Rays sign Avisail Garcia as the 2019 season gets closer
The Rays have been fairly silent on the free agent front since the signing of Charlie Morton in December. The Rays earlier in the month had picked up C Mike Zuninio in a trade with Seattle and INF Yandy Diaz from Cleveland.
With the start of Spring training about three weeks away, the Rays signed OF Avisail Garcia from the White Sox.
The Rays signed Garcia to a one year $3.5 million dollar contract with the potential for Garcia to earn up to $6 million dollars with incentives.
Although Garcia hit 19 Homer’s this past season which was a career high, his batting average fell to a career low of .236. Garcia is a lifetime .271 hitter and was signed to take the spot of CJ Cron who was not re-signed after one season.
The power hitting right handed bat will join Tommy Pham, Kevin Kiermaier, Austin Meadows, Brandon Lowe, and Guillermo Heredia in the OF.
Garcia will split time at DH with Ji Man Choi and will DH mainly against left-handers and play some outfield.
There is a rumor out there that the Rays are possibly interested in Josh Harrison for infield depth. Right now the infield for the Rays looks like this, Yandy Diaz, Joey Wendle, Wily Adames, Matt Duffy, and Daniel Robertson.
Ji Man Choi will be The primarily DH and play a little IB. Michael Perez and Mike Zuninio will be the catchers.
-The Rays are also in the process of doing what they call renovations at Tropicana Field. The seating capacity will drop to between 25,000-26,000. The capacity had been 31,042. Last season’s attendance was 14,258 which was 29th out of 30 teams.
The Rays are making these seating adjustments to create a more intimate atmosphere at Tropicana Field. As part of those renovations the upper deck and all 300 level seating will be closed permanently.
Fans will get their first look at these new renovations at Fan Fest coming on February 9th.
-The equipment trucks will soon be leaving for Port Charlotte as pitcher and catchers will report on February 12th and have their first workout on the 13th. The rest of the squad reports on the 17th of February with the first team workout scheduled for the 18th.
The Rays will open the exhibition season against the Phillies on February 22nd, and will open the 2019 regular season at home against the Astros on March 28th.
