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Carlos Perez (b. 1996)

White Sox Outright Carlos Perez

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The White Sox announced this afternoon that catcher Carlos Perez has been assigned outright to Triple-A. The 27-year-old was designated for assignment last week to make room for right-hander Chris Flexen on the 40-man roster.

Not to be confused with older brother Carlos Perez, who caught 66 games with the A’s last year in his fifth major league season, the younger Perez signed out of Venezuela with the White Sox back in 2014. Though Perez didn’t reach the upper levels of the minors until the 2021 season, the backstop has held his own with a .245/.306/.428 slash line in 190 career games at the Triple-A level and has spent the past two seasons as catching depth for the White Sox behind Yasmani Grandal and Seby Zavala. Perez made it into 34 games with the big league club since he first joined the roster in 2022, though he slashed an unimpressive .209/.254/.343 in 71 trips to the plate during that time.

The White Sox have completely revamped their catching corps this offseason as both Grandal and Zavala have departed. Youngster Korey Lee joined the club at the trade deadline last year while offseason deals have brought in both Max Stassi and Martin Maldonado. Those moves have left little room for Perez on a fairly crowded White Sox 40-man roster, prompting the club to designate him for assignment. Now that he’s been successfully passed through waivers, the White Sox have chosen to outright him to the minor leagues.

Perez has neither the requisite service time nor a previous outright assignment on his resume to allow him to elect free agency, meaning he’ll remain in the White Sox organization for the 2024 campaign as non-roster depth who could be called upon in the event of an injury or trade thinning out the club’s catching depth at the big league level at some point during the coming season.

White Sox Designate Carlos Perez For Assignment

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The White Sox have designated catcher Carlos Perez for assignment, the team announced.  The move creates roster space for Chris Flexen, whose one-year, $1.75MM deal with Chicago is now official.

Not to be confused with older brother Carlos Eduardo Perez (also a catcher and a veteran of five MLB seasons), Carlos Jesus Perez is a 27-year-old backstop who was an international signing for the White Sox back in 2014.  Perez has hit .264/.314/.389 over 2402 career plate appearances in Chicago’s minor league system, and he has played in 34 games for the Sox at the Major League level over the last two seasons.  Over his small sample size of 71 trips to the plate in the Show, Perez has hit .209/.254/.343 with one home run.

Catcher has been a target area for the Sox this winter, as Martin Maldonado and Max Stassi were both acquired to bolster the team’s depth behind the plate.  With Korey Lee also on the roster, top prospect Edgar Quero perhaps in line for a big league debut in 2024, and Chuckie Robinson recently signed to a minor league deal, Perez is now the odd man out.

The White Sox could keep him in the organization as even more depth if he clears waivers and is outrighted off the 40-man roster, but with a number of catchers already on board, Chicago might opt to just release Perez entirely.  Since teams are constantly looking for catching help, Perez might not have much trouble landing with another club on a minor league deal heading into Spring Training.

White Sox Recall Korey Lee

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The White Sox have recalled catcher Korey Lee from Triple-A Charlotte. He is expected to make his White Sox debut in this evening’s contest against the Athletics, as reported by Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. In a corresponding move, catcher Carlos Perez has been optioned to Triple-A.

The 25-year-old Lee came to Chicago at the trade deadline in the deal that sent Kendall Graveman to Houston. Lee had been one of the Astros’ top prospects since he was selected out of UC Berkeley in the first round of the 2019 draft. He made his MLB debut in July 2022 but was optioned a month later when the Astros acquired Christian Vazquez at the deadline. He has not played in a big league game since, and his rookie status remains intact.

Lee is a glove-first player with power potential in his bat. Baseball America ranked him as the no. 7 prospect in the Astros system this offseason, citing his “variety of average-to-plus skills” behind the dish and his “power-centric approach” at the plate. His best tool is his strong arm, which BA gave an 80 grade (the highest possible evaluation).

Perez was recalled in early August after Seby Zavala suffered an oblique strain. The 26-year-old Perez has been catching in the White Sox organization for nearly a decade, although he has never been a top prospect. He has appeared in 18 games for the White Sox this season, posting a .611 OPS in 30 trips to the plate. He will return to Triple-A, where he has fared slightly better, putting up a .705 OPS in 68 games.

Meanwhile, Zavala began a rehab assignment on Tuesday. There is no clear timetable for his return, but it is possible he won’t be back until September, at which point rosters will have expanded to 28 and the White Sox will have the flexibility to activate Zavala without optioning Lee.

Zavala is a stronger defensive catcher but has contributed very little at the plate this year, slashing .155/.207/.304. Yasmani Grandal, for his part, is hitting somewhat better (.235/.309/.345) but is no longer much of an asset with the glove. Lee has struggled with the bat since his arrival in Charlotte, posting a .255/.309/.275 slash line, but if Chicago views him as part of the future core, it is a good time to get him some more big-league experience. The White Sox’s postseason hopes have long disappeared, and these last 35 games provide an opportunity to get a better look at one of their potential catchers of the future. Grandal will be a free agent at the end of the season, while Lee’s fellow catching prospect Edgar Quero still looks to be a year or two away from making his MLB debut. The White Sox should have plenty of playing time available behind the dish in 2024.

White Sox Activate Jake Burger, Option Carlos Perez

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According to The Athletic’s James Fegan, the White Sox activated infielder Jake Burger from the 10-day injured list today, and optioned catcher Carlos Perez to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Burger’s return creates something of a logjam in Chicago’s infield, as the 27-year-old slugger has gotten off to a torrid start in 2023, slashing .224/.312/.612 in 23 games prior to landing on the injured list. While normally a whopping 146 wRC+ would assure any player regular playing time on a struggling club such as the White Sox, Yoan Moncada has been equally stellar so far this season with a .319/.333/.574 slash line that’s been good for a 147 wRC+.

Both Burger and Moncada are primarily third basemen by trade, though Fegan notes that manager Pedro Grifol has indicated that the third base job is Moncada’s. While both players have some experience at second base, where Hanser Alberto is currently playing while regular starter Elvis Andrus is on the injured list, Grifol notes that neither Moncada nor Burger is expected to play second base. Rather, Grifol suggests that Burger will get most of his at-bats as a DH, filling in for Eloy Jimenez while he recovers from his recent appendectomy. Beyond that, Burger will fill in at third on Moncada’s off days and also spend some time at first, where Andrew Vaughn is the primary starter.

Heading out to make room for Burger is Perez, who appeared in just three games for the White Sox to back up Seby Zavala while veteran backstop Yasmani Grandal dealt with a back injury that limited his ability to play. With Grandal seemingly ready to return to action, Perez will return to Triple-A and continue to serve as upper-level catching depth going forward.

Eloy Jimenez To Miss 4-To-6 Weeks After Undergoing Appendectomy

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May 7: As expected, the club has placed Jimenez on the 10-day IL while he recovers from his appendectomy. The club recalled catcher Carlos Perez in a corresponding move.

May 6: White Sox slugger Eloy Jimenez went to the hospital earlier today due to intense stomach discomfort, and the team announced that Jimenez underwent an appendectomy.  Jimenez will be sidelined for “preliminarily” the next 4-to-6 weeks while he recovers.

Manager Pedro Grifol told the Chicago Sun-Times’ Daryl Van Schouwen and other reporters earlier today that Jimenez felt discomfort last night, and was admitted to hospital after the pain worsened during the night.  If there is a silver lining, it’s that Jimenez’s issue was only the relatively common problem of appendicitis, and hopefully the outfielder will be fully recovered in 4-6 weeks’ time.

However, that does mark yet another significant absence and yet another entry within an increasingly checkered health history for the 26-year-old.  Jimenez already spent 10 days on the injured list this season due to a hamstring strain, he missed over two months of the 2022 season with another hamstring issue, and his first game of the 2021 campaign didn’t come until July 26 due to a ruptured left pectoral tendon.

Jimenez was roughly a league-average hitter in 2021, but batted .295/.358/.500 with 16 home runs over 327 plate appearances last season.  This year, despite being slowed by the hamstring problem, Jimenez has a productive .258/.321/.423 slash line in 106 PA, even while continuing his pattern of hard contact and a lot of swing-and-miss.

Even with a modest 104 wRC+, Jimenez was still one of the more productive hitters on a struggling White Sox team, and his absence will now only add to what is increasingly looking like a disastrous season.  Today’s 5-3 loss to the Reds dropped Chicago to an 11-23 record, and even earlier this week, MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote about which players might be shopped by the Sox at the deadline.  It’s going to be a lot harder for the Southsiders to dig themselves out of this early hole without Jimenez in the lineup, which only increases the chances that Chicago will be looking to be sellers in some regard by August 1.

The White Sox have used Jimenez mostly as a DH this season with a handful of games in right field, so there might not be a direct positional replacement needed, in the sense that the Sox could just cycle multiple players through the DH spot to help keep people fresh.  Gavin Sheets might get the bulk of those at-bats given his lackluster defensive numbers in right field, and Oscar Colas might find himself quickly back in the majors after being optioned to Triple-A earlier this week.  In addition to Jimenez being sidelined, the White Sox also just placed Jake Burger on the IL this week due to an oblique strain, and Yoan Moncada has missed close to a month with back problems (though he just started a rehab assignment this weekend).

White Sox Select Carlos Pérez

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The White Sox announced they have selected the contract of catcher Carlos Pérez. Fellow backstop Yasmani Grandal has been placed on the 10-day injured list on the heels of last night’s injury, which created room for Pérez on the active roster. Grandal’s injury has been described as a left knee strain. To open a spot on the 40-man, right-hander Kyle Crick has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Pérez, not to be confused with the Carlos Pérez who is catching in the Rockies’ system, is a 25-year-old who has been in the White Sox organization for his entire career so far. He made his professional debut in rookie ball back in 2014 and has been working his way up the minor league ladder since. He has never been a highly-touted prospect, though he has frequently been an honorable mention on FanGraphs’ lists of top White Sox farmhands, with those reports noting his bat-to-ball skills and strong arm but lack of power.

This year, he’s played 91 games in Triple-A, trying his best to get rid of that lack-of-power reputation. He’s hit 17 home runs on the year after only hitting 20 total long balls in his seven previous minor league seasons. He’s also struck out in just 8.2% of his plate appearances, which is barely one third of the 22.3% MLB average. That’s led to a batting line of .257/.319/.446, wRC+ of 101, a hair above league average.

Pérez will make his MLB debut as soon as he gets into a game. It’s possible that he sticks around for a bit, joining Seby Zavala as the club’s catching tandem. Those two and Grandal are the only three catchers currently on the White Sox 40-man roster.

As for Crick, this won’t affect his timeline since he’s already been on the injured list for over 60 days. It was June 15 when he was first placed on the IL due to elbow inflammation, with no indications he’s close to returning.

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