BREAKING: Leury Garcia Will Not Make The Opening Day Roster

In a shocking move today, the White Sox have notified Leury Garcia that he will not be on the opening-day roster. This comes as a shock, as many people thought that the White Sox would not eat the remaining two years of Garcia’s deal. 

This Marks The End Of The Longest-Tenured White Sox

This signals the end of the longest-tenured White Sox, as Garcia has been on the White Sox since 2013 when they acquired him in a trade with the Texas Rangers. This was a one-for-one deal with the Sox sending over Alex Rios. Looking back on the trade, it seems that the White Sox won that swap, as anytime you have a productive player on your team for 10 years is a win. This leaves Tim Anderson as the longest-tenured White Sox player.

For Garcia, he spent 10 years with the Sox, playing over 700 games. Overall, he hit .253/.293/.350 with 34 home runs and 201 RBIs. While he was never known for his bat, he had a great streak from 2017- 2021 where he hit over .270 in each of those years. He will always be remembered for his homerun that kept the White Sox alive in game three of the ALDS against the Houston Astros. 

Garcia Was Very Valuable For The White Sox

Garcia was a very versatile player who played every single position for the White Sox except for catcher and first base. He was a very valuable asset for a strong period of time with the Sox, always filing in admirably for a day off or for an injury. This earned him a three-year deal worth 16.5 million dollars in the 2021 offseason.

Since that deal, he unfortunately vastly underperformed. Last year, he played 97 games hitting only .210, his worst year since his first full season with the White Sox. Manager Tony LaRussa began to utilize him more as a starter, and that was not the best position for him or the Sox at that point in his career. This implies either Romy Gonzalez or Hanser Alberto will win the job as the utility player.

This Move Comes As A Shock

The White Sox are currently on the hook for 11 million dollars, which led people to believe he would make the roster solely because of the financial commitment. The White Sox have never been big spenders, so people figured they would have him as the last man on the roster, rather than pay him 11 million to not be on the team. While they have cut players with remaining money on their contracts, like Dallas Keuchel and Adam Eaton, those were both in-season moves, giving the player the opportunity to play themselves on the roster. 

This marks a strong start for Pedro Grifol’s tenure with the Sox, as this shows that he will make sure that the roster will have the best 26 men for the job. He will not have anyone on this team just because they are under contract. Whether this was solely Grifol’s move or Rick Hahn wanting to move forward, it signals a changing of the guards for the White Sox, as they look to rebound from a disappointing 2022 season and return to playing competitive baseball in 2023. Regardless, Grifol has made it clear he wants a fresh start for the ’23 White Sox.

Garcia will look to make his way onto another roster, as he has about a week to do so. The Los Angeles Dodgers could be an interesting landing spot, as they have had multiple infield injuries, including the season-ending ACL tear to their starting infielder Gavin Lux. Regardless of where he ends up, we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.