LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Looking to take a short break from Machado Mania? There's a new White Sox trade rumor involving Avisail Garcia.
The outfielder has been the subject of trade speculation this winter, and he's finally getting some reported interest, with USA Today's Bob Nightengale listing both the San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays as teams that have talked with the White Sox about Garcia.
The Winter Meetings started with questions about potential trade candidates Jose Abreu and Garcia, who both put up great offensive numbers last season. Garcia was statistically one of the best hitters in the American League, ranking second behind only MVP Jose Altuve with a .330 batting average and sixth with a .380 on-base percentage.
That production and the White Sox rebuilding efforts seemed to make Garcia a logical trade chip, someone who could potentially further stockpile the minor league system with more highly touted talent.
The option, of course, also exists for the White Sox to hold on to the 26-year-old outfielder, who despite being in the bigs since 2012 didn't put together a big offensive season until 2017. They could keep him and trade him at a later date, once the rest of baseball finds out if he's capable of repeating what he did last season. Or they could keep him for good, extending him and including him as a part of their long-term core.
Of course, all of that talk was obliterated by the Thursday morning reports about the White Sox and a potential trade for Baltimore Orioles superstar third baseman Manny Machado. Starting with The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, several national writers reported on the White Sox aggressive push for Machado, who's set to become one of the headlining members of the 2019 free-agent class.
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There are pros and cons to trading for Machado, and White Sox general manager Rick Hahn spoke about the team's thinking before departing the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort.
But perhaps Machado isn't the only subject of trade talks on the South Side right now.