The Cubs have acquired catcher William Simoneit from the Phillies, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The backstop has been assigned to Double-A Tennessee for now. He wasn’t on Philadelphia’s 40-man roster and therefore won’t require a spot with the Cubs. The Phils receive cash considerations in return.
Simeonit, now 27, signed with the Athletics as an undrafted free agent in 2020. From 2021 to 2023, he got into 244 minor league games from High-A to Triple-A. He produced a combined batting line of .259/.359/.408 in that time, which led to a 108 wRC+.
The Phils nabbed him away from the A’s in the minor league phase of the 2023 Rule 5 draft. His results have fallen off since the organizational switch, as he’s hit .145/.286/.306 between Double-A and Triple-A this year, striking out in 39% of his trips to the plate. The Phillies recently lost some catching depth with J.T. Realmuto requiring knee surgery but still decided they would rather have the cash than Simoneit.
The Cubs have received very little from their catching position this year, something that manager Craig Counsell recently discussed. As of today, Miguel Amaya is hitting .185/.248/.267 on the season while Yan Gomes has a line of .154/.179/.242. Neither of those two can be optioned and the club doesn’t have another catcher on the 40-man.
Alà Sánchez is in the system as non-roster depth but Simoneit will now join him in that capacity. It’s obviously been rough going to start this year for Simoneit but perhaps he can get back to into his pre-2024 form.
Can he pitch?
No.
It might be that the Phillies cleared the roster spot for a future trade
I’m pretty sure their 40 man is still full. But who knows what the future has in store
He wasn’t on the 40 to the best of my knowledge.
Went to Cornell and Wake Forest, so I’ll hive him pluses for intellect.
And give me minuses for editing…
Monkey
Bee hive – that must sting!
He’s co-president of the MiLBPA I believe.
Then he should be smart enough to realize he has no MLB future
This kid grew up in Glen Ellyn just like MLBTR 🙂
It’s probably the best catcher the cubs have now!!!!
So, the Cubs have Amaya (0.185) and Gomes (O.154) and they manage to find someone hitting even worse this year for depth (0.145)!
I think Amaya is worth keeping, but Cubs need to replace Gomes ASAP. Last year, Amaya and Gomes hit well enough that they received occasional DH at-bats. Times have changed.
And that’s not even counting the horrendous defense they’ve played. Remember when the “no hit/all defense” catcher was a liability? Thad be an improvement on what they have..
This should solve the cubs problems.
is he good at catching the ball quickly before opposing teams hit it over the fence?
At least Jed is making moves. Speaking of moves. Cubs bringing up Miles Mastrobuoni to replace Mike Tauchman who’s heading to the IL. Another auto out in the batting order.
Miles has dirt on Jed, that has to be why they keep him…
When I see transactions like this, I always wonder how much money the acquiring team pays for a player like this. Is it $50K, $100K or more?
I suspect most of the time the trades are more about just doing the players a solid. The Phillies knew he had no future in their franchise and would never be a highly valuable trade chip so they let him move to another franchise where he could have some future. The money is more likely just a technical component of transferring his rights. If the Phillies thought the player could ever be impactful enough it would threaten their chances of making or succeeding in the playoffs they would not do this but when moving around career minor leaguers to give them a shot at being an end of the roster guy I think its just teams being decent human beings and treating their players as people.
The guy has some incredible hair
what the Phillies need is a center fielder…Last I heard, there was only one out there. Luis Robert Jr. Too bad he is a walking injury waiting to happen.. Extremely talented. Can’t stay on the field. He would still cost a snootful
of prospects.. That move would be the gamble of all time..