Does Avi Garcia stay with White Sox, or does he go?
With the July 31 nonwavier deadline rapidly approaching, Jose Abreu continues to be the most popular name mentioned in trade rumors.
The defending World Series champion Houston Astros are reportedly interested in acquiring Abreu, the Chicago White Sox's lone all-star this season.
In his first four major-league seasons (2014-17), Abreu was a model of offensive consistency with 25 or more home runs and 100 or more RBI each year.
Interested teams are undoubtedly aware of the track record, but Abreu has been slumping for two months and was batting .176 (31-for-176) with 4 home runs and 22 RBI since May 27 heading into Saturday night's game at Seattle.
Avisail Garcia came off the disabled list Saturday and was back in the White Sox's lineup.
His potent bat was also back - Garcia hit a 3-run homer off Seattle starter Felix Hernandez in the fourth inning - and an argument can be made that he has higher trade value than Abreu.
While he has missed 60 games with hamstring and knee injuries this season, Garcia has been able to show last year's breakout showing was no fluke.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder finished second in the American League with a .330 batting average in 2017 while posting career highs in home runs (18) and RBI (80).
A right-handed hitter, Garcia also had the highest batting average (.424) against left-handed pitchers last year.
"I believe in myself," Garcia said. "I believe in what I put in during the off-season, a lot of sacrifice and hard work."
Sidelined from April 24 to June 20 with a Grade 2 right hamstring strain, Garcia came off the DL and batted .333 with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 8 home runs and 13 RBI over 17 games before going down with a Grade 1 hamstring injury on July 9.
"He looked fantastic for the stretch of time we had him active," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said.
With 10 days left until the nonwaiver trade deadline, a healthy Garcia should attract outside interest.
In addition to his bat, Garcia has been playing above average defense in right field, he's still young at 27 and he is under contract through next season.
The Sox would likely seek two quality prospects in a trade for Garcia, but they might also decide he's a core piece for the future.
"We've talked about from a control standpoint, he's under control right now through 2019, which currently doesn't overlap with what we project to be the bulk of our potential championship window," Hahn said. "We're going to have to make a decision on him and others in due course."