Atlanta Braves’ Adonis Garcia is still on the roster

It’s been several days now since word broke that Garcia was heading to Korea.  Is there a problem?

The Atlanta Braves still have a player on their 40-man roster that they really have no place for and no desire to retain.

We first told you about the chance of Adonis Garcia going to a Korean league team 5 days ago.  It looked like that had become more-or-less official 2 days ago.  This was reported by several other sources as well.

Yet here we are on Friday with only the word from yesterday that none of this is actually a done deal yet.  Here’s Gabe Burns of the AJC on the subject (with emphasis added):

"The Braves and Garcia are discussing a move to release him from his contract so he can pursue an opportunity in the Korean Baseball Organization, a person familiar with the situation said. No agreement has been reached.Marcos Grunfeld of Sports Venezuela reported Wednesday that the third baseman will sign with the LG Twins of the KBO. Such a deal would be dependent on his release, however."

I guess that explains why Garcia’s name is still on the 40-man roster as of this afternoon.

But what is there to negotiate here?  And why hasn’t it already been done?

Mostly Practical Reasons

Well, this is still a holiday week, after all.  Undoubtedly, things are going to move at glacial pace in the offices of … well, whoever might actually be working this week.

Traditionally, baseball offices are closed (though obviously the Rockies have some folks still busy about baseball).  That would include the Commissioner’s Office and most of the major league clubs.

Much of this is still a formality and I personally believe that the matter will be cleared up by next Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.  There’s just still some head-scratching involved here:

• Why was Garcia tendered a contract in the first place?  Fred suggested that it was done as a a courtesy to him whilst shopping himself in the Far East.  I personally think the Braves were keeping their options open.  A 40-man roster spot (especially at that time) is highly valuable, and the chance to open up a chance to protect about prospect – instead of a departing player – makes more sense.
• Would Garcia have even talked to a Korean club if he hadn’t at least gotten a handshake agreement from the Braves to let him walk away?  The answer to this is surely ‘no’.  If Fred is right, then this could have been in the works since early November.  If I’m right, it could have been since roughly Thanksgiving (this might have been the catalyst to request Charlie Culberson from the Dodgers, too).  Either way, I’m fairly certain that the Braves had to have been involved from the start.
• What’s left to negotiate?  Garcia is still a pre-arbitration player, with 2.067 years of major league service time.  He’s eligible for league minimum salary, though he made $547,500 last year (pro-rated while in the majors).  That minimum is $545,000 for 2018.

Since he’s on the 40-man, Atlanta has to request release waivers on Garcia, though it’s pretty likely that no one will claim him under the circumstances.  It could be that the Braves want to formally insure that he will elect free agency and promise not to re-sign with an MLB rival (like the cheapskate Mets) this year… even if they were to come calling.

Because the Braves did tender him, they technically would be obligated to give him a contract at the $545,000 rate.  But there’s a stipulation about that – this from the midst of an excellent treatment of many of the rules involved:

"A player on an MLB Reserve List (40-man roster) signed to a non-guaranteed contract who is released more than 15 days prior to Opening Day receives 30 days salary as termination pay…"

So by my reading – technically – the Braves owe Garcia 30 days pay (out of a maximum accrual of 172 days of service time per year).  That amounts to $95,058.

If so, then this isn’t a negotiation point, it’s more of a matter of honoring the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.  However, it is likely that the sides actually have to put together that non-guaranteed ML-minimum deal, have Garcia sign it, and then they could release him with the Lovely Parting Gift of a modest check and a fruit basket.

But everybody has to be in their respective offices to get that done.

Next: Let's Go Get Ready

It’s all a bit silly and tortuous, but also probable that it will be over and done with before this time next week.