*Photo from NBC Sports*
Hitting free agency, Leury Garcia didn't want to leave Chicago, but he was ready if he did. Well, he can rest easy, because he's back with his favorite team. The Chicago White Sox and Garcia have agreed to a 3 year, $16.5 million deal, according to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. The White Sox have confirmed the deal.
Garcia was the longest tenured White Sox player on the roster in 2021, as they made plenty of moves during their rebuild to get back in contention. He's been around since 2013, and, now that he has a new contract, he'll be a White Sox for 12 years if he plays out all 3 seasons of his contract. That's exactly what Garcia wanted.
Asked about re-signing with the White Sox, Garcia said that "Honestly, I can't believe it's real.Being able to play 12 years with this organization definitely will be something very special. Hopefully, I can end my career with this organization."
Last season in Chicago, Garcia finished the regular season with a .267 batting average and .711 OPS, slugging .376 with 5 home runs and 54 RBI, picking up 6 stolen bases in 126 regular season games. In 4 playoff games in 2021, Garcia has a .200 batting average with one home run and 4 RBI's in 16 plate appearances this past postseason.
In 9 seasons in the major leagues, 8 and a half of which have been with the White Sox, Garcia has a lifetime .259 batting average and .666 OPS, slugging .364 and hitting 31 home runs while driving in 181 runs, stealing 62 bases in 604 regular season games. In 6 career playoff games, Garcia has 3 hits in 22 plate appearances, split between the 2021 ALDS and 2020 AL Wild Card round.
In re-signing with the White Sox, Garcia brings back his incredible utility player versatility to the South Side of Chicago, something that is important in every playoff and world series team. Garcia has experience playing at every position on the field, with the exception of catcher and first base. He's a natural shortstop, but he'll likely fill in pretty regularly at second base and the outfield, which he was doing plenty of last season due to outfield injuries and trading Nick Madrigal.
White Sox GM Rick Hahn said of re-signing Garcia that "We all witnessed the benefit of having Leury's flexibility and proficiency at a variety of different roles on the roster last season. So, having him around provides that similar flexibility for us and coverage for whatever may unexpectedly arise going forward. We're glad to have the legend back."
The re-signing of Garcia is a headline of what has so far been a quiet offseason for the White Sox, who's only other move so far has been signing Kendall Graveman to a 3 year contract in November.
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