Avisaíl García designated by Marlins

MIAMI -- The Marlins designated veteran outfielder Avisaíl García for assignment on Tuesday.

“Avisaíl has been a consummate professional during his time with the Marlins,” president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said in a statement. “He was always working hard and was a great teammate along the way. We wish him and his family the best.”

García was in the third year of a four-year deal worth $53 million, which also included a club option for '26. It still signifies the longest free-agent contract issued by the current ownership group, which took over before the '18 season. According to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, García is still owed close to $25 million.

The 32-year-old García's tenure with the Marlins was highlighted by underperformance and injuries. Across parts of three seasons in Miami, he posted a slash line of .217/.260/.322 with just 13 homers and a 62 OPS+ in 153 games. He had been rehabbing with Triple-A Jacksonville after sustaining a left hamstring strain for the third consecutive season.

García, who had declined a one-year, $12 million mutual option with the Brewers for 2022 in order to test the free-agent market, was coming off one of his best seasons as a Major Leaguer. He slashed .262/.330/.490 with a 119 OPS+ and a career-high 29 homers and 86 RBIs in 135 games. At the time, Miami considered him an option for its vacant center-field position (he appeared there just once with the Marlins). The organization also hoped he could improve upon one of the worst offenses in the Majors.

But by the time the DFA decision was made, the 13-year veteran had moved down the depth chart. Bryan De La Cruz and Nick Gordon (left field) and center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. have been seeing regular playing time. In García’s absence, the left-handed-hitting Jesús Sánchez (87 OPS+) and right-handed-hitting Dane Myers (109 OPS+) have formed an effective platoon in right field. While Sánchez just had his first year of arbitration eligibility, Myers recently graduated from prospect status. Myers was the corresponding roster move when García landed on the IL.

“Since I've been here, Avi has been really great to me, a good teammate,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “Unfortunately, he had a lot of injuries the last couple years. [It] felt like he was on the IL more than he played, and that's always tough. When he came back, [we] just made a decision to designate him and kind of move on. But that's never an easy conversation, especially a guy that has 10 years in the big leagues and done a lot in the game.

“There's not a lot of guys that can say that: They played 10 years, had some good years in the big leagues, and obviously we wish him well. Again, he was always good to me, and you ask those teammates, he was a good teammate to them.”