As rumors continue to swirl around possible trades for starting pitcher Chris Sale, the Chicago White Sox re-signed a couple of their own free agents on Friday. The White Sox agreed to terms on one-year deals for infielder Brett Lawrie and outfielder Avisail Garcia. Lawrie signed for $3.5 million, while Garcia will return on a $3 million contract.
White Sox agree on one-year, $3.5-million contract with 2B Brett Lawrie and a one-year, $3.0-million contract with OF Avisail Garcia.
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) December 3, 2016
White Sox Re-sign Avisail Garcia, Brett Lawrie
The 26-year-old Lawrie missed large chunks of the 2016 season thanks to a variety of leg injuries, and did not perform well when he did take the field. In 94 games, he hit a forgettable .248 with 12 home runs, 36 RBI, and 35 runs scored. He went on the disables list on July 27, and did not play again after that.
The six-year veteran played the best season of his career for the Oakland A’s in 2016, when he set personal bests in games played, at-bats, home runs, RBI, doubles, and slugging percentage. He also recorded his second best single-season batting average that year. Lawrie is a career .261 hitter, so there is a chance his performance will take an uptick next season if he can stay healthy.
Garcia, 25, was once thought of as a key piece to the future of the White Sox. Garcia got his career off to a fantastic start with the Detroit Tigers, he first came to the Southside of Chicago as part of the three-team trade for Jake Peavy in 2013.
Since then, however, Garcia has been nothing but a disappointment. He hasn’t hit better than .257 in his three full seasons with the White Sox, and hit just .245 in 120 games last season. If Garcia can’t figure things out in 2017, his time in Chicago will likely come to an end.
In addition, the White Sox decided to non-tender right-handed pitcher Blake Smith. Smith pitched just 4.1 innings for Chicago, and allowed three runs.
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