The White Sox are looking for a catcher on the trade market, reports Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic. That comes because of loss Kyle Teel sprained left ankle earlier this week. Manager Will Venable initially said the team expected he would be out for 6-12 weeks.
Teel told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin last night that re-examination revealed that the sprain is less severe than originally thought. He said that could push his recovery timeline into the 5-8 week range, though the Sox will be without their second baseman for a long time. Chicago has a Drew Romo again Edgar Quero combination at the moment.
That was the case for most of the year, as Teel was sidelined by hamstring and knee problems until late June. He struggled in 19 games in his return, while neither Quero nor Romo produced much throughout the year. Romo hit a couple of home runs after being called up in late April but didn’t give up anything at the plate for nearly three months. Quero is not considered a solid defensive catcher and struggled at the plate early in the season, leading the Sox to select him when Teel started his season.
The result is that the Sox’s catchers have been the least productive team in MLB. They hit .163/.241/.265 in 391 plate appearances, making them dead last in all three slash categories. They were also charged for second passed balls and allowed a third wild pitch. Quero and Romo have been good at throwing out baserunners, but there hasn’t been much else in their respective performances.
Catching, however, was not expected to be the main focus of the deadline. Teel is still the long-term answer. The totality of Garrett Crochet back from Boston, he hit .273/.375/.411 with eight homers in 78 games as a rookie last year. This has not been his year and the Sox hold a slim 1.5 game lead over the Guardians in the AL Central. They should look for a veteran stopper, who may be a rental they can’t expect to re-sign.
Ryan Jeffers is an upcoming free agent manager. The Twins may move him, but they may be reluctant to send him to a team that only trails them in the division by 4.5 games. Cincinnati housing Tyler Stephenson would be a solid fit as an incoming free agent whose bat got off to a bad start.
The A’s should be open to moving back up Jonah Heimanother rental property, as a limited opportunity. Atlanta can go Joey Bart I’m waiting to find out Sean Murphy back from injury. The Rays and Yankees are known to be in the market for significant upgrades behind the plate. If one of those teams gets someone like Jeffers or Hunter Goodmanmaybe Austin Wells or Nick Fortes shake as a local option change.
While catching now looks like a bigger scheme question, Chicago will still focus more on pitching. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi notes that they are indeed in the trade market, and are among the teams reportedly scouting. Clay Holmes as he approaches his return he is broken.
The Sox rotation held up better than expected given the personnel. Davis Martin it was fun at first. He’s come a long way since the end of May, though Sean Burke he was quietly one of the best hitters in the American League last month. It falls after that. Anthony Kay again Erick Fedde each managed a low 4.00s ERA despite a fifth-starter strikeout and walk profile. Rookie Noah Schultz he didn’t perform well enough in his big 12 league debut.
