Mark Polishuk | MLB Trade Rumors

Red Sox Notes: Yoshida, O’Neill, Castiglione

By Mark Polishuk | September 29, 2024 at 6:25pm CDT

Masataka Yoshida is set to undergo an MRI on his right shoulder, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) after today’s game. Earlier today, Carlos Yamazaki of Tokyo Sports reported (via X) that Yoshida was considering having surgery, as Yoshida said he has been bothered by shoulder soreness for much of the season.

The 31-year-old Yoshida didn’t play in Boston’s season-ending 3-1 win over the Rays today, thus ending his second MLB season with a .280/.349/.415 slash line and 10 home runs over 421 plate appearances. That translates to a 115 wRC+ in 2024, and after he had relatively similar numbers in 580 PA in 2023, Yoshida now has a 112 wRC+ over his 248 games and 1001 trips to the plate as a big leaguer.

Between these solid numbers and the fact that he is one of the league’s toughest players to strike out, Yoshida’s first two Major League seasons have been quite respectable overall. However, more than “respectable” was expected when the Sox signed him to a five-year, $90MM deal during the 2022-23 offseason. Seen as an overpay of a contract from former Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, Yoshida seemed to answer his critics with some very strong numbers in 2023 before fading down the stretch.

His 2024 was limited in another sense, as Yoshida was almost exclusively a designated hitter. While Cora reiterated today that Yoshida’s usage was more due to Boston’s outfield surplus than due to concerns about Yoshida’s defense, the fact remains that Yoshida played in just one game as an outfielder this season. The left-handed hitting Yoshida was also largely used only against right-handed pitching, further limiting his playing time.

More will be known about Yoshida’s shoulder once the MRI is complete, but if surgery is necessary, that further complicates his status heading into 2025. With three years and $54MM remaining on his contract, Yoshida is a tough player to move in any trade talks, and his trade value will dip further if any health uncertainty is attached. Some room in Boston’s outfield could open up if Tyler O’Neill departs in free agency, but two star Red Sox outfield prospects (Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell) are expected to be part of the big league roster at some point in 2025, further crowding the picture.

There’s also a chance O’Neill is re-signed, as he told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford and other reporters that he spoke with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow today, and the two both expressed “mutual interest” in a reunion. Breslow also spoke publicly earlier this week about the club’s keenness in possibly bringing the Canadian slugger back for 2025 and beyond.

Injuries have continued to plague O’Neill, as he was limited to 113 games and 473 PA this season due to three relatively brief stints on the 10-day IL. The good news is that when O’Neill was able to play, he delivered to the tune of 31 homers and a .241/.336/.511 slash line, and a 131 wRC+. O’Neill had an elite barrel rate and excellent walk and hard-hit ball rates, even if he also posted one of the baseball’s worst strikeout rates (33.6%). The right-handed hitting O’Neill also had some drastic splits, as he had only a .693 OPS in 317 PA against righty pitching but a whopping 1.180 OPS in 156 PA against southpaws.

The splits are perhaps less of an issue for the Red Sox than other teams, as having a powerful right-handed bat is particularly helpful on a Sox roster that is overloaded with lefty swingers. That said, Boston’s future outfield prospects perhaps cloud the chances of O’Neill’s return, and his injury history does add an extra element of risk for the Sox or any team that signs him to a multi-year contract. It’s not out of the question that O’Neill could accept a one-year qualifying offer to take a $21MM-ish payday and stay in Boston in 2025, but there seems to be a greater chance that O’Neill would reject a QO and seek a heftier contract on the heels of his strong season.

Finally, today’s game marked the final broadcast for longtime radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione, who is retiring from regular announcing duty after 42 years of calling Red Sox games. He was recognized by the Hall of Fame as this year’s winner of the Ford Frick Award, and several Sox legends took part in a pregame ceremony today honoring Castiglione’s tenure as the voice of Red Sox Nation. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Castiglione on his incredible career.

Twins To Retain Derek Falvey, Rocco Baldelli For 2025

By Mark Polishuk | September 29, 2024 at 4:25pm CDT

Both chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and manager Rocco Baldelli will be returning to the Twins next season, as team executive chairman Joe Pohlad and Falvey himself told reporters (including the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Bobby Nightengale and The Athletic’s Dan Hayes). Today’s official announcements confirm yesterday’s report from The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman that both Falvey and Baldelli would be back for their respective ninth and seventh seasons with the organization.

Baldelli’s current contract runs through at least the 2025 season, while Falvey’s contractual status isn’t publicly known. Falvey’s previous deal was known to be up at the end of the 2024 campaign, yet the Twins have tended to be somewhat secretive when it comes to contracts for team personnel. It seems entirely possible that Falvey was inked to an extension at some point over the course of his previous couple of years, or his contract might indeed currently be up, but an extension is expected to be finalized shortly.

Of course, contracts might not have mattered much if ownership felt compelled to make changes following the Twins’ late-season collapse. Minnesota had a 70-53 record on August 17 and looked to be safe bets to make the postseason, either as AL Central champs for the second consecutive season or at least as a wild card. Instead, the Twins have gone 12-26 over their last 38 games, and two division rivals (the Tigers and Royals) zoomed past them en route to the playoffs.

As “embarrassing” as Pohlad felt this collapse was, he still has faith in Falvey to lead the front office. “I don’t judge employees off of six crummy weeks. He’s got eight years of a résumé and I talk with Derek daily so I know what he’s doing, ” Pohlad said. “He’s got player development resume, he’s got a major league resume and yeah, he’s busting his [butt]. He’s the right guy.”

Falvey made a similar defense of Baldelli, saying “we’ve been gutted during this process trying to figure out how we fix it. That’s led to sleepless nights and challenging conversations and one-on-one conversations between he and I that will stay one-on-one, but have been at times really digging deep and trying to figure out how to fix it. I believe in his process, I believe in him, I believe in the partnership I have with him. That is how I feel and ultimately, that’s the way we’re going to go forward.”

The 2024 season is the latest twist in the overall successful, yet inconsistent tenures of both the CBO and the manager. The duo have combined for three AL Central titles and four winning records in Baldelli’s time as manager, plus Minnesota also won 85 games and earned a wild card in 2017, Falvey’s first season with the organization. Still, the Twins followed up that 2017 campaign with a losing season in 2018 that got previous manager Paul Molitor replaced in favor of Baldelli, and the Twins stumbled to sub-.500 records in both 2021 and 2022 on the heels of consecutive division crowns in 2019-20.

A return to the playoffs last year and (most importantly) the Twins’ first postseason series win since 2002 seemed to restore order to the franchise, but that playoff success was then undermined by a controversial offseason. Ownership’s decision to cut payroll by roughly $30MM left Falvey and GM Thad Levine somewhat hamstrung in their roster maneuvering last winter, leaving it easy to second-guess plenty of decisions or non-decisions that could’ve made the difference between a playoff berth or the Twins’ current situation.

On the other hand, playing even .500 ball since August 17 would’ve sent Minnesota cruising into the postseason, and the payroll decisions wouldn’t loom nearly as large. According to The Athletic’s Dan Hayes (X link), the Twins aren’t planning any more payroll reductions this winter, so it would appear as if the front office will be working with at least the roughly $129MM that the club is currently spending on players.

While Falvey and Baldelli appear safe, neither Pohlad or Falvey mentioned Levine’s status heading into 2025. Levine has been serving as Falvey’s chief lieutenant since the pair were hired in November 2016, and like Falvey, his contract is also thought to be up once the 2024 season is over. Again, Levine might well have quietly signed an extension at some point, or the Twins might be looking to bring a new voice into the front office if they feel some kind of change is necessary.

Sal Frelick Diagnosed With Bone Bruise In Hip

By Mark Polishuk | September 28, 2024 at 4:38pm CDT

4:38pm: Frelick’s MRI revealed a bone bruise, according to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. Per McCalvy, the Brewers are “optimistic” that Frelick avoided structural damage and will not make a roster move yet in case he recovers more quickly than expected. With that being said, it seems as though the Brewers currently expect the outfielder to miss at least the beginning of the playoffs.

10:14am: Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick will undergo an MRI today after he left Friday’s game with a left hip injury. While chasing a foul ball in the third inning of Milwaukee’s 8-4 win over the Mets, Frelick slammed into the wall down the right field line, specifically landing within a cutout area of the otherwise padded wall. Frelick was in a lot of discomfort as he gingerly left the field.

X-rays on Frelick’s hip “were inconclusive,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) following the game. An MRI has been scheduled for this morning to determine the extent of Frelick’s injury, or what his status could be as the Brewers prepare for the start of the NL wild card series on Tuesday.

The 15th overall pick of the 2021 draft, Frelick made his MLB debut last season and moved into an everyday role this year, primarily as the Brewers’ regular right fielder. Frelick has also logged 184 innings in left field and 168 innings in center, but his 776 innings in right field have cemented him as one of the better defensive outfielders in all of baseball. No matter the metric, Frelick’s work in right field has been lauded by Defensive Runs Saved (+16), UZR/150 (16.6) and Outs Above Average (+6).

This excellent glovework has kept Frelick in the lineup despite a lack of production at the plate. While Frelick makes a lot of contact, he is near the bottom of the league in hard contact and barrel rate, and he has only an 86 wRC+ from a slash line of .259/.320/.335 over 524 plate appearances. Stealing 18 bases in 21 attempts has boosted Frelick’s offensive value to some extent, and naturally it isn’t unusual for a second-year player to struggle in his first extended look at big league pitching.

Milwaukee claimed the NL Central title even without one major force in their outfield, as Christian Yelich underwent season-ending back surgery in August. Star rookie Jackson Chourio has settled into a groove as the everyday left fielder, so if Frelick is unavailable for the NLWCS, the likeliest scenario would see Chourio in left field, Blake Perkins in center, and Garrett Mitchell in right. Jake Bauers and utilitymen Andruw Monasterio and Isaac Collins provide some further depth, plus the likes of Brewer Hicklen or Vinny Capra could be called up from the minors.

NL West Notes: Gonsolin, Freeman, Bryant, Snell

By Mark Polishuk | September 28, 2024 at 2:43pm CDT

Unless “something really unforeseen” happens, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Tony Gonsolin probably isn’t going to be part of the team’s postseason roster. Gonsolin underwent Tommy John surgery about 13 months ago and was considered a longshot to pitch any big league innings this season, though Gonsolin did return in time to pitch 7 2/3 innings over three Triple-A rehab appearances. As Roberts implied to the Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris and other reporters, however, Gonsolin is still viewed by the Dodgers as something of an emergency option, as it would be asking a lot of any pitcher who go from a year of inactivity right into the tension of important postseason relief innings.

While Gonsolin likely won’t factor into the L.A. playoff plans, Roberts was less concerned about Freddie Freeman’s bad ankle, as the manager was very optimistic Freeman would be ready for the start of the NLDS a week from today. Freeman suffered a sprained ankle in the Dodgers’ 7-2 win over the Padres on Thursday, and was seen on crutches and in a walking boot later that night. X-rays were negative on the ankle, however, and Freeman benefits from some extra time off before the Dodgers play their first postseason game.

Latest On Reds’ Managerial Search

By Mark Polishuk | September 28, 2024 at 1:17pm CDT

Six days after firing David Bell, the Reds’ search for a new skipper might not take full flight until the season is over. The club has “been doing a lot of due diligence this week with a lot of different people,” president of baseball operations Nick Krall told the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Gordon Wittenmyer and other reporters, though “we haven’t set up anything formal with anybody.”

As per Wittenmyer, the names already linked to the early stages of the search include now former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, former Cubs manager David Ross, and current Reds interim manager and longtime bench coach Freddie Benavides. It would appear as though the Reds are looking primarily at candidates from outside the organization, as Wittenmyer writes that “Benavides is considered the lone in-house candidate.” Neither Schumaker or Ross are exactly strangers to Cincinnati either, as both played for the Reds during their on-field careers.

Within minutes of the announcement of Bell’s firing, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that Schumaker was “on the Reds’ radar” as the potential next skipper. Though Schumaker is technically still under contract with Miami, it has been widely known that the manager and the team were parting ways after this season, so presumably the Marlins gave permission for whatever contact has taken place between the Reds and Schumaker’s camp.

In a sign of just how quickly the ground can shift underneath a manager’s feet, at this time one year ago both Schumaker and Ross seemed to have plenty of job security with their teams. The Marlins made a surprise run at an NL wild card berth during Schumaker’s first season as manager, and Ross’ Cubs emerged from a two-year rebuild to finish with an 83-79 record.

The Cubs’ progress under Ross wasn’t enough for upper management, however, and Craig Counsell’s presence on the market led the team to stun the baseball world by swooping in to hire Counsell for a five-year, $40MM contract. Ross found himself suddenly looking for work, and while he was linked to the Padres’ managerial vacancy and the Yankees’ bench coach job, “Uncle Rossy” instead spent the 2024 season on the sidelines. In regards to the New York job, Ross was reportedly looking to get back into managing rather than coaching if he was to quickly pivot to another role after his unexpectedly late entry onto the open market.

Ross played with seven different teams at the MLB level during his 15-year playing career, including a stint with the Reds from 2006-08. After capturing a World Series ring as member of the curse-breaking 2016 Cubs, Ross retired from playing and transitioned into a special assistant’s position within the front office. Ross was then hired as manager following the 2019 season, and delivered a 262-284 record over four seasons in Chicago’s dugout. The Cubs reached the playoffs in 2020 but Theo Epstein’s departure as president of baseball operations then led to a two-year step backwards for the organization, before the 2023 team posted a winning record.

Schumaker has already faced a lot of tumult over his two seasons as a big league manager. Hired for Miami’s top job after a five-year stretch on the Padres’ and Cardinals coaching staff, Schumaker’s work in leading the Marlins to the playoffs led him to the 2023 NL Manager of the Year award. However, on the heels of that successful debut year, owner Bruce Sherman wanted the Marlins to build a better minor league foundation, and looked to install a new president of baseball operations to oversee general manager Kim Ng. Rather than accept a demotion, Ng declined her end of a mutual option for the 2024 season, and Miami then went into rebuild mode under new PBO Peter Bendix.

This left Schumaker in something of a limbo state, and when the Marlins voided their 2025 club option on his contract back in April, it was pretty apparent that 2024 was going to be Schumaker’s last year in South Beach. Given how little he had to work with, Schumaker hasn’t been assigned any blame for the Marlins’ woeful 60-100 record this year, and he’ll head into the open market as perhaps the top managerial candidate available. The White Sox are also known to have interest in Schumaker’s services, but as Wittenmyer observes, managing a Reds team with a lot of young breakout talent might well have more appeal to Schumaker than overseeing what is likely to be a pretty lengthy rebuild on the South Side of Chicago.

Orioles Select Tucker Davidson

By Mark Polishuk | September 28, 2024 at 12:08pm CDT

The Orioles announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Tucker Davidson from Triple-A Norfolk. Righty Bryan Baker was optioned to the team’s Spring Training complex in the corresponding move.

Davidson has a 5.98 ERA over 125 career MLB innings with the Braves, Angels, and Royals from 2020-23, and he came to Baltimore via a waiver claim off Kansas City’s roster last October. Davidson has spent the entire season at Triple-A, posting a 3.89 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate, and 9.1% walk rate in 115 2/3 innings of work.

Pitching mostly as a reliever in the first part of the year, Davidson has started his last 11 Triple-A with Norfolk, returning to the rotation role he enjoyed for most of his three big league campaigns before he was almost entirely utilized out of the bullpen with L.A. and K.C. in 2023. It seems possible that the Orioles will have Davidson start tomorrow’s regular-season finale against the Twins, or at least chew up a lot of innings in order to save other pitchers’ arms for the playoffs. Baltimore is locked into the top AL wild card seed, so the Orioles’ last two games will be all about staying healthy in advance of their first postseason game on Tuesday.

Baker’s option means that he won’t be eligible to be part of the roster for the Wild Card Series or Division Series, should the O’s advance. With a 5.01 ERA in 23 1/3 relief innings this season, it didn’t seem like Baker was going to be part of a playoff roster anyways, even if his ERA was skewed by a very low 57% strand rate.

Pirates Call Up Mike Burrows For MLB Debut

By Mark Polishuk | September 28, 2024 at 12:03pm CDT

The Pirates announced that right-hander Mike Burrows was called up to the active roster, while Jared Jones was optioned to the team’s Florida Complex League affiliate. Jones’ demotion is purely an on-paper move, as he made his last start of the 2024 season yesterday and has already amassed a full season of MLB service time in his rookie year.

Burrows was already on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster, and the 24-year-old now figures to make his big league debut in one of the Pirates’ two remaining games. An 11th-round pick in the 2018 draft, Burrows was making steady progress up the minor league ladder before a Tommy John surgery derailed his career in April 2023.

Starting a rehab assignment in June of this year, Burrows has a 5.26 ERA over 51 1/3 innings split across three minor league levels. The most relevant set of numbers are his 4.06 ERA, 26.6% strikeout rate, and 8.9% walk rate in 37 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level, with Burrows starting nine of his 10 games for Indianapolis. Burrows has only twice made it into the fifth inning in any of his outings since the Pirates have been limiting his workload, but he tossed 91 pitches in his last Triple-A start on September 22.

An appearance today or Sunday will officially make Burrows a Major League player, achieving one big milestone in his pro career. Heading into 2025, the Pirates have Jones, Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, and Bailey Falter lined up as the top four members of the rotation, leaving Burrows as one of several candidates battling for the fifth starter’s job or (perhaps more realistically) as a depth starter in Triple-A or as a swingman in the big league bullpen. Offseason signings or trades could further shake up the equation, like the trade deadline move that saw the Pirates swap righty Quinn Priester to the Red Sox for infielder Nick Yorke.

AL West Notes: Astros, Pivetta, Jung, Mariners, Martinez

By Mark Polishuk | September 28, 2024 at 8:37am CDT

The Astros had a “very high” amount of interest in Nick Pivetta prior to the trade deadline, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports. No deal was worked out between Houston and Boston, naturally, as the Red Sox were still in contention and opted against moving Pivetta or any other impending free agents. The Astros instead pivoted to landing Yusei Kikuchi from the Blue Jays in what was arguably the most impactful trade of deadline season, as Kikuchi’s dominance dominance since coming to Houston has been a key factor in the Astros’ run to the AL West crown.

Pivetta made his final start of the 2024 campaign yesterday, and the right-hander finishes his eighth MLB season with a 4.14 ERA over 145 2/3 innings, as well as very strong strikeout (28.9%) and walk (6.1) rates. Pivetta’s success was limited by a propensity for allowing hard contact and a lot of home runs, but all in all, he has made a solid case for himself as he enters free agency in advance of his age-32 season. On paper, the Astros’ mix of younger arms and veteran starters returning from injury should help the team make up for the possible departures of Kikuchi and Justin Verlander in free agency, yet the “you can never have enough pitching” cliche is a persuasive counter-argument. Bolstering the group with a mid-tier option like Pivetta could be an attractive option to the Astros this winter.

Some other items from the AL West…

A CT scan on Josh Jung’s surgically-repaired right wrist revealed no structural damage, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). Jung missed most of the season after undergoing the surgery in early April, and was still bothered by some discomfort in his wrist after returning to the field in late July. The Rangers ended Jung’s season with an IL placement earlier this week, and Bochy said that the third baseman’s shutdown period will involve “complete rest for a couple of weeks and then we’ll test it and see where he’s at.” Jung hit only .248/.278/.367 in 169 plate appearances following his surgery.
The Mariners’ offense has been one of the best in baseball since Edgar Martinez assumed hitting coach duties on August 23, yet it isn’t clear if Martinez will be back in the job next season. The Seattle Times’ Adam Jude writes that the club has already started looking for a new hitting coach, though the M’s would seemingly love having Martinez return, if he is willing to take on the daily grind of a coaching role over a full season. The possibility exists that the Mariners could both hire a new top hitting coach and still retain Martinez, as Jude suggests that Martinez could stay on as a coach for just home games, in order to cut down on the travel.

Reds Fire David Bell

By Mark Polishuk | September 22, 2024 at 11:24pm CDT

The Reds announced that they have parted ways with manager David Bell. Bench coach Freddie Benavides will act as the club’s interim manager for the remainder of the season.

In a statement released to the media, president of baseball operations Nick Krall said that “David provided the kind of steadiness that we needed in our clubhouse over the last few seasons. We felt a change was needed to move the Major League team forward. We have not achieved the success we expected, and we need to begin focusing on 2025.”

Bell’s tenure ends just short of six full seasons as Cincinnati’s manager. Three of Bell’s six seasons saw the Reds finish with a winning record — their 31-29 record in the shortened 2020 season that led to a playoff berth, an 83-win campaign in 2021, and an 82-win season in 2023. That latter season hinted at bigger things ahead for the Reds, given how the team seemingly had an overload of young position-player talent all breaking out at the same time. The organization even awarded Bell for his role in the Reds’ progress, as Bell was signed to a new contract extension in July 2023 that covered the 2024-26 seasons.

However, it perhaps shouldn’t be ignored that the Reds waited to give Bell a new deal until he was only about two months away from the expiration from his previous contract. That might’ve been the first hint that the Reds’ ownership and front office was only willing to give Bell so much leeway in continuing as the club’s skipper, and the disappointing nature of the 2024 season sealed Bell’s fate.

The announcement of Noelvi Marte’s 80-game PED suspension in early March was the first sign of trouble for the Reds, and the bad news continued during Spring Training when Matt McLain had to undergo a shoulder surgery. McLain ended up missing the entire season recovering from that surgery and then a stress reaction in his rib cage suffered during his rehab work. Christian Encarnacion-Strand didn’t play after the first week of May due to a wrist injury that required surgery, thus leading to a lost year for yet another of the Reds’ promising young infielders.

Injuries continued to deplete the roster at other inopportune times, including a near rotation-wide slate of injuries that hit the pitching staff in August. Beyond the injuries, other would-be cornerstones like Spencer Steer or Alexis Diaz provided only average levels of production, and offseason acquisitions like Jeimer Candelario and Frankie Montas also disappointed.

It all added up to an underwhelming season in Cincinnati, and while Bell is hardly the only culprit behind the Reds’ lack of success, the organization will now shake things up in the dugout. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (X link) has already reported that Marlins manager Skip Schumaker is under consideration to be the Reds’ next field general, and Schumaker has past ties to the club as a former Reds player in 2014-15. Schumaker won NL Manager of the Year honors in leading Miami to the playoffs in his first year as skipper in 2023, but the Marlins’ decision to part ways with GM Kim Ng (who hired Schumaker) and then shift into rebuild mode has all but confirmed that Schumaker is leaving South Florida at season’s end.

Bell finishes with a 409-456 record over his time as the Reds’ manager. That lone postseason appearance in 2020 ended in a two-game (and scoreless) sweep in the wild card series, and Cincinnati still hasn’t won a playoff round since the 1995 NLDS. The pandemic’s impact on Bell’s managerial career can’t be understated, as the organizational loss of revenue over the 2020-21 seasons led ownership to suddenly change course after a payroll increase in the 2019-20 offseason, and the Reds started to heavily rebuild following their winning record in 2021.

Viewed through this lens, the Reds have done well to get back to playing competitive baseball so soon after the misery of a 100-loss season in 2022. Krall has done well in reloading the organization with premium prospect talent, and Bell’s work in helping some of this young talent adjust to the majors shouldn’t be overlooked. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Reds take that expected next step in 2025 if the team enjoys better health and the younger players fare better with more experience under their belts, and indeed a new voice in the dugout might be a key piece in helping Cincinnati turn the corner.

Benavides is a longtime member of the Reds organization, dating back to when the club selected him in the second round of the 1987 draft. The first two of Benavides’ four Major League seasons were played in a Reds uniform, and after retirement, he spent close to a decade working in Cincinnati’s farm system before joining the big league coaching staff in 2016. Benavides has been acting in the bench coach role since Bell was initially hired following the 2018 campaign.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

White Sox Add Edgar Quero To Taxi Squad

By Mark Polishuk | September 22, 2024 at 10:47pm CDT

The White Sox are promoting catching prospect Edgar Quero to the team’s taxi squad prior to their next game on Tuesday, according to reporter Francys Romero (via X). While Quero is technically not part of the team’s active roster yet, the move would seem to imply that the Sox are planning to have the 21-year-old switch-hitter make his Major League debut before the season is over.

Quero left his native Cuba in 2019 and signed with the Angels in 2021, then immediately hit the ground running with some big numbers in his first pro seasons. The Angels’ acquisition of Logan O’Hoppe in 2022 and then their desperation to reach the postseason in 2023 (Shohei Ohtani’s last year with the club) made Quero an expendable piece, and the young backstop was sent to the White Sox as part of the 2023 deadline deal that sent Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez to Los Angeles.

The move to the White Sox organization didn’t slow Quero down, and he has a combined .281/.368/.467 slash line over 397 minor league plate appearances in 2024. The last 105 of those trips to the plate took place at Triple-A Charlotte, though Quero only just returned this week from an IL stint. Quero missed over five weeks of playing time dealing with a back problem, and if he had been healthy, it seems likely that he already would’ve been up in the big leagues earlier in September.

MLB Pipeline ranks Quero as the 59th-best prospect in baseball, and Baseball America has the catcher 79th on their top-100 list. (The Athletic’s Keith Law also had Quero 67th on his preseason top-100 ranking.) Quero has generally been more productive against left-handed pitching than against righties, but had good contact numbers from both sides of the plate. His power dipped in 2023 but rebounded this year, moving to a .467 SLG and 16 homers after posting only a .351 slugging percentage and six homers in 455 PA in 2023.

Defensively, BA’s scouting report seems a bit more bullish than Pipeline about Quero’s future at catcher, as both sites note that the 5’10”, 210-point Quero will need to watch his conditioning to help his mobility. Even if Quero tops out as an average defensive catcher at best, his offensive potential should still allow him to carve out at least a part-time role in the majors.

Korey Lee’s first full Major League season got off to a nice start, but he went into a deep slump as the season went on, and he has only a 60 wRC+ and a .207/.238/.341 slash line over 382 PA. Known more for his glovework than his bat anyway, Lee has struggled in terms of blocking and framing, but he has thrown out 23 of 100 baserunners attempting to steal this season, giving him one of the better caught-stealing percentages of any catcher in baseball.

Even if Lee had done enough to take a firmer grasp of the everyday catching job going forward, the White Sox are naturally still going to look towards the future in the tail end of this disastrous season. If Quero does indeed make his big league debut on Tuesday, he could share in some unfortunate history, as the 36-120 White Sox are one more defeat away from breaking the 1962 Mets’ modern record for losses in a season.

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