The White Sox have informed other teams that they are open to trading right fielder Avisail Garcia, Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com reports. Moving Gracia is just one option the team is considering, per the report, but Chicago has been fielding offers over the course of November.
While the club insists that it continues to believe in Garcia’s upside, says Hayes, it is confident in relying on Trayce Thompson as a replacement option. Both players come with their share of risk and reward, of course, and both are just 24 years of age.
The impetus to consider a Garcia trade comes in large part from the fact that the Sox have multiple areas of need elsewhere. Hayes writes that the club could be focused, in particular, on improving the left side of the infield, and may find it necessary to utilize Garcia “to sweeten a deal to return major league talent.” That would imply, of course, that he could be packaged in a multi-player swap, rather than sold off for a prospect return.
Other clubs will certainly be intrigued by the possibility of rolling the dice on Garcia’s talent, as he’s a former top-100 talent who has at least shown the ability to produce at a league-average rate at a young age. While his defensive issues also limit his value, it’s possible to imagine that Garcia could be a useful part in the right trade. And Garcia comes with four seasons of control, though it won’t necessarily be cheap, as MLBTR projects that he’ll earn $2.3MM this year as a Super Two.
Tigers reunion, move JD to left and get rid of Collins
Why are Tigers fans so infatuated with reunions? No thanks.
He didn’t exactly leave Detroit amicably. I know Fielder is gone, but many players from that Detroit team a couple years ago are still there. Outside of the Rangers, Detroit is about the last place he’ll go IMO
Collins is significantly better than Avisail Garcia. Like, by a lot. Then again so are most players in baseball.
I’d certainly be interested in what the ChiSox are looking to improve. Granted, I’m sure the cost would be steeper for an in division rival, but Avi could plug that LF hole in Detroit at a reasonable price.
They need a long-term solution at catcher and at 3B… they could use a stop-gap at SS until their top prospect is ready… and they desperately need bullpen help. Really, this all depends on what their overall strategy is. Are they trying to contend in 2016 or are they looking to actually rebuild something? Given that the White Sox NEVER give up on a season (even when all logic says they should), my guess is that they’ll want the stop-gap SS and some bullpen help.
The major priorities right now, in order, are 3B, SS, RF, 2B. Flowers is excellent defensively and makes the pitchers better. The bullpen is fine, but could probably use another lefty.
The White Sox major priority is more offensive firepower to their weak lineup.
Ideally this would come through an upgrade at their highest position of need…third base. Unfortunately there are no long term options available in free agency this off-season so a trade would be necessary to facilitate any upgrade. If no good trades present themselves then a corner outfielder would be the next best option for a long term core piece, hence the rumors involving a potentially available one in Yasiel Puig.
In my opinion, that is the direction that Hahn is focusing on and why Avisail Garcia has become “available” to other teams.
Pitch framing was an invented stat to keep weak hitting catcher (like Flowers) on rosters. Why is this is this stat that important? Who cares if you get a strike here or there when the catcher leaves 8 guys on base in a game because he cannot hit the broadside of a barn?
Yeah, cause that makes sense. The facts are this: with Flowers behind the plate, the Sox got 169 strike calls on pitches outside the zone—not just “a strike here or there”, but actually 1.79 strikes per game. That translates to about 23 runs prevented versus the average catcher. That’s HUGE.
1.79 strikes per game… 2 strikes all game? two? umm ok… great..Unless of course that same catcher is leaving at least 1-2 runs on base per game. Also, does this wonderful stat also count when a catcher lets a ball get past him, allowing a run to score or advance?
Have you seen him play LF? Have you seen him play RF? I’d rather have Raburn out there.
I’m more thinking of the cost. It’d leave more cash available for a better starting pitcher. He’s probably not ideal… and he’d probably have to play RF and shift JD to LF… but its an idea
Garcia feels like Vicieido 2.0 right now, but I think Thompson is better suited as a 4th OF. Trayce was flying high during his rookie year.
Viciedo without the power
Mariners will take him. Use him as a 4th outfielder in left and right. Gutierrez is bound to get injured as well and we should seek a backup. I can’t trust another Jack Z acquisition in Ramon Flores, although he proved worthy hitting .430 in AAA last year after coming over and ending the year with a fractured ankle
Getting awfully thin in the OF there, White Sox. Unless they’re planning on making a play for a FA.
Well, not really… Melky Cabrera is going to start in LF just based on his contract while Adam Eaton is going to start in CF just based on his bat… Trading away Garcia does nothing to change those two facts, and it really just opens the door for Trayce Thompson to play everyday next year.
Now, do I think this is a particularly good outfield? Absolutely not. Cabrera is too streaky, Eaton is a terrible defender and Thompson has struggled to his RHPs throughout his professional career. But again, Garcia really hasn’t proven to be a better option than any of those three. His production can easily be replaced (mainly because there isn’t much production to replace.)
I really hope Melky is not playing outfield this year. He’s literally the worst defensive outfielder in the big leagues, and came out below replacement overall in 2015. What they need to do is put Abreu at 1B permanently (which means dumping LaRoche in a bad contract swap), install Melky as a a DH and 5th OF, and go get a decent left fielder. I guess it doesn’t matter whether Thompson or Garcia is in right.
Garcia is all potential projection based on his body size. He’s yet to prove capable of hitting for power, though, as he’s never clubbed more than 14 home runs over the course of a full professional season (including minors). And his sub-.310 OBP over the past two seasons does nothing to make up for the lack of power.
Perhaps he could be used as a sweetener for a bigger deal, as the article suggests, but given the White Sox immense bullpen woes – they might be best off trying to get a solid, cost-controlled reliever or two for the guy.
People keep stating that the white sox have big bullpen issues or many holes in the BP but they had an above average bullpen last year. a fairly solid Closer in Robertson and some talented late inning guys. they dont need bullpen help. if they could manage to fill 2/3 of their infield after abreu I think they could make some noise. They have a top 3 that that can compete with almost any rotation.
If the White Sox offer Avisail Garcia & José Quintana, the Orioles should make the White Sox an offer they can’t refuse.
for what exactly?
First of all, Avisail Garcia is one of the single worst players in the game of baseball and should be targeted by no one. Second of all, other than Machado, the Orioles do not have “offer they can’t refuse” type players.
I don’t know that “single worse players in the game of baseball” applies here. He’s still only 24 and cheap. His defense isn’t good but considering this past season was his first full season its a little early to count him out for the rest of his career. That being said, I would definitely want the white sox to trade him for a serviceable player at 3rd or SS. Then sign a lower tier OF in free agency.
Better to package him as part of a bigger deal.
Unless they’re clearing room for Jason Heyward, it’s hard to get excited about this. It’s not like he has value. He’s not getting you a starter at 2nd, short, 3rd, or catcher. At least not one that you want to start.
Why would Heyward want to go to Chicago?
Same thing i was thinking. Leave a 100 win team or sign with plenty of contenders willing to spend
Say Chicago offers $180M and the next closest offers $150M. Which contract do you think he’s choosing? Players rarely leave more than a few million on the table.
I didn’t mean to insinuate he would. More just commenting on Avisail being available being no big deal, because he isn’t a valuable piece.
I think the A’s could make an interesting match if both teams were willing to swap bad contracts in Laroche and Butler and the White Sox add a decent prospect wouldn’t Vogt make sense on White Sox?
I’d rather take my chances with LaRoche than take on Butler’s contract. Flip him to a contender if he comes back as he is on the final year of his deal.
That is most likely the value the A’s would see in Laroche, They’d be selling low on Vogt to get rid of Butler though, IMO but Vogt value is very hard to judge the White Sox would have to like him a lot, and the A’s would have to see potential in turning Garcia’s career around.
Vogt is older than Flowers and probably had a career year. His second half was not good.
Add to that Vogt isn’t really a good catcher either. A lot of the reason the White Sox continue to go with Flowers is his handling of the staff and his pitch framing. If they do replace him, it won’t be with someone like Vogt.
Garcia was terrible last season, yes terrible. No advance metric, eye test etc. indicates he will ever make a significant jump. If Kenny Williams lands a club President job somewhere else you might be able to fleece him. At least the Sox might be learning from their previous mistakes and are willing to hit the eject button sooner than they did w/ Beckman, Viciedo, Gillaspe. IMO, Thompson is a fourth outfielder. Kenny Williams is probably clearing the decks for a Puig trade.
The Sox should be tearing it all down.
Get huge alarms going off whenever someone mentions selling big assets for Puig. Just do not trust that guy, and think he might never achieve his promise, or even his level of production last year.
The Rangers might have some interest in him as a 4th OF seeing as they are looking for a righty OF to rest Hamilton/Choo. The Rangers might use Hanser Alberto’s utility at 3b and SS to draw some interest.
I was gonna throw him out there as well. Probably a guy like Alberto or 2 mid-levels is enough
Yeah I don’t see Avisail playing for the Rangers as long as Prince Fielder is there
Having googled it I now believe it would be a poor choice for the Rangers to bring Garcia in.
He won’t be playing with the Rangers as long as Prince Fielder is there
lots of strike outs in his bat.
I mean he does have some value left but he’s not gonna get some major return for the Sox. I’ve always liked him since his playoff run with the Tigers but at some point you kind of give up on a player and I gave up this season
Only value he has left is in “potential.” As a White Sox fan, this guy is brutal.
some teams do like that I guess. You throw him in with someone like Micah Johnson and Erik Johnson you could probably get a pretty good return for him. That would be similar to the samardzija trade really
Both Johnsons are likely to start for the White Sox next year, but you’re right that they’ll need to add prospects to get anything for Avi because he’s got little value.
When your value as a player has devolved to touting body size and the fact you has been on earth less than other players it is time to move on.
@Bill what? that didn’t make much sense
It’s maddening to watch a guy with so much raw power struggle to pull a ball. If he’s got any value at all, I’d be ecstatic to pawn him off on someone.
Power does you little good if you don’t have bat speed.
I’m sure there will be a ton of offers for a guy who’s capable of throwing up an 83 wRC+ with dreadful defense and a -1.1 WAR.
If I were the Sox Id send Avi down to the Minors to find his power stroke before giving up on him. I can already see that the Sox get nothing for him in a trade (because of how poorly he has hit) and then you see him go to a club with sense of how to fix him and get him clubbing a .280 avg with 30 homers and 90-100 Rbis in a season. As fun as it would be to see the Sox ‘brain trust’ have to nervously explain how such a thing could happen (because KW is worthless as Robin at this point), I’d rather see such a player as batting at DH or 1st base for the Sox.
I believe that we have to trade from the depth that we have. We need to move Robertson first, before the other teams start moving their closers. We should look at moving some of our other effective bullpen members as well. We can utilize Beck, Montas etc and sign a couple of free agents to make up the gap. I am reluctant to see them move Quintana unless it is for a huge haul. What about swapping bad contracts? What about Danks and LaRoche to Seattle for Cano?