Great Moments in Reading the Tea Leaves: R.A. Dickey Edition

By Craig CalcaterraDec 10, 2012, 2:21 PM EST
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R.A. Dickey is doing a nice thing tomorrow. He’s playing an elf to John Franco’s Santa in the Mets’ annual holiday party for schoolchildren. Adam Rubin notes that this year’s party will bring in students from Far Rockaway who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Ian O’Connor thinks it means something:

 

Or, quite possibly, it’s just a nice gesture from a man who has shown many past philanthropic impulses and a team that is admirably separating its baseball operations from its community operations.

Not saying Dickey doesn’t stay in New York, but I’m thinking an actual news report to that effect as opposed to who is wearing an elf suit when is a little more authoritative.

White Sox trying to trade Avasail Garcia

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By Craig CalcaterraNov 13, 2018, 3:51 PM EST
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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.