Marlins sign Avisaíl García to four-year, $53 million deal, per report

The Marlins are in agreement with free agent outfielder Avisaíl García on a four-year, $53 million contract, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The Miami Herald’s Craig Mish was the first to report that a deal was close.

The García deal is the largest the Bruce Sherman-Derek Jeter ownership group has given to a free agent since they took over the team in late 2017.

García, 30, has had kind of a bizarre up-and-down career, posting well above-average OPS+ numbers in each of the last three odd years, while posting below-average OPS+ numbers in each of the last three even years. García, who has a career .270/.325/.431 slash line, set new career highs in homers (29) and RBI (86) for the Brewers in 2021 while slashing .262/.330/.490. Traditionally regarded as a below-average defensive outfielder, García also achieved a new career high with eight defensive runs saved in right field in 2021.

The Marlins traded their entire starting outfield (Corey Dickerson, Starling Marte, and Adam Duvall) prior to the trade deadline in 2021, so García restores some veteran stability to that position group. Miami may continue to add to its outfield via the free agent market, but as things stand now, the candidates to join García as starters in the outfield include Bryan De La Cruz, Jesús Sánchez, Lewis Brinson, Garrett Cooper (who may be the team’s most logical DH option if the universal DH is instituted in the new CBA), and catcher Jorge Alfaro, who began to take on more of a utility role late in the 2021 season.