White Sox sign C Alex Avila for 1 year, $2.5 million

The White Sox have announced that they have signed catcher Alex Avila to a one year, $2.5 million dollar deal.

Avila had been the starting catcher for Detroit since 2010, but played in just 67 games last season.  Part of that was due to a DL trip for most of May and all of June due to a bone bruise in his left knee.  Part of it is that he hit .191/.339/.287 in 2015. Finally, James McCann showed he was at least a capable catcher for Detroit.

After a 4.6 fWAR season in 2011, Avila's WAR has crashed mainly due to injuries.  He spent two trips on the DL in 2012 and one in 2013.  In a healthy 2014, he was able to put up a 2.2 fWAR season which was mostly buoyed by a strong defensive performance.

With this move and the addition of Kahnle, the 40-man roster is now at 37.