Jim Thome is on fire

The Phillies have ruled out the possibility of Jim Thome playing first base this year. They may want to reconsider that. Or at least try to figure out a way to get his bat into the lineup after interleague play is over and he can’t DH anymore, because the guy is on fire.

Thome hit a three-run homer last night against the Twins. Over the last six games — all interleague games in AL parks — he’s hitting 11 for 24 with three home runs and 13 runs batted in.

I suppose he’d be attractive to an AL team with DH problems at this point, even if he wouldn’t bring much in return at his age. Kind of a shame that the man who, more than almost anyone else, was born to DH can’t DH every day in what may very well be the last year of his career.

A wise man once said that a wise mad said that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. The White Sox are not prepared to miss their shot: Mark Feinsand of MLB.com says they are “actively trying” to trade Avisail Garcia.

Which seems like a super difficult shot given that (a) Garcia had knee and hamstring injuries this past season; (b) hit just .236/.281/.438 when he did play; and (c) is arbitration eligible and stands to make more than the $6.7 million salary he made in 2018. You put those things together and you have a guy that the Sox are almost 100% going to non-tender rather than take to arbitration, thereby making him freely and cheaply available to anyone who wants him as long as they can wait until November 30, which is the tender/non-tender deadline.

Garcia, who somehow is still just 27 years-old, is one year removed from what many considered a breakout year, in which he hit .330/.380/.506 in 136 games, but I don’t think anyone is going to bite at him in a trade. Assuming he’s in decent shape and recovered from injuries, however, he could be a useful player in 2019.

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