Jorge Soler isn’t the only Cuban free agent drawing interest this spring. Yesterday Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald reported that the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics are interested in 26-year-old utility player Adonis Garcia. Ebro indicated that both teams had made offers to Garcia, but the A’s later strongly denied this initial report.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle spoke with A’s sources after Ebro’s report was released. Oakland indicated that they have not made an offer to Garcia, and Slusser added that the Ebro’s report appears to be “erroneous”.
This has caused others to wonder if the Yankees truly have interest in the Cuban native either. Ebro reported that New York has offered Garcia, who became a free agent in February, $16 million over six years. The Yankees apparently view Garcia as an outfielder, while the A’s have him listed as an infielder.
As Mike Axisa of River Avenue Blues indicated yesterday, scouts haven’t necessarily been high on Garcia. Ben Badler of Baseball America has characterized Garcia as having “surprising power for his size”, which is only 5-foot-7 and 180 pounds. Though Garcia played all over the infield in Cuba, he was used primarily in left field this winter.
The Yankees and A’s may have expressed interest in Garcia, but with the apparent lack of competition for his services and less-than-stellar scouting reports, the dollar figures expressed in Ebro’s account seem to be fairly lofty. Considering New York and Oakland differ on the opinion of where Garcia is best suited to play, it sounds as if the Cuban native is likely to end a utility player in the majors.
For more on the Athletics and Yankees, be sure to check out Swingin’ A’s and Yanks Go Yard.
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