Marlins make Garcia first free agent signing
The Miami Marlins are set to make their first big free agent acquisition just days before MLB’s collective bargaining agreement is set to expire and turn the offseason into a player lockout.
The Marlins have agreed to a deal with outfielder Avisail Garcia, two sources confirmed to the Miami Herald on Sunday. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but Daniel Alvarez of El Extrabase reported Garcia is getting a four-year contract and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported the deal is worth $53 million.
His signing fits the club’s priority for the offseason, which Marlins general manager Kim Ng simply described last month as being “multiple bats, very plural.”
Garcia, 30, is a career .270 hitter with a .756 on-base-plus-slugging mark, 127 home runs, 475 RBI and 453 runs scored over 951 career games spanning 10 MLB seasons.
He had single-season career-highs in home runs (29) and RBI (86) in 2021, while his .820 OPS and .490 slugging were the second-best marks of his career, behind only the
.885 and .506 marks he had in his 2017 All-Star season with the Chicago White Sox.
Defensively, Garcia has primarily played in right field with 690 of his starts coming in that spot. He has 75 career starts in center field and 12 in left field.
— JORDAN MCPHERSON
AND BARRY JACKSON Elsewhere: Center fielder Byron Buxton and the Minnesota Twins are in agreement on a seven-year, $100 million contract extension, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Buxton received a full no-trade clause in the deal and will be paid $500,000 every time he reaches 502, 533, 567, 600 and 625 plate appearances, the sources said . ... Infielder Marcus Semien and the Texas Rangers are in agreement on a seven-year contract, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN. The deal is worth $175 million, a source said . ... The Tampa Bay Rays and free-agent right-hander Corey Kluber have agreed to a one-year contract, a source confirmed to ESPN. The deal is worth $8 million guaranteed and could be worth
$13 million if he reaches incentives.
ETC.
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