Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler tells MLB.com’s Jon Morosi that he intends to sit down the general manager Al Avila in the next couple of days to discuss his future with the team (all Twitter links). The 35-year-old Kinsler says his willingness to waive his partial no-trade clause will be dependent on what Avila tells about the team’s planned offseason direction, as a return to the postseason is his priority. The Tigers appear to be dead-set on rebuilding, having traded the likes of Justin Verlander, Justin Upton, Justin Wilson, Alex Avila and Cameron Maybin in the past 10 months. Kinsler, then, stands out as one of the most obvious trade candidates of the offseason as he heads into the final year of his contract.
More from the American League Central…
- Royals general manager Dayton Moore tells MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan that he’s prepared for many to second-guess the front office’s decision not to sell off short-term pieces at the trade deadline. “It’s a fair question,” said Moore, though he pointed to the Royals’ July surge as rationale for the moves. Indeed, as Flanagan points out, Kansas City was 2.5 games out of the division lead and was in possession of a Wild Card spot on July 30. Moore tells Flanagan that following the current season, the Royals will “do everything we can” to compete for wins in 2018 and for player acquisitions in the offseason. That doesn’t sound like the Royals are planning on any sort of rebuild with much of its core hitting the open market, though Moore likely wouldn’t tip his hand at this point even if that were the direction in which the Royals are leaning.
- With the Twins in the thick of a Wild Card race, Michael Rand of the Minneapolis Star Tribune takes a look at the first season of work from new front-office tandem Derek Falvey and Thad Levine. Rand notes that the team’s show of faith in in-house young talent like Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler and Jose Berrios has proven to be shrewd, as as their emphasis on improving catcher defense and adding high-character veterans. The Twins, however, failed to sufficiently address the bullpen despite it being a clear point of need this winter, Rand opines, and the decision to tender lefty Hector Santiago for $8MM looks especially questionable with the benefit of hindsight.
- White Sox outfielder/DH Avisail Garcia tells Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times that he hopes to remain with the club even through the rebuilding phase. The 26-year-old can become a free agent following the 2019 season and is in the midst of a breakout campaign, however, making him a fairly logical offseason trade candidate. Van Schouwen also spoke with ChiSox hitting coach Todd Steverson about Garcia’s improvements this season, getting his take on what has helped Garcia break out. Through 519 plate appearances, Garcia is hitting .333/.382/.504 with 17 homers, 23 doubles and four triples.
Somehow having a 396 BABIP while sporting the 12th highest ground ball rate in MLB is what’s “helped Garcia break out”.
If possible, the Sox would be wise to sell high here.
No one wants him for the reasons you just pointed out. I would love for them to sell high but I would think most GM’s know it’s just a career year and isn’t that good. Track record is something they look at.
Absolutely. Gotta put him on the block while his production is peaking.
These numbers are aided by his exit velocity, which is consistently among the highest in the league, though. More of those ground balls get through the infield when they’re hit really hard.
Exit velocity really means nothing on groundballs. Actually hitting the ball softly helps the most on grounders. Running a .367 BABIP on groundballs is insane. Ichiro has had the best run over an extended period with a .289 BABIP and he had every advantage of speed and being left handed to help.
If you’re DeShields or Billy H or Ichiro back in the day sure, hitting grounders with lower exit velocity may be better… if you’re an average runner or slow than a higher exit velocity would obviously help your chances of getting a hit. If you’re the average guy hitting a ball that is more likely to get through the hole because the fielder has less time is no doubt better than a slow roller… it’s not like most guys beat out tons of infield rollers.
Good theory. Not supported by the #’s.
He isn’t in the top 50.for exit velo.
None of the players ahead of him have anywhere near the same GB luck.
Yeah, Steverson said something about proving people wrong, but I’m not sure he’s much proven anything other than it’s nice to have a high BABIP. Every year there’s someone like this, and almost always it doesn’t last.
My favorite part of the article was Garcia saying he was surprised to get traded. Given what came out after the fact, his getting traded was about as predictable a move in recent baseball history
I’m all for selling high up to a certain point. He is just as likely to build on his career year as he is to regress. He has always had the talent but has finally figured it out. A late bloomer happens all the time. The thing is the White Sox stuck with him all those years when he was developing. So the thought that when he finally turns into the player we thought he would be for years, and puts up all star seasons with another team sounds silly. It’s like dating a girl for years and she gets rich and you decide to dump her. Why?
Only 2 years of control. No way I would extend him without seeing another half season of at bats first.
The point of my comment is that his BABIP + GB (+ BB Rate and K Rate and launch angle and power #’s) point to him NOT being likely to build on his career year.
His BABIP says he’s either Joey Votto or Mike Trout (without the power) OR 2009 Jason Bartlett/2013 Chris Johnson.
Which do you think is more likely?
Avasail has done well this year and has learned to be a solid hitter. He is young and I like his potential for next year and beyond. The Sox are short on major league outfielders although good prospects are being groomed in the minors.
It’s not about his age. It’s more about his control.
Avi health is always a concern too. Given that they’re still two years away ffom contention, the Sox are better off selling high on him.
One benefit of the double wildcard is that it’s pretty effective tanking prevention, keeping marginal teams in meaningful games deeper into the season.
I think Kinsler has stuck himself in a corner and regrets his demands of an extension to agree to a trade. If not for him wanting to be extended, would he have been traded to the Dodgers? Maybe Angels? I have a feeling that of teams that see themselves as contenders next year won’t be willing to trade for him coming off a .236 average, or whatever he finishes at. Of all the contenders I see most probably don’t view him as an upgrade. Milwaukee? Toronto? He’s probably stuck in Detroit and hope he has a good first half and can get traded.
The next 2 years for Garcia will be ‘prove it’ years. If he wants to stay a White Sox, he needs to show 2017 wasn’t just a one year thing.