We started here, and here’s still feeling pretty solid.
Then a somewhat simple concept of a good team trading an awful team a collection of almost-players for one of their last, shining good players, shook, twisted and contorted into a three-team conspiracy to get the Detroit Tigers a shortstop, but not the shortstop the White Sox need to look into dealing.
Garcia is a huge (6’4″, 240 lbs) 22 year-old corner outfielder with surprisingly well-regarded defense and big raw power. He conquered Triple-A at a young age, with a .382/.414/.549 line in 153 plate appearances at that level going into Wednesday. However, there’s work to be done, and the problems are familiar. He’s got 32 strikeouts to seven walks in Triple-A, and has yet to tap into that power in any big way. His .167 ISO at Triple-A Toledo is about as high he’s gotten at any level with a sample larger than six games.
More is coming, however, as this deal seems to be adhering to the Matt Garza package at least in size.
If Avisail sounds underwhelming, or worrisome for his similarity to other flawed hitters in the organization, there could be cause for that other than the Sox simply having a type. There’s no rumor yet of money changing hands, which might have allowed for the White Sox to up the return value by eating some contract value. Or it might not have.
Here’s your nugget of hope to cling to, until further details are gathered.
Hopefully this longtime evaluator is not Kenny Williams.
We also went through the process of eulogizing Jake Peavy last week.
MORE ON THE PACKAGE:
19 year-old middle infielder Cleuluis Rondon is being reported as being part of the package. He’s in Low-A right now, which gives everyone plenty of time to figure out how to say his first name.
He’s a bit of a defense-first type.
Very defense-first.
To round out the package, there are two relievers who were born in 1993 and project to be relievers. Francellis Montas and Jeffrey Wendelken are both in A-Ball. Wendelken has good results at the moment (2.81), but Montas sounds more interesting. The velocity is big and the whiffs reveal it (96 K in 85.1 innings). In fact, Avisail is the only guy to really hope for from a starting perspective.
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