Since signing Avisaíl García to a four-year, $53 million deal in 2022, the Marlins haven’t exactly gotten what they wanted from their potentially game-changing outfielder. His poor performance and complaints about his experience in Miami have led to him being DFA'd by the Marlins.
The Braves could look into adding him to the roster as they lost Ronald Acuña Jr. for the season but there are a few question marks to consider.
Garcia was hitting .240 with two home runs this season through 50 at-bats. Since donning a Marlins uniform, he's batted .204 with 13 homers through 549 at-bats which is not what they hoped for when spending $53 million to bring him to South Beach.
What stings even more for the Marlins is that they decided to eat Garcia’s remaining salary for 2024 and parts of his salary for the next two seasons. This equals about $24 million of the contract being covered by Miami.
Marlins are DFA’ing Avisail Garcia per source. Miami will eat his remaining salary for 2024, another 12 million in 2025 and his 5 million dollar buyout in 2026.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) June 4, 2024
Could the Atlanta Braves help revitalize Avisaíl García's career?
Garcia’s numbers with the Marlins pale in comparison to prior years where he performed exceptionally well. Part of the allure of signing him was his performance in 2021. Garcia posted a .262 average with 29 home runs while playing for the Brewers.
Since making his debut in 2012, Garcia has struggled to find success over the years. His best season came in 2017 with the White Sox when he posted a .330 average with 18 homers. This earned him his only All-Star appearance.
So far, Garcia’s past two years as a Marlin have been his worst in the majors. It is worth mentioning that he has been hampered by injuries throughout his Marlins tenure and that carried into 2024. He has been on the IL since April and Miami is ready to move on from their disastrous contract decision.
The Marlins have a week to try and find a suitor for Garcia but it feels like he will end up being released. Miami cannot place him on outright waivers since he's on the injured list so it feels like he's destined to be released. If they release him, he is free to sign with any MLB team and whoever signs him would only owe him the prorated league minimum salary.
If Garcia isn’t too far removed from his good years and if he plays better when he is healthy as his numbers seem to suggest, does this mean his career can be salvaged? This is where the Braves could come into play. Atlanta has been known to take downtrodden players and revitalize their careers.
Hitting coach Kevin Seitzer has a talent for helping players struggling at the plate unlock their true potential. Chris Sale and Marcell Ozuna have made it clear the Braves’ clubhouse culture is very fun and encouraging. This is just the type of clubhouse a player like Garcia could benefit from now.
It wouldn’t be out of the question for the Braves to find a way to turn Avisaíl García into a productive player once more. However, the question remains if they need to add him to the roster in the first place. However, an interesting fact about Garcia is he has a .306 average over 36 career at-bats at Truist Park. It’s a small sample size but it is intriguing.
It would be hilarious if Atlanta was able to get Garcia back on track and have the Marlins basically pay for it. That seems on par for the way things have gone for Miami in recent years.
Garcia has a .263 career average and has hit 140 home runs in his career spanning 13 years. He will turn 33 on June 12th and he will most definitely have joined a new team by that point. Miami is essentially eating the remainder of his contract and it's an option the Braves should consider looking into.