Report: Brewers in agreement with Avisail Garcia on 2 year/$20 million deal

Over the last few days, the Brewers have been linked to Avisail Garcia, though talks were still fluid. This afternoon, Jon Heyman reported that the Brewers have come to an agreement with Garcia. The report from Heyman puts the contract as a 2 year/$20 million deal.

The deal is a bit surprising in a few ways. First of all, the average value per year is higher than what many expected Garcia to get. Earlier this offseason, MLB Trade Rumors projected Garcia to get a 2 year/$12 million deal. This is more than what many expected Garcia to get. At the same time, reports also suggest that Garcia turned down a longer deal. Jon Heyman elaborates on this as well:

The Brewers have signed several short deals over the past few seasons for players who are looking to prove themselves and get a bigger payday, and Garcia would follow in line with that. At 28 years old, he’s on the younger side for players and this would allow him to sign another deal in a few years. However, the reason for wanting the shorter deal is a bit unusual, citing the CBA that is currently set to expire after the 2021 season. It’s too early to say whether or not a new CBA will be beneficial to him, so this is definitely a bet on himself. At the same time, he cashes in with his biggest payday of his career, and if everything goes well for him, he could earn more in 2 years.

If the deal is finalized, the Brewers will have a rotation of four outfielders to work with going into 2020. Adam McCalvy notes that playing time should not be an issue, as the Brewers worked around the same potential issue back in 2018. There should be more than enough playing time to go around as the Brewers work to build their team for the 2020 season.