The White Sox have released catcher Blake Sabol, as mentioned in a minor league transaction roundup from Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Chicago had acquired Sabol in a July trade with Boston. Sabol spent the duration of his brief White Sox tenure at Triple-A Charlotte.
The 27-year-old backstop was drafted by Pittsburgh in 2017. He hit the ground running as a professional, putting up above-average offensive performances in each of his three minor league seasons in the Pirates’ system. Sabol reached Triple-A in 2022, slashing .296/.426/.543 over a brief 25-game sample.
Sabol was selected by Cincinnati in the Rule 5 draft following the 2022 season. He was then traded to San Francisco. Sabol showed decent power in his first taste of big-league action, popping 13 home runs over 344 plate appearances in 2023. He made 46 starts behind the plate and 32 in left field. Plate discipline was the main concern. Sabol struck out 34% of the time while walking at a meager 7% clip.
The 2024 campaign saw Sabol spend the majority of the season at Triple-A Sacramento. He had a couple of brief stints with the Giants, totaling 38 plate appearances across 11 games. Sabol posted a strong 129 wRC+ in limited action.
San Francisco designated Sabol for assignment after the 2024 season. He was eventually traded to Boston for international bonus pool space. Sabol went 2-for-18 in eight games with the Red Sox.
With Chicago boasting young talents Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero, plus veteran Korey Lee, Sabol was a long shot to contribute at the MLB level this past season. He’ll now be on the search for another opportunity.
Photo courtesy Matt Marton, Imagn Images.
AA might go after Sabol. The Braves really need some catching depth. Baldwin, a recovering from surgery Murphy, and very little after that. They’ll be signing 2-3 catchers w/Spring training invites.
If the Braves are seeking catching depth this offseason they should be all over 27-year old White Sox catcher Korey Lee.
Lee’s always been a strong defender and his offense has improved in each of the past 3 seasons. He still has a lot of swing and miss in his game but has decent pop to go along with an improved BA.
Lee would provide a solid backup option for most any MLB team and still has a good chance of being a platoon starter. It just doesn’t figure to be with the White Sox now with the emergence of Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero behind the plate.
Lee would only figure into a future White Sox core piece if Teel and/or Quero were to garner more time at other positions which the organization does seem keen on currently to enable both of their bats in the lineup on a daily basis. If that transpires more in 2026 then Lee might still claim a precious roster spot with Chicago as their #3 catcher.
No reason whatsoever for the White Sox to trade away Lee. He is still pre-arb, he has great pop time to shut down the running game, he is league-average or better at framing and blocking, and he is starting to show signs of life with the bat.
3 catchers is doable. Who is more worthy of a roster spot and would be getting squeezed out by Lee?
If anything, just cut bait on Andrew Benintendi already and let Lee play about 20-30 games in LF to see if he can do it. 100-loss teams make excellent Petri dishes for this sort of thing.
The Sox would get a 4th outfielder for Lee. Why not trade Quero for a great LF?
Sabol can hit but with too much swing and miss. At best a backup catcher who can play outfield. Looked good for awhile in SF.
I’d go outfielder who can catch.
His defense in SF was fair at best, pass balls and no arm to throw out runners.
Calling him a Catcher is generous, he’s awful behind the plate. 1B-OF is a better fit.
Us Red Sox fans witnessed it first hand this past season. Sabol cannot catch.
Defense:
Great at framing
Poor at blocking (fixable?)
Average arm
Poor pop time (fixable?)
K%
vs RHP 31.0%
vs LHP 46.6% (!)
BB%
vs RHP 7.9%
vs LHP 5.2%
So, never let him hit vs lefties.
He has *some* usefulness, but needs to be utilized by a team with a plan..
You know who else is great at framing? The one armed man. Had Doctor Richard Kimble in stitches he did what a mess. Eating oranges, making IDs
Former AZ Fall League player
Not a catcher. A misser, yes. A chaser. But no, not a competent professional catcher. Johnny Benched. Brian McCannot.