White Sox outfielder Avisail Garcia is set to undergo right knee surgery, he told reporters including MLB.com’s Scott Merkin (Twitter link). The precise nature of the procedure isn’t clear, but it seems there’s little reason to think it’ll pose any problems going forward.
Indeed, Garcia will wait until just after the conclusion of the regular season to have the work done. That’s as good an indication as any that there’s no real concern of jeopardizing his ability to prepare for the 2019 season.
Garcia says he has been battling issues in the joint all year long. He ended up on the shelf for stretches of the season and to this point has appeared in only 88 games.
Of greater concern for the South Siders is the fact that Garcia fell shy of his excellent 2017 output at the plate. Thus far in 2018, he’s slashing only .238/.278/.440. Though he has matched his career-high of 18 home runs in just 367 plate appearances, Garcia has also seen his strikeout rate jump to a career-high 26.4%.
On the positive side, Garcia actually made hard contact at a better rate (38.2%) than in 2017 or ever before. His year-over-year BABIP drop of 119 points (.392 to .273) certainly speaks to some variations in batted-ball fortune. Indeed, Statcast figures suggest that Garcia’s 2017 luck (.375 wOBA vs. .359 xwOBA) has simply turned in 2018 (.303 wOBA vs. .332 xwOBA).
Ultimately, the 27-year-old is all but certain to be tendered a contract by the White Sox. He’ll be in line for a raise on his current $6.7MM salary before qualifying for free agency, unless the club decides to pursue a longer-term contract.
They should have sold high last year. They’re not competing for a while. I just don’t understand?
It’s tough to sell high when all the teams have the same information. If you and I knew Avisail Garcia wasn’t all that good, don’t you think Andrew Friedman and Theo Epstein knew the same?
2017 was a break out year for Avi. The question going forward was whether 2017 was a fluke or not. Based on his previous performance, other teams wouldn’t offer very much for him. It was cheaper and made sense for the Sox to just keep him for the 2018 season and hope for the best.
I think the point is, you certainly could have gotten more for him last year then you can now. Since he’s not part of the “big plan” they should have moved him. Same with Abreu.
Okay, but they didn’t know that this was going to happen. If they knew, they would have traded him. Hindsight is 20/20
Well, sure. They did field offers for Garcia this offseason and none of them were particularly good. Whatever offered then was more than he is worth now, sure but if he would’ve came out and hit anywhere close to that again they could’ve commanded a much better prospect in return. The uptick in power appears to be real though. If he can get his BA and OBP to around league average he’ll be a decent player.
Prince Fielder jacked up his knee
What dose Prince Fielders knee have to do with anything in this article, or any comments made?
Cool. I had eggs for breakfast. My comment is a about as relevant as yours is to this article.
Scrambled? That’s the only way I can accept this comment.
Turnabout is fair play since Garcia allegedly “jacked up” Fielder’s ex-wife as a Tiger before he was dealt to the White Sox just before the 2013 summer trade deadline. It’s been rumored that a clubhouse altercation over this indiscretion also resulted in an injury to Miguel Cabrera.
‘‘twas an ugly moment in Tiger lore.
The Sox are not gonna tender Garcia a contract. No way they’re paying that guy 7 mil. Even the Sox aren’t that dumb.
The White Sox are almost “certain” to tender Garcia by the December deadline unless they are determined to replace him with a “certain” free agent RF who could command $400MM this offseason. There’s no other reason not to tender Garcia for his final arbitration year since they have minimal payroll obligations for 2019.
Top prospect Eloy Jimenez will be ticketed for LF while holdovers Daniel Palka, Nicky Delmonico and Ryan LaMarre will be fighting for time at DH or as backup OF’s. Even with Garcia’s below average defense, none of that trio is capable of matching his glove in RF. Short of adding Bryce Harper, the White Sox will ride with Garcia and hope that he builds enough trade value before next summer’s trade deadline.
Garcia was being touted as “Baby Miggy” when he was with Detroit. POtential, is often a misused term. Maybe he breaks out at some point, the talent is there.
Nice grimaced pic
Avi is a good player, he would’ve had a good year if he didnt get injured as much as he did. If he stays healthy, i can see him hitting .280 with 25 homers.