On Sunday, Avisail Garcia left the finale against the Astros early with hamstring tightness.
Today, the White Sox claimed Ryan LaMarre off waivers from the Minnesota Twins.
On Tuesday, we'll find out if these are related. For now, LaMarre has only been added to the 40-man roster, which is now at 39.
The Twins designated the 29-year-old LaMarre for assignment on July 2. LaMarre was removed from the 40-man in order to make room for Jorge Polanco, who was reinstated from his suspension for PED use. The Twins were intrigued by the journeyman entering the season, and he barged his way onto the roster by hitting .475 during spring training, but he hit just .263/.321/.313 over 109 plate appearance in his first significant major league action, playing the bulk of his time in center field.
LaMarre could merely be depth in Charlotte along the lines of Alex Presley and Michae Saunders, both of whom came and went, but it seems like he could get a crack at the right-handed fourth outfielder role that the White Sox desperately wanted Trayce Thompson to secure. LaMarre seems like a better bet for adequacy if Garcia indeed has to return to the disabled list.
UPDATE (11:18 a.m., Tuesday): Yup.
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While we're here, my week-in-review column for The Athletic delves into the idea of "rock bottom," and how we're likely to only know what it was well after it happens.
At least we know that last one isn’t as bad as it gets. While Abreu might not deserve that particular honor at this particular time, a second All-Star appearance doesn’t look out of line when assessing his career. Giving an accomplished pro like Abreu the nod beats rewarding the random decent first half.
During the aughts, the Royals sent guys like Ken Harvey, Mike MacDougal and Mark Redman to the All-Star Game to meet the one-player-per-team requirement. Royals catcher Sal Perez is heading to the All-Star Game with a .213/.255/.376 slash line. Between this and their 116-loss pace, the purpose of the 2018 Kansas City Royals is to show a team like the 2018 White Sox how things could be even worse.
