Sign Avi to a long term contract?

[chitownsportsfan]

We are 25 games into the season and Avi is still leading the league in batting average. It's time for people to realize we now have one of the best players in the game. His cost has probably risen to about $14 million per season since this thread was posted, but it would still be to our advantage to sign him long term now before he gets $20+ million on the open market at the end of the season. Hurry up Hahn and make this your #1 priority!

 

In 15 years, we're going to be saying that Avi Garcia trade is one of the best moves in WS history!

[witesoxfan]

But Avi has always shown us he had the tools - it was just a matter of putting the pieces together. He's hitting .423 now.....so lets say he does slump a little and ends up only hitting .375 for the season with 30 HRs and 110 RBIs. That would fetch at least $20 mil per season in the winter. If we could sign him now for 6/72, it secure a major building block and save us a ton of money.

 

I mean, I know this is a thread ripe with trolling, so I apologize in advance for the serious post, but Avi showed tools, but Kahnle and his 98 MPH fastball didn't show tools. OK.

[Dick Allen]

Kahnle needs to be locked up ASAP as well. Buyout a couple of free agent years with him and Leury and Avi, and Narvaez. Who knew we were watching perennial all stars last year? Holland and Gonzo have shown they both are worthy of a 5 year deal. They are trade bait once Giolitto, Lopez, and Kopech come up to dominate. I was thinking extend Shields, but now it would be prudent to wait. Davidson has probably cost himself a few million the last week or so, but if he's willing to sign a team friendly deal along the lines Eaton signed for, wow. Hahn will have unreal talent, and a mountain of money to play with.

[BlackSox13]

Kahnle needs to be locked up ASAP as well. Buyout a couple of free agent years with him and Leury and Avi, and Narvaez. Who knew we were watching perennial all stars last year? Holland and Gonzo have shown they both are worthy of a 5 year deal. They are trade bait once Giolitto, Lopez, and Kopech come up to dominate. I was thinking extend Shields, but now it would be prudent to wait. Davidson has probably cost himself a few million the last week or so, but if he's willing to sign a team friendly deal along the lines Eaton signed for, wow. Hahn will have unreal talent, and a mountain of money to play with.

 

Nicely done.

[caulfield12]

We absolutely have to extend Michael Ynoa due to his friendship with Luis Robert.

 

Give him a $25-30 million extension now, and that will certainly help convince Robert there's even more gold down the line waiting for him at the bottom of the Sox rainbow.

 

Also, Asche should get at least $25,000 from SoxTalk mods for his banner promotion, which has allowed the site to triple page views in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan because of his uncanny resemblance to national heroes from those countries.

Edited May 4, 2017 by caulfield12

[Jerksticks]

Lotta good threads on the boards right now.

[caulfield12]

I have to imagine Andrew Jackson's twitter feed is blowing up right now.

[Kyyle23]

@writesox

 

Avi in April: .368/.409/.621

 

Avi in May: .231/.286/.231

 

No extra-base hits and only one walk in May.

[Dick Allen]

It looked like Avi was starting to get back to the Avi we have known a couple of weeks ago, but he has picked it up again. At what point is this real? Or is it still the mirage it has been in the past? 40 games and he has numbers Frank Thomas in his prime would be thrilled with. Fangraphs has stopped their bashing, nowhave gone radio silent about him.

 

Could Hawk have been right? he really has been incredible this year. I was at the game early Saturday and when Gene Honda was going through the line up, Avi received the loudest applause. Not bad for a guy who the team obviously held out of Soxfest because he was booed there a year earlier.

Edited May 21, 2017 by Dick Allen

[oldsox]

It looked like Avi was starting to get back to the Avi we have known a couple of weeks ago, but he has picked it up again. At what point is this real? Or is it still the mirage it has been in the past? 40 games and he has numbers Frank Thomas in his prime would be thrilled with. Fangraphs has stopped their bashing, nowhave gone radio silent about him.

 

Could Hawk have been right? he really has been incredible this year. I was at the game early Saturday and when Gene Honda was going through the line up, Avi received the loudest applause. Not bad for a guy who the team obviously held out of Soxfest because he was booed there a year earlier.

I still have trouble with that one -- booing him at SoxFest.

[SouthSide2004]

It looked like Avi was starting to get back to the Avi we have known a couple of weeks ago, but he has picked it up again. At what point is this real? Or is it still the mirage it has been in the past? 40 games and he has numbers Frank Thomas in his prime would be thrilled with. Fangraphs has stopped their bashing, nowhave gone radio silent about him.

 

Could Hawk have been right? he really has been incredible this year. I was at the game early Saturday and when Gene Honda was going through the line up, Avi received the loudest applause. Not bad for a guy who the team obviously held out of Soxfest because he was booed there a year earlier.

I'm still not buying in terms of an extension. I really need to see what the new Avi accomplishes over a full season before I decide if he's a long-term piece. With two more years of control, this is something we can tackle in the offseason.

 

Regardless, it's great news that a soon to be 26 year old has potentially become a core piece. This rebuild is in much better shape if Avi can anchor the middle of the lineup for the next five or six years.

[Bob Sacamano]

I'm still not buying in terms of an extension. I really need to see what the new Avi accomplishes over a full season before I decide if he's a long-term piece. With two more years of control, this is something we can tackle in the offseason.

 

Regardless, it's great news that a soon to be 26 year old has potentially become a core piece. This rebuild is in much better shape if Avi can anchor the middle of the lineup for the next five or six years.

 

Agreed.

[GreenSox]

With Avi becoming one of the best hitters in all of baseball, should we make the move now to secure him long term?

1)Good question; he becomes a FA in 2020, the year, I assume that the Sox will be loaded and ready to roll; but sometimes it happens earlier than expected.

2)Brian Kenney had a good analysis of him on his show; says that his approach hasn't changed so there may be some luck involved; but the trajectory of his hits has, which suggests sustainable improvement.

3)His turnaround reminds me of JD Martinez; Martinez was about like Avi, suddenly got good (albeit on a new team) and sustained it.

4)If the Sox hadn't decided to rebuild, would Avi even be on the team? Would they have gone another year with him in "go for it mode?" Perhaps another benefit to rebuilding. And certainly the Sox were due for some good fortune in player development.

Edited May 21, 2017 by GreenSox

[Jake]

Big question remaining is his defense. To compare him to another late bloomer, is he going to be like Jose Bautista as a defender or can he be more like an average outfielder? Has big implications for his future value as well as how much his newfound stroke has to be for real vs. just a slight improvement

[caulfield12]

Yeah, what kind of value in terms of WAR can you realistically expect out of him if he's a 1B or DH?

 

Can they live with him in RF or LF? You have his rights just through 2019, so let's say you give him a four year extension through 2021, for how much?

 

I also think you have to wait this out at least two more months to see how well the new Avi sticks. 2019 is the likely year they'd compete, but do you hold him all that season and risk losing him for basically nothing?

 

It's an interesting discussion though, whether you'd go after the veteran equivalent of Fowler, Desmond or Lorenzo Cain, let's say on a contract similar to Melky's, providing you much better defense on one of those corners.

 

$48 million for four years, how soon before we'd regret that deal for Garcia? It's almost twice as much as we're guaranteeing Tim Anderson.

Edited May 21, 2017 by caulfield12

[GreenSox]

$48 million for four years, how soon before we'd regret that deal for Garcia? It's almost twice as much as we're guaranteeing Tim Anderson.

Anderson's contract was on the come; if he ever starts hitting like Avi is, then we can lament it. He's paid Alexei-level money, which is appropriate.

 

[southsider2k5]

Went back in time to see the idea that Avi has been hot before. Right now he is hitting .357 with a 1.010 OPS. I actually went back and looked at his splits by month. The guy has had one other month in his career outside of 2017 where he hit over .350. That was in August of 2013 where he hit .354, but he only OPS'd .879. Until 2017 he had zero months over .900 OPS if he played 15 or more games.

 

This is by far his single longest and sustained period of success in his entire career, and it is almost at two months worth now.

[Boopa1219]

What do you recommend: The Jeff Keppinger deal, the Adam Dunn deal or the John Danks deal?

 

[Lip Man 1]

I'm still not buying in terms of an extension. I really need to see what the new Avi accomplishes over a full season before I decide if he's a long-term piece. With two more years of control, this is something we can tackle in the offseason.

 

Regardless, it's great news that a soon to be 26 year old has potentially become a core piece. This rebuild is in much better shape if Avi can anchor the middle of the lineup for the next five or six years.

 

Agreed on all counts.

 

[fathom]

It's amazing to me that Avi is only about 200 days older than Kris Bryant

[Soha]

The bigger question, or certainly more immediate question - might be what if he continues to hit this way for another 1-2 months. We never considered this when the rebuild started, but do you consider offers from playoff contenders? If a guy is hitting .340ish with a high OPS in to July - man that might fetch a ton from a contender in need of a bat.

 

Say if Washington offers you Vickor Robles+ for Robertson and Avi...does Hahn say yes or no? I'm thinking Hahn would decline that at this point.

[caulfield12]

The bigger question, or certainly more immediate question - might be what if he continues to hit this way for another 1-2 months. We never considered this when the rebuild started, but do you consider offers from playoff contenders? If a guy is hitting .340ish with a high OPS in to July - man that might fetch a ton from a contender in need of a bat.

 

Say if Washington offers you Vickor Robles+ for Robertson and Avi...does Hahn say yes or no? I'm thinking Hahn would decline that at this point.

 

Cain and Herrera will get you Soto+. Herrera under contract through 2018, so fairly similar offers because Robertson's salaries become much harder to swallow, while Avi has an extra year of control (2019).

 

Robles is supposedly off the table.

 

Plus, they need a CFer more than a corner guy to replace Eaton/Taylor.

[elrockinMT]

Went back in time to see the idea that Avi has been hot before. Right now he is hitting .357 with a 1.010 OPS. I actually went back and looked at his splits by month. The guy has had one other month in his career outside of 2017 where he hit over .350. That was in August of 2013 where he hit .354, but he only OPS'd .879. Until 2017 he had zero months over .900 OPS if he played 15 or more games.

 

This is by far his single longest and sustained period of success in his entire career, and it is almost at two months worth now.

 

 

Avi is 25 years old. He had a ton of pressure put on him as everyone started to compare him to Miggy Cabrera. Youth and a big head have apparently been dealt with and judging by his changed attitude and his physical fitness I am glad that real professional baseball staff make decisions on players like Avi and not folks posting their opinions

[caulfield12]

Or they had only Willy Garcia and Rymer Liriano to play RF...we'll never know if they argued vociferously to keep him or dump him with a divided front office (see a Viciedo) or "knew all along" he would finally put this type of streak together.

[greg775]

Avi is 25 years old. He had a ton of pressure put on him as everyone started to compare him to Miggy Cabrera. Youth and a big head have apparently been dealt with and judging by his changed attitude and his physical fitness I am glad that real professional baseball staff make decisions on players like Avi and not folks posting their opinions

El Rockin, you are my kind of fan. You are so positive! I like everybody else on this board except you pretty much thought of Avi as Tank, except for one thing, his effort. From what I could tell, Avi always gave great effort even when failing.