encouraging that buddy bell in an interview said that they need to draft more players who can hit and then figure where to play them. Not optimistic as long as kW running things.
Should be an interesting Thanksgiving dinner for the Avila family.
What is his dad going to do if Alex gets a walk off HR v. the Tigers? That will be very weird.
I cannot recall a GM father with a player son for a division rival before.
Bean Him! lol
Smart move by the White Sox. Low risk.
In addition to the other comments about his OBP and defense, it should be noted that Avila is very good at working the pitcher and has been an excellent teammate. He was very helpful to the guy who was clearly taking his job.
He also knows the hitters in the division.
Wow i’m surprised I thought Alex Avila would going stay with Detroit, nice move for the White sox.
White Sox are going to need to join the Dollar Shave Club.
He does win the award for best 5 o’clock shadow.
Sadly, a catcher who hit .216 last year is probably the most exciting offseason news for the White Sox this year.
FYI, Avila batted .191 last year. The .216 was his average over the last THREE years.
Other than his average, he is a very good player. He gets on base more than 1/3rd of the time. He is a walk machine.
His swings and misses will keep the ballpark cool throughout the season.
He’s also injury prone now, and he has pretty bad framing skills. They don’t need him to be a world beater though. It’s pretty obvious the White Sox view Tyler Flowers as their starting catcher. That’s the real issue.
Problem is when he gets on, he clogs the bases – very slow
Since Flowers is more durable, I would imagine that Tyler would still get the bulk of the playing time (60/40) similar to what he shared with Soto last year. If Avila can play at Soto’s 2015 production level, this is a good deal.
Good deal
#winning
Your move Royals.
POTY