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Alex Avila Signs With the Arizona Diamondbacks

The veteran Detroit Tigers catcher, Alex Avila, will continue his quest for a championship with the Arizona Diamondbacks as the team announced that Avila has signed a two-year contract worth $8.25 million.

Arizona Diamondbacks Sign Alex Avila

Avila’s Career Profile

Drafted by the Tigers in the fifth round with the 163rd overall pick of the 2008 June Amateur Draft, Avila would only have to wait one year before making his debut in 2009. In his second game of his career, he would hit his first career home run off of Anthony Swarzak in a game against the Minnesota Twins on August 7th, 2009. He would play in 29 games in his rookie season. After his seven years in Detroit, Avila would sign a one-year contract with the Chicago White Sox for $2.5 million. After that year with the White Sox, which was quite unsuccessful, Avila would go back to the Tigers on a one-year $2 million contract.

Unfortunately, he would not spend that entire contract with Detroit. Avila would be traded to a city he knew well as he, along with pitcher Justin Wilson, would be shipped out to the Chicago Cubs. In exchange, the Tigers would acquire shortstop Isaac Paredes, third baseman Jeimer Candelario, and a player to be named later. Avila would play eight years for the Tigers, batting a .245 batting average with 314 RBI and 77 home runs. During his time in Detroit, Avila would be nominated for an All-Star game and win a Silver Slugger award, both in 2012. In his career, Avila is hitting a .245 batting average with 342 RBI and 87 home runs.

The Impact Of The Signing

For the Diamondbacks, they gain a catcher who still looks to be a starter in this league. Avila can still get it done, and he has proved that through this crazy year. For the Cubs, they lose someone who also is a veteran in the clubhouse for their younger players. Avila will now look to become the next great catcher for Arizona, and keep his spot on the team.

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Carson Babbini

Carson Babbini

Carson Babbini is a sophomore student at the University of Minnesota studying Journalism specifically focusing on Broadcasting with a minor in Sports Management. Carson is a Minnesota sports fan and a sports enthusiast in general. He started writing for Last Word on Baseball on September 21st, 2017. On February 12th, 2018, Carson accepted an editor position as well as writing for the site. Carson is always looking forward to getting the latest news and getting it out to the public.

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