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Avisail Garcia

Avisail Garcia Declines Mutual Option, Becomes Free Agent

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Brewers outfielder Avisail Garcia has declined his half of a $12MM mutual option for the 2022 season, reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). He’ll instead receive a $2MM buyout and head out into the free agent market in search of another multi-year deal.

Avisail Garcia | Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Garcia, 31 next June, struggled through the 2020 season in Milwaukee but enjoyed one of the finest seasons of his career in a rebound 2021 showing. The former Tigers, White Sox and Rays slugger swatted a career-best 29 home runs this season while posting a strong .262/.330/.490 batting line — about 15 percent better than league-average production, by measure of wRC+. His original two-year, $20MM deal with the Brewers came with a $12MM club option that the team could very well have exercised. However, the contract also contained a provision that converted that option into a mutual option with enough plate appearances, and Garcia reached that threshold back in September, earning the right to return to the free-agent market.

This will be the second foray into the free-agent market for Garcia, who posted a similar 113 wRC+ mark in his last platform year (2019). However, Garcia hit for more power in ’21 than he did in ’19 and also drew better defensive grades for his outfield work this year (in part because the 2019 Rays occasionally deployed him in center, to sub-par results).

Another multi-year deal for Garcia seems quite likely, as he’s wrapped up a strong season and further solidified the notion that he’s capable of being a team’s everyday right fielder. Garcia crushed lefties in 2021 (.279/.406/.529), as he is wont to do, and delivered league-average output against right-handed opponents. The question for him in free agency will be the extent by which he can eclipse his prior contract.

The improved power output and defensive ratings are obvious points in Garcia’s favor, but he’s now also two years older than last time around. His 2021 Statcast profile is quite appealing, as Garcia ranked in the 73rd percentile of MLB hitters in average exit velocity and had strong percentile showings in hard-hit rate (78th), expected batting average (83rd), expected slugging (87th), expected wOBA (85th) and sprint speed (88th). Then again, much of that was true in 2019 (albeit not quite to this extent).

Garcia has long shown a knack for hard contact and far more speed than one would expect from a player listed at 6’4″ and 250 pounds. The 2021 season, however, is the first that he’s delivered truly high-end power output with the type of plus defensive ratings that align with his tantalizing tool set. The Brewers technically have the right to make him an $18.4MM qualifying offer, but that’d register as something of a surprise given the typically tight payroll in Milwaukee.

Quick Hits: Carpenter, Correa, Garcia

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Former Cardinals’ ace Chris Carpenter has agreed to join the Angels. The 46-year-old former first round pick of the Blue Jays  will “work with young pitchers on their mental skills and advancement toward the majors,” per Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Carpenter worked in the Cardinals front office as a special assistant for a number of years, but he was let go as a result of pandemic-driven belt-tightening. The Angels can certainly use all the help they can get, especially after spending their entire draft capital on pitchers. Besides, Carpenter knows a thing or two about the struggle to establish yourself in the Majors. Carpenter is one of the most notable late developers in recent history, making his first All-Star team at age 30 after moving from his original franchise to St. Louis, where he became a Cy Young winner and three-time All-Star. Elsewhere around the game…

  • Despite his involvement in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal and the negative public sentiment that’s followed him since, expect Carlos Correa to cash in big this winter, writes The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. MLBTR agrees, having placed him atop the free agent rankings back in August. Indeed, Correa has been the face of the Astros post-scandal, and even that could be construed as a positive for his next club. His talent is unquestioned, and he has certainly proved that he can withstand just about any level of public criticism.
  • Avisail Garcia and the Brewers share a $12MM mutual option for the 2022 season, and Garcia will be first to make a move. As a note of clarification, that’s how all mutual options work, writes The Athletic’s Will Sammon. Garcia put up a resurgent campaign, slashing .262/.330/.490 with 29 home runs in 515 plate appearances. Garcia was one of the Brewers’ most consistent power bats, and they have a lot of money committed to their outfield even without him. Still, with a 14-man arbitration class, the Brewers might consider declining their side of Garcia’s option even if he does opt-in.

Avisail Garcia Reaches Mutual Option Threshold, Can Opt For Free Agency

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Avisail Garcia made three plate appearances in last night’s 10-2 Brewers loss to the Cardinals, giving the Milwaukee outfielder 492 PA for the season.  This is the exact number needed to turn the Brewers’ $12MM club option on Garcia for the 2022 campaign into a mutual option, and thus Garcia can now decide whether or not he wishes to remain with the Brewers or enter this winter’s free agent market.

Garcia initially came to Milwaukee via free agency in the 2019-20 offseason, as Garcia received a guaranteed $20MM over the 2019-20 seasons.  This broke down as a $500K signing bonus, $17.5MM in salary, and a $2MM buyout of that 2022 club option.  The club option turned into a mutual option if Garcia achieved either of two criteria — either 550 PA in 2021, or 1050 total PA over the 2020 and 2021 seasons.  Contractual thresholds in the shortened 2020 season were prorated, so Garcia’s 207 PA in 2020 were the equivalent of 558 PA in a normal season.  Now that the option has vested, Garcia’s buyout adjusts to $1.5MM (also based on plate appearances) should he decline his end of the mutual option.

MLBTR’s Anthony Franco outlined Garcia’s situation back on August 26, and not much has changed for the outfielder in the last four weeks.  Garcia has missed a few games due to back and hamstring soreness and hit a modest .212/.255/.500 over his last 55 plate appearances.  That said, Garcia has also homered in two of three games since a four-game absence due to back spasms, so it is possible he has turned the corner on his injury problems.

Another little hot streak over the Brewers’ final 10 games or (perhaps more importantly) during the postseason would only enhance what has already been a very solid year for the 30-year-old.  Garcia has hit .270/.337/.506 with a career-best 29 homers, which translates to a 121 wRC+ and 122 OPS+.  He has been making a lot of hard contact, and as per Statcast, Garcia might even be a little shortchanged in the production department — his .374 xwOBA is higher than his .356 wOBA.  Beyond the offensive side, Garcia has also been an excellent right fielder according to the UZR/150 (13.6) and Defensive Runs Saved (9) metrics, though he is rated as merely average by Outs Above Average.

Since mutual options are almost never triggered by both sides, it’s safe to assume Garcia will look to exercise his free agent rights unless he and the Brewers can work out an extension beforehand.  Between a big arbitration class and a lot of money already invested in the outfield, Milwaukee might prefer to seek out the proverbial next Avisail Garcia (i.e. another outfielder who could be signed for a mid-tier salary) rather than spend more on a player who hasn’t been very consistent over his 10 MLB seasons.

Should Garcia indeed decline the mutual option, the Brewers could also issue him a qualifying offer, so the team could obtain a compensatory draft pick if Garcia declined the QO and signed elsewhere.  Though the one-year QO will be in the neighborhood of $20MM, Garcia would most likely decline that one-year payday in search of a longer-term offer on the open market.

Avisail Garcia Nearing The Right To Reach Free Agency This Offseason

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The Brewers are coasting to a division title, leading the NL Central by nine and a half games after taking the first two games of this week’s series with the Reds. That’s the largest divisional lead of any team in MLB. While the pitching staff deservedly gets plenty of credit as the biggest driver of Milwaukee’s success, the offense has been solid enough to hold up its end of the bargain. Avisaíl García has somewhat quietly been among the Brewers’ top performers, which looks as if it’ll set up an interesting offseason decision for teams.

García signed with Milwaukee on a two-year, $20MM guarantee over the 2019-20 offseason. The pact contained a $12MM club option ($2MM buyout) covering the 2022 campaign. That provision vests into a mutual option, however, were García to tally 1050 plate appearances over his first two seasons in Milwaukee.

Thresholds for vesting options were prorated during last year’s shortened season, with each plate appearance in 2020 counting as 2.7 plate appearances for option purposes. García’s 207 trips to the plate last year comes out to 558 plate appearances over a full season, meaning he needs to reach 492 plate appearances this season to trigger the vesting option. García’s already at 433 plate appearances, so he’ll need just 59 more over Milwaukee’s final 35 games of 2021 to reach that mark. Barring injury, he should have no problem getting there.

That would give García a lot more control over his future this winter. The 30-year-old could decline his end of the mutual option, collect the $2MM buyout, and look to top the $10MM in remaining guaranteed money on the open market. Given how well he’s played this season, he shouldn’t have trouble doing that, although precisely what kind of contract he could land is an interesting question.

García is hitting .275/.346/.506 with 24 home runs this year, translating to a 125 wRC+ that suggests he’s been 25 percentage points better than the league average hitter. That’s the second-best mark of his career, topped only by his .330/.380/.506 showing (138 wRC+) with the 2017 White Sox. That season in Chicago never looked replicable, as García benefitted from a .392 batting average on balls in play that easily led all qualified hitters. This year, García’s sporting a .304 BABIP that’s not much higher than the league average and is well below his career mark.

This time around, García’s getting to his production with career-best power. He’s already exceeded his previous personal best in home runs (20 in 2019), and his .231 isolated power (slugging minus batting average) is also a career high. García’s 21.9% strikeout rate is his second-lowest ever, nearly five percentage points below the 26.5% mark he posted in 2017. So while García has posted this level of bottom-line production before, he’s never gotten there in quite this way.

That said, there are still reasons for teams to be reluctant to buy in completely. While his strikeouts are down a bit relative to recent seasons, his actual level of swing-and-miss is not. García’s 17.1% swinging strike rate this season is a near-match for his 17.2% career mark, and it’s the fifth-highest figure in the league among the 198 players with 300+ plate appearances. That reflects one of the sport’s most aggressive approaches. García has swung at 57% of pitches he’s seen, the fourth-highest rate among that group; his 40.2% swing rate on pitches outside the strike zone is eleventh.

Rather than toning down his aggressiveness, García has gotten to his high-end production this year by making consistently strong contact. The career-best home run and slugging output is supported by the batted ball metrics. His hard contact rate (49%) and average exit velocity (90.7 MPH) are career-best marks. Statcast’s estimators — which predict the results of balls in play based on their exit velocity and launch angle — suggest García has “deserved” a .285 batting average and a .520 slugging percentage, slightly better than his actual marks in those respective categories.

That García has seemingly earned all of his success this year — as opposed to benefitting from an inordinate amount of luck on balls in play — doesn’t automatically mean he’ll be able to keep this up, though. He’s always been something of a Statcast darling, with the huge raw power that once made him a top prospect manifesting itself in high-end batted ball metrics. Despite that, his results have varied wildly throughout his career, largely because he has walked such a fine line with his approach.

García became a regular in 2015. In the seven years since, he’s had three above-average offensive seasons and four subpar campaigns. His career hasn’t followed any sort of linear trajectory; his good years in 2017, 2019 and 2021 were interrupted by disappointing intervening seasons. Even within this season, he has sandwiched a poor April and June around monstrous months of May, July and August.

He’s been similarly tough to pin down defensively. García’s certainly fast and athletic enough to make some highlight plays in the outfield (he took away a home run from Max Schrock just last night, in fact). But the advanced metrics have all pegged him right around league average in the corners over the course of his career. He has rated rather poorly in his limited looks in center.

Taken in aggregate, García looks to be one of the more fascinating players who could hit the open market in a few months. Between his youth, high-end platform season and obvious physical gifts, his representatives at Mato Sports Management could plausibly push for a four-year deal if García finishes the year at this level. But there’ll certainly be some teams scared off by his approach and career-long streakiness.

The first team that’ll be faced with a decision on García is his current club. Assuming García reaches the vesting option threshold and declines his end to hit free agency, the Brewers will have to decide whether to make him a qualifying offer. That would land somewhere in the $19MM range for 2022 if García accepts, nearly doubling the AAV of his current deal. Were he to decline and sign elsewhere, Milwaukee would pick up a compensatory draft choice to aid a farm system that Baseball America just ranked as one of the league’s ten worst. How the Brewers and other teams feel about García looks likely to get answered this winter, as he’s around fifteen games away from earning the right to explore the market.

Image credit: USA Today Sports.

2021-22 Qualifying Offer Candidates

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With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror and a little more than six weeks remaining in the regular season, plenty of front offices are turning their attention towards the upcoming offseason. The first notable decision for many clubs will be to decide whether to tag one or more of their top impending free agents with a qualifying offer.

As a reminder, the qualifying offer is a one-year contract offer teams can make to certain impending free agents. The precise value of the QO has yet to be calculated, but it’s determined as the average salary of the game’s 125 highest-paid players. Last season, the QO value was set at $18.9MM. If the player accepts the offer, he returns to his current team on that one-year deal. If he rejects, his previous team would receive draft pick compensation should he sign elsewhere.

Last season, six players (George Springer, Trevor Bauer, J.T. Realmuto, DJ LeMahieu, Kevin Gausman and Marcus Stroman) received qualifying offers. Gausman and Stroman accepted the QO, while Realmuto and LeMahieu re-signed with their current clubs as free agents. The Reds and Astros received compensatory picks (used on Jay Allen and Chayce McDermott, respectively) when Bauer and Springer departed.

The collective bargaining agreement prohibits a player from being tagged with a qualifying offer multiple times in his career. (A list of every active big leaguer who has previously received a QO is available here). Similarly, in order to be eligible, the player must have spent the entire preceding season on the same team. Players traded midseason cannot be tagged with a QO.

With the majority of the 2021 season in the books, we can take a look at the upcoming free agent class to predict which players might wind up receiving qualifying offer this winter.

Locks

This group is fairly straightforward, as there’s very little chance any of these players would accept a qualifying offer. Correa, Seager and Freeman all have MVP-caliber upside and are locks to pull in long-term deals this winter. Semien didn’t receive a QO from the A’s after a down year in 2020, took a pillow contract with the Jays for almost the value of the QO ($18MM), and has essentially replicated his 2019 form that earned him a third place finish in AL MVP voting. He should find a big multi-year deal this time around.

Story is having a bit of a down year, but there’s no doubt the Rockies will make him a qualifying offer after not trading him at the deadline. Nick Groke of the Athletic wrote this week that Colorado hasn’t given up hope of convincing him to sign a long-term extension, but that seems unlikely given Story’s own bewilderment he wasn’t moved to a contender this summer. Whether Story is willing to return to Denver or not, he’ll receive a QO.

Kershaw, Ray and Rodón will be among the top pitchers on the market. Kershaw has spent the past couple months on the injured list due to forearm soreness, but he’s expected back in September and is in the midst of another fantastic season. So long as he’s healthy, he’s a lock for a QO. Ray and Rodón both had to settle for one-year deals after poor 2020 seasons, but they’ve each been among the best pitchers in the American League this year.

Likely

Over the past two seasons, Taylor has somewhat quietly been one of the game’s top 25 qualified hitters by measure of wRC+ and he’s versatile enough to cover any non-catcher position on the diamond. He’s not a true everyday player at any one spot and he’s making contact at a career-worst rate this season, so he falls just short of being an absolute lock for a QO. But the Dodgers would be as willing as any team to shoulder a significant one-year salary were Taylor to accept, and his body of work should be sufficient to warrant a multi-year deal regardless.

The Mets’ players in this group are two of the more interesting free agents in the class. Conforto entered the season looking like a lock for a QO and seemingly having a chance at landing nine figures with a strong platform year. He missed a month with injury, though, and hasn’t made anywhere near his typical level of impact at the plate. He’s shown some life over the past few weeks, and between his track record and age (28), Conforto still seems a good bet to land a long-term deal.

Syndergaard was a top-of-the-rotation starter at his peak, but he hasn’t pitched since 2019 because of Tommy John surgery. He’s eyeing a September return — likely in relief, given his dwindling time to build up arm strength — and his late-season form will obviously be critical to his market. The Mets should run one of the higher payrolls in the league, and Syndergaard has the upside to be an ace if healthy, so New York still seems more likely than not to make the offer.

Similarly, Verlander has essentially missed two full seasons because of his own Tommy John procedure. That’s a scary development for a pitcher who’ll be 39 on Opening Day 2022, but he was still every bit an ace when we last saw him in 2018-19. The Astros are a win-now club that runs high payrolls, so Verlander accepting a QO wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. If he declines and signs elsewhere, Houston would recoup some much-needed draft compensation after losing their past two first-round picks as punishment for the sign-stealing scandal.

Colorado reportedly showed even less interest in trading Gray than they did with Story at the deadline. There’s apparently mutual interest about working out a multi-year extension, and the QO could serve as a temporary measure to keep Gray in Denver while the Rockies and Gray’s representatives work on a long-term deal.

Rodríguez has bounced back to take the ball every fifth day this year after a scary bout with myocarditis cost him all of 2020. His ERA’s pushing 5.00, but his peripherals are far better than that bottom line run prevention and the southpaw has an established track record of mid-rotation production.

The Mariners are facing a difficult decision regarding Kikuchi, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams explored last month. Seattle must decide whether to exercise a package deal of four successive club options at $16.5MM apiece (essentially a four-year, $66MM extension) this winter. If the Mariners don’t exercise their four-year option, Kikuchi has a $13MM player option to return to Seattle for 2022. If both parties decline their ends, the 30-year-old would hit free agency this offseason, although the M’s could then tag Kikuchi with a qualifying offer.

Given that Kikuchi will only be a free agent if he passes on a $13MM player option, the Mariners would likely make him a QO worth a few million dollars more if it comes to that — either with the expectation he’ll decline in search of a longer-term deal, or with the hope he accepts and Seattle can keep him in the fold next season without committing themselves to the additional three years of guaranteed money.

Possible

The Giants have plenty of payroll space this offseason and seem likely to try to keep most of this season’s core together. Belt has been one of the sport’s most productive offensive players on a rate basis over the past two years. But he’s also 33 years old, has a long injury history and is striking out at the highest rate of his career.

San Francisco bought low on DeSclafani over the winter after he had a tough 2020 season with the Reds. He’s bounced back to post a very strong 3.26 ERA, although his peripherals are closer to average and he’s benefitted from opponents’ .257 batting average on balls in play. The Giants will likely see 4/5 of their starting rotation hit free agency this winter, so they could be eager to bring DeSclafani back, even if that comes via a lofty 2022 salary.

Morton has had another productive season in his first year as a Brave, but his previous two teams (the Astros in 2018 and the Rays in 2020) let him reach free agency without making a qualifying offer despite his consistently strong track record. That’s presumably due to concerns about his past injury history and age. He’ll turn 38 this winter and might check his potential earning power by limiting himself to teams in the Southeastern part of the country — as he reportedly did last offseason. That could inspire the Braves to pass on a QO, but Morton continually reels off above-average performances, and this is an Atlanta front office that has been eager to dole out hefty single-year salaries for key veteran upgrades in recent years.

Iglesias looks like the top impending free agent reliever (assuming the White Sox exercise their option over Craig Kimbrel). He’s sporting an ERA under 3.00 for the fifth time in his six seasons since moving to the bullpen, and he’s never had a single-season SIERA above 3.55. Home runs have been an issue, but Iglesias gets above-average results year in and year out and has some of the best strikeout and walk numbers in the game in 2021.

Long Shots

The Giants hold a $22MM club option (with a $3MM buyout) over Posey’s services for next season. If the front office is willing to commit him a significant salary, they’ll just exercise the option rather than going the QO route. Indeed, they’re reportedly planning to do exactly that (or to potentially pursue a multi-year extension with the franchise icon). Either way, there’s no real reason to involve the qualifying offer here.

Canha would be a very plausible qualifying offer candidate on many teams. He’s been a well above-average hitter and overall performer three years running and is generally one of the game’s more underrated players. The A’s, though, didn’t make a QO to either of Semien or Liam Hendriks last season. Canha’s a Bay Area native, and his age (33 in February) will cap the length of offers he receives from other clubs. Given that, it’s not hard to envision him accepting a QO if offered. The A’s, who perennially run low payrolls and will have a loaded class of arbitration-eligible players this winter, don’t seem likely to take that risk.

Wainwright has had a fantastic 2021 season, and the Cardinals figure to be motivated to keep the franchise icon in St. Louis in some capacity. But that also looked to be true after his strong 2020 campaign, and Wainwright only wound up landing a one-year, $8MM deal. He’d be well-deserved in demanding a raise over that sum to return next season, but it remains to be seen if the Cardinals would be willing to chance more than doubling his salary  — particularly if they feel Wainwright’s motivated to remain in St. Louis rather than pursue the highest possible offers in free agency.

Kluber signed an $11MM deal with the Yankees last offseason after back-to-back seasons wrecked by injury. He pitched well through ten starts but has been out since late May with a shoulder strain. Kluber’s nearing a return to action, but his missing nearly three months only adds to prior concerns about his ability to handle a significant workload at this stage of his career.

Kim, García and Wood are all having strong 2021 seasons and could plausibly land solid multi-year deals this winter. Each has enough question marks that their teams don’t seem especially likely to offer a salary in the range of the qualifying offer, though. Kim doesn’t miss many bats; García has had extreme highs and lows throughout his career; Wood has a checkered injury history. García’s contract contains a $12MM club option that vests into a mutual option if he reaches 492 plate appearances this season. If that option doesn’t vest, the Brewers would obviously have no incentive to decline the option only to make a qualifying offer at a higher price point.

Opt-Out Clauses

Each of Arenado (six years, $179MM), Castellanos (two years, $34MM) and Martinez (one year, $19.35MM) has significant guaranteed money remaining on their contracts but can opt out of those deals this winter. Arenado and Castellanos would be locks to reject qualifying offers if they trigger their opt-out provisions, since they’d be foregoing bigger guarantees to test the market.

Martinez’s player option is of similar enough value to the projected value of the qualifying offer that he could plausibly trigger the opt-out but then accept a QO. Even if that proved to be the case, the Red Sox would probably be happy to keep him in the middle of the lineup for another season.

Ineligible

Brewers Place Lorenzo Cain On 10-Day Injured List, Recall Tyrone Taylor

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As expected, the Brewers have placed outfielder Lorenzo Cain on the 10-day injured list with a strained right hamstring and recalled outfielder Tyrone Taylor to take his place, per the team.

There is no timetable for Cain’s eventual return, per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (via Twitter). Cain have managed a relatively punchless .223/.322/.350 across 118 plate appearances in 31 games this season. The veteran has continued to take his walks (11.9 percent walk rate) and put the bat on the ball (20.3 percent strikeout rate). The former Royal has always been above-average at avoiding strikeouts, but the better-than-average patience in a new skill developed – and, thus far, maintained – in Milwaukee.

Taylor has been a frequent guest star on the Brewers in 2021 with 84 big league plate appearances to just 20 at Triple-A. In the Majors, he is hitting .203/.298/.365 with three home runs. He is starting tonight’s ballgame in centerfield and batting sixth.

Cain’s injury could have an impact beyond Taylor, however. As recently covered by the Athletic’s Will Sammon, Avisail Garcia finds himself on pace for 550 plate appearances, a threshold that, if passed, would turn a team option for 2022 into a mutual option. When the Brewers signed Jackie Bradley Jr. this winter, the odds were against Garcia, but the presumptive starting trio of Cain, Bradley, and Christian Yelich have all struggled to stay healthy, providing Garcia with plenty of opportunity in the grass.

That’s significant because it provides Garcia with a little more agency in his future. The 30-year-old is having himself a fine season at the plate, slashing .244/.312/.452 with 10 home runs through 186 plate appearance – good for a 109 wRC+.

Brewers Sign Avisail Garcia

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The Brewers have finalized their third free-agent signing of the past week, announcing Tuesday that they’ve agreed to a two-year contract with outfielder Avisail Garcia. The Mato Sports Management client will reportedly be guaranteed a total of $20MM and can earn up to $30MM if a 2021 club option is exercised.

The contract is said to come with a $500K signing bonus, a $7MM salary in 2020 and a $10.5MM salary in 2021. The $12MM club option contains a $2MM buyout and can be converted to a mutual option if Garcia reaches 550 plate appearances in 2021 or totals 1050 plate appearances over the first two seasons of the contract.

“Avisaíl provides an impactful right-handed hitting force in our lineup,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said in a press release. “Adding him to our current group of outfielders strengthens what was already one of the strongest outfields in baseball.”

This move represents the first big move on the corner outfield market. Garcia ends up getting the two-year deal that MLBTR predicted, but at a greater rate of pay than we had supposed. The contract sets an important market marker for fellow youthful, right-handed-hitting corner pieces Nicholas Castellanos, Marcell Ozuna, and Yasiel Puig.

Garcia actually received three-year offers, including from Milwaukee, according to Heyman. But he preferred the shorter pact, with the idea being that he will have a shot at returning to free agency in the first year of a new CBA. Whether that proves an optimal time to reenter the market remains to be seen, but Garcia — who won’t turn 29 until next June — will certainly still be rather young at that time.

This time last year, Garcia settled for a one-year bounceback deal with the Rays after he struggled through an injury-limited 2018 campaign. He made good on the contract, turning in 530 plate appearances of .282/.332/.464 hitting with twenty home runs, though that didn’t represent a full return to his breakout ’17 effort (.330/.380/.506).

The Brewers are betting that Garcia can at least replicate his showing last year in Tampa Bay. He graded well with the glove and has surprisingly outstanding sprint speed. While he doesn’t walk much, Garcia doesn’t strike out a ton and has shown he can hit for a high average. It’s certainly possible to envision the talented player putting it all together and delivering a star-caliber performance in Milwaukee.

Despite two-straight postseason appearances, the Brewers have taken an aggressive approach to turning over their roster this winter. The club now has a bit of an overload in the outfield, although the Brewers are generally aggressive in terms of rotating players through multiple positions. Per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter link), manager Craig Counsell has informed Garcia that the team plans to utilize him in left field and in center field next season, with Ryan Braun moving around (i.e. spending time at first base) in order to accommodate the new arrangement. Garcia also has ample experience in right field, which could help to ease the burden on Christian Yelich early in the year as he returns from a season-ending patella fracture.

Jose F. Rivera of ESPN Deportes broke the news that the two sides were close to an agreement. Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported the agreement and terms (via Twitter). USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported the annual breakdown (Twitter links).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Brewers, Avisail Garcia In “Advanced” Talks

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The Brewers are in “advanced” talks with free-agent outfielder Avisail Garcia, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal tweeted on Saturday that Milwaukee was “trying hard” to complete a contract with the 28-year-old.

Garcia spent the 2019 season with the Rays, hitting .282/.332/.464 with 20 home runs, 25 doubles and a pair of triples in 530 trips to the plate. It was the second above-average offensive season from Garcia in the past three years, as he also turned in a career-best .330/.380/.506 line with the White Sox in 2017 (albeit with the help of a sky-high .392 average on balls in play). Garcia’s hard-hit rate and exit velocity both deteriorated in 2019 but were still better than league average. And while most wouldn’t expect it based on his 6’4″, 250-pound frame and middling stolen base totals, Garcia rates among the game’s best in terms of sprint speed, per Statcast.

Milwaukee’s outfield is already rather full, with Ryan Braun, Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich lined up from left to right field. But Braun has seen time at first base in recent seasons, and a more permanent move in that regard would open some at-bats for Garcia in the outfield, perhaps setting up a platoon with the left-handed-hitting Ben Gamel. The right-handed-hitting Garcia was a bit better against righties than lefties in 2019, but his career platoon splits suggest that he’s been much better against southpaws (.296/.352/.456) than against righties (.264/.312/.418).

Braun, Cain, Keston Hiura and Luis Urias give the Brewers four right-handed bats on whom to rely in 2020, and backup catcher Manny Pina has also been serviceable against lefties in his career. The Brewers, though, look like a club that could struggle to match up against left-handed starters — particularly if Cain doesn’t bounce back from a lackluster 2019 season at the plate. At the very least, Garcia would give manager Craig Counsell some extra thump against lefties, but he’s still a relatively young option who has more than held his own against right-handed pitchers over the past three seasons as well, creating the possibility that he could occupy a more regular role.

From a payroll vantage point, the Brewers have trimmed off quite a bit of money with an aggressive slate of non-tenders, the trade of Chase Anderson and the departure of free agents Yasmani Grandal and Mike Moustakas. After opening the 2019 season with a club-record $122.5MM payroll, they currently have about $67MM committed to 10 players (plus pending arbitration raises for Omar Narvaez, Josh Hader and Brent Suter as well as pre-arbitration salaries to round out the roster). Even if owner Mark Attanasio prefers not return to last season’s level of spending, there should still be room for Garcia and others to be added to the mix for the 2020 season.

Quick Hits: Brewers, Garcia, Phillies, Bumgarner, Red Sox, Price

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The Brewers are “trying hard” to bring Avisail Garcia to Milwaukee, tweets The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Earlier, Jose F. Rivera of ESPN Deportes put the Brewers close to a deal with the Mato Sports Management client. Garcia would figure to be a good fit to share time in the outfield with the lefty-hitting Ben Gamel. Garcia has played mostly right field in his career, a few spot starts in left notwithstanding. If indeed he does sign with the Brewers, it could mean moving Christian Yelich back to left. Ryan Braun is also an option for the outfield, though as of right now he’s penciled in for the lion’s share of starts at first base.

  • Having nabbed a couple of former New York athletes in Zack Wheeler and Didi Gregorius, the Phillies are near their spending limit for 2019. Together, Wheeler and Gregorius add $37.6MM to Philly’s luxury tax ledger for 2019. Estimates put the Phillies right up against the $208MM tax threshold, putting some added emphasis to any further moves made this winter. Still, execs from around the league believe they are open to further spending, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The Phillies will continue to look for “opportunistic” signings. It’s unlikely, then, that the Phillies would be in on Madison Bumgarner, given the league-wide interest in the lefty and the hefty contract he is likely to secure.
  • Sneaking under the luxury tax remains a “realistic” goal for the Red Sox, per The Athletic’s Chad Jennings. The new regime led by Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom took a more egalitarian approach to the winter meetings than in recent years. Boston took the time to gauge the lay of the land rather than strike hard for a specific target. Moving all or most of the three-years, $96MM owed to David Price is still the quickest path to ducking the tax, but Bloom is resistant to making Price’s contract more palatable by attaching prospects. They are, however, willing to pay down Price’s contract to get it closer to $20MM per year rather than the current $32MM. Until Price does get moved, expect more of the same as the Red Sox will continue to work around the margins to tweak the roster.

Brewers Interested In Avisail Garcia

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Along with the previously reported Rays and Marlins, the Brewers have interest in free-agent outfielder Avisail Garcia, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

As a member of the Rays, the 28-year-old Garcia spent the majority of last season in right field, where the Brewers employ the incredible Christian Yelich. However, the club’s not nearly as well off in left, especially after trading Trent Grisham to the Padres. Although he doesn’t carry much experience at the position, Garcia could fit in there for Milwaukee. Based on his 2019 performance, Garcia would be an upgrade over Ben Gamel and could enable Ryan Braun to primarily handle first base, where the Brewers don’t have an obvious answer.

Garcia, who has spent almost all of his MLB tenure with the White Sox, has had an up-and-down career to this point. In fact, he has been a replacement-level player or worse across a few seasons. However, Garcia performed well last season in Tampa Bay, which led MLBTR to predict he’d land a two-year, $12MM contract in free agency.

Over 530 trips to the plate as a Ray, Garcia slashed .282/.332/.464 with 20 home runs en route to a 112 wRC+ and 1.8 fWAR. While the big-bodied Garcia doesn’t look like a speedster, he stole 10 bases, ranked in the 90th percentile in Statcast’s sprint speed metric and acquitted himself well in the field. In 869 innings as a defender last season, Garcia saved a pair of runs, posted a 2.2 Ultimate Zone Rating and finished plus-3 in Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric.

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