Report: Avisail Garcia to sign one-year deal with Rays

Avisail Garcia

When the White Sox non-tendered outfielder Avisail Garcia, a few cynics out there didn't believe the team actually would move forward with someone else in right field for 2019.

Fear not, cynics, Garcia is moving on. So will the Sox.

According to a report in the Tampa Bay Times, Garcia has agreed to terms on a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. The contract includes $2.5 million in incentives.

Garcia is coming off a bad season in which he hit .236/.281/.438 with 19 home runs and 49 RBIs. Yes, the 19 home runs were a career high, but the .281 on-base percentage was a career worst by almost 30 points. Not to mention, knee and hamstring injuries limited Garcia to only 93 games.

There probably are a handful of true Garcia believers out there because of the All-Star season he put up for the Sox in 2017, when he hit .330/.380/.506 with 18 home runs, 27 doubles and 80 RBIs in 136 games.

However, Garcia played for the Sox for five seasons, and 2017 was the only one in which you could say he lived up to expectations.

Aside from 2017, Garcia never had another season where he batted better than .257. Aside from 2017, he never had an on-base percentage higher than .309, and obviously, he won't be winning any Gold Gloves in right field.

This is a player who needs to hit in order to be useful, and in four years out of five with the Sox, he didn't hit enough. Maybe he'll revitalize his career in Tampa Bay, but I'm willing to bet he doesn't, and I'm fine with the Sox cutting ties.

And why is a player with a long history of leg injuries signing with a team that plays in a dome anyway?