Should White Sox Be Open to Moving Avisail Garcia?
By Brian Draus
White Sox outfielder having his best season in the majors, but should the team sell high and consider trading him this offseason?
For those who follow Chicago White Sox baseball, it is clear that Avisail Garcia has performed at an extraordinarily high level in 2017. However due to his failures in past seasons a question needs to be asked. Would it make sense to move the aforementioned outfielder this offseason considering that he has a team friendly contract?
Speaking of that deal, Garcia would be attractive to countless organizations around the game because of it. For an outfielder coming off an All-Star campaign, many front offices may be prompted by team control through 2019, not to mention an opportunity to sign him to a long-term deal in that window.
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While Garcia has been good in regards to average exit velocity (89.74 MPH), many of his hits have occurred in ways that they may not in the future. Anytime a hitter has a high batting average it is excellent, but keep in mind one stat doesn’t show everything. By looking at Garcia’s BABIP, you can see that his average could be skewed a bit in either direction.
With that said, how does this impact the Sox right fielder? Very simply put, Garcia has the highest BABIP’s in the game (.390) while no other hitter in the top ten of batting average comes near Garcia’s 65-point difference between his .325 BA and .390 BABIP. Given these numbers could change between now and the end of 2017, but Garcia’s batting average is likely to regress a bit next year.
Now, the crux of the matter is not so much if Garcia will regress but what the Sox have coming in a couple of years. It’s a timeline issue in regards to the whole rebuild. Those who read these articles know my feelings of our right-fielders ability and what he can do. However, at this point it is more of a concern if they can get something of value from another organization in return.
Considering that, what should the cost be if Rick Hahn and Ken Williams decide to shop Garcia? The answer to that is high, mostly because we all know they have a lofty opinion of him. With team control over Garcia until the 2020 season they shouldn’t just give him away, not to mention ask for another organizations top prospects in return.
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All in all, trading Garcia is not going to be an easy decision if and when it is made. Due to the level of talent they would be moving is hard enough, but this type of contract exacerbates a general managers’ stress that much more. If Hahn feels his top outfield prospects are legit it makes sense, however they are only prospects until they contribute at the big league level.
This is one of many stories to follow over the next several months, Sox fans. Enjoy the ride!