Rangers reward playoff hero Adolis Garcia with two year deal

In the few remaining hours before today's scheduled arbitration hearing, the Rangers were able to come to an agreement with ALCS MVP and playoff superstar, Adolis Garcia. The deal locks up Garcia for the next two seasons, avoiding having to go through arbitration again after next season. The base AAV is 7 million dollars per year, totaling $14 million. The deal also has a complex series of escalators that can bring Garcia's total earnings over the next two seasons to $20.25 million if he hits certain performance criteria, as reported by Jon Heyman.

This is great news for Rangers fans as Adolis has proved to be the most valuable player outside of the middle infield for the Texas Rangers. In his first three seasons in Arlington, he has eclipsed 30 home runs twice as well as exceeded 100 RBI's twice. He has also added two All-Star appearances and a Gold Glove through his first three seasons as a Ranger. And that's all before he proved to be a truly elite clutch player in the postseason, taking home the ALCS MVP after hitting five home runs and driving in 15 runs during the series against the defending champion Astros. A walk-off home run in Game 1 of the World Series cemented his Rangers legacy, as he surpassed 2011 World Series villain David Freese for most RBI's in a single postseason with 22.

The deal also comes after the Rangers offered Garcia $5 million for next season after he requested $6.9 million. It was the largest gap between a team and player this arbitration cycle. It is also worth noting that six players in the last few days have had the arbitration court side with them. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Austin Hays, Jacob Webb, Taylor Ward, Mauricio Dubon, and Phil Bickford all won their arbitration cases earlier this week. Those very well could have had no bearing on Garcia's potential hearing, but it's possible those outcomes helped motivate the Rangers and Garcia to reach a deal and avoid a hearing.

Signing Adolis to a two year deal and avoiding an arbitration hearing also gives him the Rangers vote of confidence to be a crucial and productive member of the team for the next two seasons. It is well known the talent the Rangers have in the outfield. Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford are two very promising prospects who could prove to be major assets for the Rangers. In Carter's case, he already has. Locking Garcia up for the next two seasons shows what kind of player the Rangers think he is and that they see him as an important player in a very talented outfield.

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