The Atlanta Braves make it official: Adonis Garcia is gone

After weeks of speculation, the third basemen is officially off to South Korea to pursue opportunities there

The Atlanta Braves announced today that they have officially released infielder Adonis Garcia so that he could play in South Korea next season. The 32-year-old appeared in 52 games for the Braves in 2017 and 244 total over 3 seasons in the majors.

He hit an overall batting average of .267 which isn’t bad but keep in mind his explosive, but short, debut in 2015.

Garcia signed with the Braves (previously in the Yankees organization) in early April of 2015. Shortly after, he was called up from AAA Gwinnett on May 18. After being sent back down, he returned on July 25 and hit his first ML home run the next day.

Garcia picked up fire during his time with the squad that season, hitting .277 through 58 games. In that period, he knock out 10 home runs and knocked in 26 RBIs.

Garcia became the Braves starting third basemen for 2016 but his problem was his defense. In 123 games at third, Garcia committed 18 errors! He was 5th overall in the league in that category.

That prompted the Braves to move him to left field but he was no star there. They optioned him back to AAA to get reps in LF but eventually went back to 3rd when he was called up. He did started showing signs of improvement but it was nearing the end of the season.

Offensively in 2016, Garcia did okay, hitting .273 on the season with 14 homers and 65 RBIs. However, that did come with 93 strikeouts.

2017 was not a good season for Garcia, going through two instances on the disabled list with one requiring surgery on his left ring finger.

He had some playing time at 3rd, playing 39 games there (and one in left) but the position was mostly filled by Matt Adams, Johan Camargo AND Freddie Freeman.

Garcia hit only .237 for the season and had only 5 home runs.

So where is he going?

Prior to the Braves announcing his release, there were reports that Garcia had a deal with the LG Twins. The Twins are part of the KBO League in South Korea.

Two notable players that have played for the Twins are former Angels third basemen Luis Jiménez and former Indians pitcher David Huff.

The Braves are believed to have sold his contract to the Twins for roughly $1-2 million.

Next: So Who Is Going To Be At 3rd For 2018?

Best of luck to his future in South Korea.