The White Sox have acquired catcher Blake Sabol from the Red Sox in exchange for cash considerations, according to an announcement from the Worcester WooSox. Sabol was outrighted off Boston’s 40-man roster earlier this month, so no corresponding transaction was necessary for Chicago to acquire him.
Sabol, 27, has now been traded for the second time in seven months. Acquired by the Red Sox from the Giants back in January, the former Rule 5 pick appeared in just eight games for Boston this year. He hit a paltry .125/.167/.188 in that limited time and didn’t perform much better at Triple-A Worcester, where he batted .167 with a .281 on-base percentage and slugged .299. That weak performance was enough to convince the Red Sox to risk losing Sabol on waivers when they designated him for assignment earlier this month, but he cleared waivers successfully and was outrighted to Triple-A.
Now that he no longer requires a dedicated 40-man roster spot, it seems the White Sox had interest in him as a depth option. The combination of Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero, and Korey Lee leave Chicago fairly well set up in terms of catching options on the 40-man roster, but the addition of a non-roster veteran like Sabol could be helpful given the youth of that trio. If two of those three young catchers need more seasoning in the minors at some point, Sabol could step in to help fill the gap at the big league level. The same could be said for the possibility of injury; one look at the Orioles this year shows you can never have too much catching depth.
It’s also worth noting that Sabol has had at least some level of offensive success in the majors before. While 2025 has been disastrous for him so far, Sabol did enter the year with a .243/.313/.392 slash line at the big league level across 121 games with the Giants. That’s a roughly league average showing, and it’s not impossible to imagine that his numbers could improve if he stopped spitting time between catching and the outfield and focused on one position full-time, particularly given the fact that Sabol remains in his prime.
Sabol is theoretically controllable until after the 2030 season, though it must be noted that he’ll be eligible to elect free agency following the 2025 season unless the White Sox add him back to their 40-man roster. Even so, that potential for longer-term team control gives the acquisition of Sabol more upside than the typical depth addition. As for the Red Sox, the emergence of Carlos Narvaez has more or less solved their issues behind the plate, as he and Connor Wong have managed to form a formidable tandem. Seby Zavala is likely the next man up on the catching depth chart for Boston, and that figured to be the case even before Sabol’s departure.
Just what I thought the Sox needed, ANOTHER catcher. Isn’t that literally the only thing we dont need?
He’s not much of a catcher.
More of a dh that doesn’t hit much
Thanks for making me somehow feel worse about the transaction. At least your username is tasty and took my mind off the Sox for a minute.
No reason to feel bad about minor league depth moves, especially when all they gave up was cash.
You’ll probably never see him unless you go to AAA games
He’s most likely insurance and to help the AAA staff. Nothing more.
They already have a better option in AAA (Korey Lee), which was the point. It does make me wonder if they might be talking about trading lee, or maybe even something more dramatic like Quero to balance out the prospects.
Lee isn’t going to catch every game.
So you think that Jerry spent money to buy a player to be the backup AAA catcher? Do you know a different Reinsdorf than I do?
At a minor league rate, even Jerry realizes he needs to fill out a roster. Someone could also have a nagging injury with their lower level catchers not ready for promotion. Who knows. All teams make these kind of moves during a season. The key is he’s not on the 40.
Think he got a catcher’s costume for Halloween one year and he’s been playing along ever since.
So he’s a perfect fit for the white Sox
Sox stockpiling Rule 5 picks!
And he’s been pretty bad offensively at Worcester so not sure what the White Sox are thinking unless there’s an injury somewhere
Sabol could also play corner outfield as well
Just what the White Sox need: An OF that cannot hit AND is a defensive liability.
Sabol mostly plays catcher but at times he played LF for the Giants.
He was actually their opening day LF last year, extending their differing opening day LF streak in the process.
Sorry! 2 years ago, in 2023 not last year!
Whitesox becoming a haven for washed players
BECOMING?!?!?!?!
Teel and Meidroth are both washed for sure.
Washed? He had his moments, but was never exactly good. Nice depth at most considering he can “catch” and play left
Are the Sox thinking about trading a catcher, like Korey Lee?
Knowing this Org, they will trade Teel or Quero and keep Lee.
Lee has been a fine backup catcher. They could just keep him for depth purposes.
Wait, what?!? We don’t want Omar, give us back Carlos!!!
If this guy is catching, the opposing team will have 10 stolen bases.
So do we get Teel back in this trade??? I’ll settle for 93 year old Fisk…
The Sox will need at least two outfielders and a first baseman before they will be competitive again in a couple of years, so either Teel or Quero will probably be traded this off season. Corey Lee is the best defensive catcher of the three and has the most power. Getting a quality starting OF for Quero and having Teel and Lee as catchers, would be nice.
Don’t trade Teel or Quero just yet. I’m not necessarily ruling out a future trade between these two but they’ve been the most productive bat this season thus far. Sox could always move one of them to 1B if necessary(Teel could also play corner outfield as well).
If they both continue to hit well, a possible scenario would be to alternate Teel and Quero at catcher and DH every day and have Lee start against left-handed pitchers. I know some people do not like having 3 catchers on the roster, but Lee would be more productive than Josh Rojas. Also, having Lee’s defense late in tight games would be a luxury.
See the ball before you stride
make sure it’s not in
or outside
if it happens to be low,
hold your bat and
let it go
but if it’s any place around,
take a good swing and hit it downtown…
Nick Deeds/MLBTR:
“As for the Red Sox, the emergence of Omar Narvaez”
Should read Carlos Narvaez not Omar Narvaez.
The other error in that sentence was using the word “formidable” to describe Wong.
What happened to Wong? He was at least a decent hitter for a catcher last season. Despite his mixed defensive metrics, I liked him. I hope his second half is more like last year. That would be a pretty darn good backup catcher.
Edit: I live out of state and don’t get to watch a ton of games.
No idea. He came into the year as the presumptive starter. I’d be surprised if they didn’t pick up a backup catcher at the deadline as he’s been awful.
If anyone gives you a good answer to that question forward it on to the Red Sox because they’d love to know too.
Wong hasn’t had a single XBH since September 2024, and his lone RBI all season came from a sac-fly. He is 0-31 with RISP, and 1-44 with any men on base.
I think it may be the worst “half” season (I know he’s only the backup catcher) from any Red Sox hitter I’ve seen in my 3+ decades watching them.
Not shocking if Wong is past his prime, but I didn’t expect his power to entirely evaporate like it has. How can you play baseball and not get ANY XBH?
He’s 29 years old.
Players peak around the age of 27, sometimes as early as 25.
Wong was never very good, so not at all surprising if he has a very short peak.
Yeah, that’s it. When he was 28 he had a .758 ops and hit 13 homers. When he came back 4 months later at 29 he was too old to hit anymore
Thanks for explaining that.
His performance fell off sharply in the second half last year. I’ve got no idea where his power disappeared to, though.
Maybe he just isn’t all that good? Got on a lucky or hot streak for a few months?
How do you explain it?
Yes, he peaked in April then got a bit older in May got younger and better in June, then got old and bad again in July and August, Started to peak again in September. Then between October and April he got really old.
His OPS was .896 in a handful of at bats when he was 25. Pretty sure he peaked then.
Okay, that isn’t what I meant and I think you know it…
Any disagreement with the other half? That he just isn’t very good? If you have other explanations, I’d love to hear them.
Enjoy the evening, and the nice run the Red Sox have been on.
@HighOnPineTar, not even Allen Craig or Craig Grebeck in 2001? Or maybe because of Connor Wong’s origin?
Cora is well acquainted with burning out a bullpen and he’s deploying the same strategy with Carlos “Don’t call me Omar” Narvaez.
Folks had him in the mix for ROY, but expect his output to wilt as he deals with the summer heat behind the dish everyday.
Now that the RS have heated up, a real backup catcher could replace one of the Big Three needs the RS have had on the table since Dombrowski was sent packing.
I find it cute that the White Sox think they can fix a hitting for a player from other systems when they can barely get their own guys hitting well.
Also how far as the game degenerated when hitting .243/.313/.392 is thought of as ‘offensive success’ especially when it was only 121 games.. I mean the White Sox are bad, so it would look good for them, but it that really where the Sox are wanting to be? Slightly below average?? ( I mean uncle Jerry likes it as the player is dirt cheap, but otherwise….)
Sox are at the point where they don’t care if a player is good, but rather if he is cheap and a possible improvement. Sabol could be a possible improvement at DH. They’ve at least made some progress on the farm this year, but even there Schultz has regressed and Hagen has disappointed. System is still a mess, which also leads to pickups like this.
nrd1138: I don’t count Braden Montgomery since he never touched a game in the Red Sox system. Similar reason to Dylan Cease or Edgar Quero. Developing prospects not named your own is a bonus like Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez.
The meandering catcher saga continues between ChiSox and BoSox
cleveland stole 3 bases yesterday. Need to work on the pitchout.
WRONG link. It’s Carlos Narváez. Not Omar. very inaccurate reporting!!!!
Fire sale!
Either the White Sox are trading Lee or bringing him up to the bigs. If the latter, that facilitates Quero and Teel in the lineup every day, or a Quero trade.
I suppose they can trade Lee, and Sabol could be the 3rd, seldom used catcher to put Teel and Quero in the lineup. Venable seems hesitant to play both without the 3rd catcher on the bench.
Beyond all that, Sabol is AAA depth.
I heard the Sox resist putting both Teel and Quero in the same lineup for development purposes. If one of these catchers are bad defensively they could always move them to 1B if necessary.
…if he stopped spitting time between catching and the outfield.. If he stopped SPITTING TIME? How about checking your work before posting?
Cora doesn’t put out the best team today
He has Wong catching,who’s hitting well below the Mendoza line and leaves the much better hitting catcher on the bench
Typical bs Cora
You know the back up.catcher plays roughly every 5 games, right?
It wouldn’t be a day ending in “y” if some dude wasn’t crying that a bench player got a start.
He has been pairing Wong with Bello for the most part, seems to be working out okay. Narvaez can’t play every game, so you might as well stick with what is working.
I think he meant Carlos Narvaez
He wasn’t “traded”, he was sold. Enough of this garbage walking-on-eggshells wording.
There has got to be a “diamond in the ruff here somewhere . We have been taking other teams rejects long enough. It’s time to settle down and build a team for the future . I have been a Sox fan 55 years . I haven’t seen to many winning teams . I don’t like it but in today’s game it takes money to build a winner . It’s a proven fact in all magor sports. Sox need some solid hitting and solid up the middle
Instead of acquiring like 50 players every year with no future, each of which costs some amount of money, why not sign a real MLB player to a contract once every few years?
Andrew Vaughn has 10 rbi’s in 5 games with the Brewers. Hilarious. Maybe all he needed was to get the bleep away from this organization of halfwits and its insufferable, cheapskate, fan hating, loser owner.
What is it about the Red socks and keep shedding catchers. One day, it may “catch” up to them heh