March 3, 201610 yr QUOTE (GreenSox @ Mar 2, 2016 -> 03:05 PM) Can't argue with that. I just don't think he deserves the beat down, considering the other offensive (and defensive) luminaries on this team. Just because there were other underperformers on the team last season doesn't make his awful defense, complete lack of plate discipline or non-existent power acceptable. Everything negative said about Garcia is warranted and derived from his play. The only thing the guy does is hustle and if he doesn't put it together by the trade deadline I expect him to be replaced if we are even close to the playoff chase.
March 3, 201610 yr QUOTE (GreenSox @ Mar 2, 2016 -> 05:05 PM) Can't argue with that. I just don't think he deserves the beat down, considering the other offensive (and defensive) luminaries on this team. WAR is what's killing him. Ten or fifteen years ago, before there started to be more compelling defensive metrics (other than TC vs. errors for infielders), you could hide a younger/youngish Avi Garcia on a team. Now, his baserunning lapses, defensive weaknesses and unexpectedly bad offense for a player of that size are out there for everyone to dissect. Another element of this is the fact that very few White Sox players (especially younger ones) have improved appreciably on the defensive front...so you've got all these factors conspiring against him, the low walk totals, lack of patience/swinging at balls out of the zone, not often making strong contact to the pull side except for hanging offspeed stuff, etc. Austin Jackson is more or less the antithesis, with the main commonality being the strikeouts. On the other hand, you know what you're getting with Jackson in terms of his baserunning and defense. Now the question is whether the expected win/loss difference is worth roughly $5-6 million dollars and basically throwing in the towel on Avi. It's the same type of issue with Rollins vs. Saladino, but the opportunity cost is much lower for the club.
March 3, 201610 yr QUOTE (scs787 @ Mar 1, 2016 -> 04:41 PM) White Sox Facebook posted a slow mo of Avi's home run swing and damnit, it actually looks pretty damn good. Someone more technogically inclined wanna post it? https://www.facebook.com/WhiteSox/videos/10154717597193298/
March 3, 201610 yr QUOTE (GreenSox @ Mar 2, 2016 -> 05:05 PM) Can't argue with that. I just don't think he deserves the beat down, considering the other offensive (and defensive) luminaries on this team. Those other luminaries are either gone now or they make a lot of money, so there's no point in beating our heads against the wall about it. The outfield market was also busier than other positions this offseason, or it seemed that way at least. Perfect storm. He does not deserve to get booed at Soxfest.
March 3, 201610 yr QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 2, 2016 -> 05:04 PM) Also worth noting that Avi was 119th out of 141 qualified hitters in terms of "fraction of pitches thrown to him in the strike zone". He's down there with legit sluggers who the pitchers are scared of, and in fact saw even fewer strikes than Abreu - in other words, pitchers were also not throwing him strikes. He should have walked a lot when he's getting very few strikes, but he also had the highest %age of swings and misses per total pitches thrown in baseball among qualified hitters. Honestly would liked to have seen Avi leave the bat on his shoulder for a week and see what his OBP was.
March 3, 201610 yr QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 3, 2016 -> 10:08 AM) Honestly would liked to have seen Avi leave the bat on his shoulder for a week and see what his OBP was. I suggested that last season. Just for a game. Maybe a light would have turned on.
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