Tag / Avisail Garcia

by admin

#108 – Dayan Viciedo

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Name: Dayan Viciedo

Rank: 108

Position: LF

Years With White Sox: 2010-2014

Dayan Viciedo signed a 4-year deal with the White Sox in November of 2008, mere months after defecting from Cuba.  He spent the 2009 season in Double A Birmingham and moved to Triple A Charlotte for 2010.  He spent some time with the big league club in 2010, making his major league debut on June 20 against the Nationals.

He returned to Triple A in 2011, until Carlos Quentin went down with an injury in late August. Viciedo returned to Chicago, this time to stay. He became the everyday left fielder in 2012, putting up decent, if underwhelming numbers. Viciedo became a bit of a conundrum in 2013, as his average improved slightly, but his power numbers decreased.

Viciedo was slated for a platoon role with Alejandro de Aza in 2014, until Avisail Garcia’s shoulder injury opened up a spot for him. By the time Garcia returned, de Aza was in Baltimore and Viciedo had left field all to himself. He was unable to capitalize on the opportunity, though, as his average and OBP fell to a career lows.

Viciedo appeared to be the odd man out that offseason, with Melky Cabrera signed to play left field and Adam LaRoche on board as DH.  With spring training 2015 about to begin and no takers on the trade market, the White Sox cut bait and released Viciedo on February 5th.  Viciedo re-signed with the White Sox organization on a minor league deal on August 1st and became a free agent following the season.

Viciedo’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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by admin

2015 Final Batting Leaders

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersAnother season has come to an end, with yet more disappointment on the south side while things finally started to look up on the north side.  Let’s take a look back at the offensive leaders for the 39 games, including the post-season, that I attended this season:

Home Runs

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 6
Brian Dozier 3
Melky Cabrera 3
Geovany Soto 3
Gordon Beckham 3
Jose Abreu 3
Jorge Soler 3

Hits

Name Total
Melky Cabrera 39
Alexei Ramirez 38
Adam Eaton 34
Jose Abreu 27
Avisail Garcia 26

Runs

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 15
Adam Eaton 15
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by admin

2015 All Star Break Batting Leaders

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles DodgersNow that the All Star Game is behind us and we await the start of the second half of the season, let’s take a look at the first half offensive leaders, if you can call them that, for the 21 games I attended:

Home Runs

Name Total
Gordon Beckham 3
Brian Dozier 3
Jose Abreu 2
Josh Donaldson 2
Avisail Garcia 2
Alexei Ramirez 2
Adam LaRoche 2

Hits

Name Total
Alexei Ramirez 23
Melky Cabrera 19
Jose Abreu 18
Avisail Garcia 17
Adam Eaton 17

Runs

Name Total
Jose Abreu 11
Avisail Garcia 9
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by admin

He Gone!

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The countdown on Dayan Viciedo’s time with the White Sox started ticking last Wednesday when he was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for the re-signed Gordon Beckham.  The Viciedo era officially came to an end yesterday when he was waived for the purpose of giving him his release.

Viciedo defected from Cuba in 2008 at the age of 19, and that November he signed a 4 year deal with the White Sox.  He spent the 2009 season in Double A Birmingham and moved to Triple A Charlotte for 2010.  He spent some time with the big league club in 2010, making his major league debut on June 20 against the Nationals.

He returned to Triple A in 2011, until Carlos Quentin went down with an injury in late August.  Viciedo returned to Chicago, this time to stay.  He became the everyday left fielder in 2012, putting up decent, if underwhelming numbers.  Viciedo became a bit of a conundrum in 2013, as his average improved slightly, but his power numbers decreased.

Viciedo was slated for a platoon role with Alejandro de Aza last year, until Avisail Garcia’s shoulder injury opened up a spot for him.  By the time Garcia returned, de Aza was in Baltimore and Viciedo had left field all to himself.  He was unable to capitalize on the opportunity, though, as his average and OBP fell to a career lows.

As Rick Hahn remade the White Sox roster over this off-season, Viciedo appeared to be the odd man out.  With Melky Cabrera signed to play left field and Adam LaRoche on board as DH, Viciedo would have been relegated to backup duties.  Now, he will try to continue his career elsewhere, hopefully with better results.

Viciedo’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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by jim

Remaking The White Sox

addisonmattLess than a week after acquiring center fielder Adam Eaton from the Diamondbacks in a three team trade that sent Hector Santiago to the Angels, White Sox GM Rick Hahn struck again, this time getting third baseman Matt Davidson from the Diamondbacks in exchange for closer Addison Reed.  Add in Avisail Garcia, acquired in the Jake Peavy trade in July, and the signing of Cuban refugee Jose Abreu and the White Sox have added 4 players under the age of 27 who should form the foundation of the team going forward.

Davidson is ranked 64th on MLB.com’s Top 100 prospect list and was the Diamondback’s 2nd best prospect.  He hit .280 with 32 doubles, 17 home runs, 74 RBIs, 55 runs scored, a .350 on-base percentage and a .481 slugging percentage in 115 games at Triple-A in 2013.  He also took home MVP honors at the Futures Game during All Star weekend at Citi Field.

The closer role will likely fall to Nate Jones, barring any new acquisitions between now and opening day.  An opening day that could have the White Soc fielding 4 different starters from a year ago, hopefully leading them to future glory.

by admin

Adios Rios

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The Alex Rios era came to an end today as the enigmatic right fielder was shipped to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later who may or may not be Leury Garcia.  Rios first joined the White Sox in August of 2009 in a waiver claim from the Blue Jays, in a move widely assumed to block the first place Tigers from acquiring him.

Rios spent the final 41 games of the 2009 season with the White Sox, finishing up with a disappointing .199 batting average and only 9 RBI as the team failed to repeat as champions of the AL Central and missed the playoffs.  He rebounded in 2010, hitting .284 and putting together the fourth 20/20 season in White Sox history.

2011, however, was a train wreck, as his average dropped back down to .227 with only 13 home runs and 44 RBIs.  The only person standing between Rios and the title of worst player in baseball for the season was Adam Dunn, who just so happened to be in the same lineup every night.

To his credit, Rios bounced back once again in 2012, hitting over .300 and becoming the first White Sox player to have 2 20/20 seasons.  It looked like 2013 would continue to be good for Rios, but, like the rest of the White Sox offense, he mostly disappeared starting in mid-May, keeping his average above .270 but losing his power and getting pulled out of a game late last month for dogging it.

For the White Sox, this move opens up more salary flexibility for next season and, more immediately, provides a slot for Avisail Garcia, acquired in the Jake Peavy trade, to join the big league club.

Rios’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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by admin

Sweet Home Alab… er, Boston

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Jake Peavy, the hard throwing 32-year old right hander, saw his tenure on the south side come to an end today when he was traded to the Red Sox in a three-way deal that would send Jose Iglesias to the Tigers and Avisail Garcia and three low level prospects to the White Sox.

The White Sox first traded for Jake Peavy on May 21, 2009, but Peavy invoked his no-trade clause to block the deal.  The next day, in a game against his soon-to-be cross town rival Cubs, Peavy injured his ankle running the bases and headed to the disabled list.  When the White Sox came around again at the trade deadline despite the lingering ankle injury, Peavy agreed to the deal and left the Padres to join the White Sox in exchange for Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Adam Russell and Dexter Carter.  Peavy eventually managed to make 3 starts for the White Sox, winning all 3 and giving fans hope for the 2010 season.

After getting off to a rough start in 2010, Peavy got on a roll and strung together five consecutive victories until July 6, when he suffered a detached latissimus dorsi muscle, a rare injury that ended his season.  Peavy worked his way back to the White Sox rotation in 2011, but he needed time to adjust to his reattached muscle and rebuild his strength.

In 2012, Peavy led the surprising White Sox to a summer in first place and was named to the All Star team.  Unfortunately, the team faded down the stretch and finished behind the Tigers for the AL Central crown.  After the season, he avoided free agency by reupping with the White Sox, signing a two year, $29 million dollar extension with a vesting option for 2015.  Unfortunately, the late season collapse that doomed the White Sox in September of 2012 continued into 2013, as the team fell into the cellar and saw an opportunity to improve themselves by moving Peavy.  Only time will tell if the move will work out.

Peavy’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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