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Report: Blue Jays, Giants have talked to White Sox about Garcia

David Banks / Getty Images Sport / Getty

As the winter meetings wrap up, the Chicago White Sox continue to take calls about their breakout right fielder.

Both the Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants have talked to the White Sox about acquiring Avisail Garcia, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, though no deal is close and it's not clear how serious the discussions have been.

Keen to upgrade their outfield for 2018, the Blue Jays have also been linked to Josh Harrison of the Pittsburgh Pirates and free agent Lorenzo Cain this offseason, while the Giants also seem more likely to improve their outfield via trade than free agency after failing to land Giancarlo Stanton from Miami.

It's unclear at this point, however, whether the White Sox - thought to still be in rebuild mode this winter - are even that inclined to trade Garcia, who remains under team control through 2019. Though they were expected to shop both Garcia and Jose Abreu this offseason, the club's focus may have switched to talent acquisition, as the White Sox have reportedly emerged as the most aggressive suitor for Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

Still, if they do decide to move him, the White Sox could command a considerable haul for Garcia, who turned 26 in June and is coming off a terrific season. Last year, after accruing -1.2 WAR over his first five seasons in the majors, Garcia was one of the game's breakout stars, hitting .330/.380/.506 (137 wRC+) with 18 home runs, 27 doubles, and 4.2 WAR in 136 games.

"I understand if there's some teams that have some level of skepticism of Avi's ability to repeat what he did, his All-Star season," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn told Vinnie Duber of NBC Sports Chicago on Monday. " ... But the mechanical adjustments, the approach each and every day to carry that ‘close and late' approach that he had in '14, '15, and '16 over to every at-bat, and carry that approach over 500 plate appearances in 2017 - I think each of those things gives us more confidence that this is closer to the new normal for Avi than what we previously saw from him prior to 2017."

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