Kyle Teel Out Four To Six Weeks With Hamstring Strain
White Sox catcher Kyle Teel has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 right hamstring strain and could be out anywhere between four and six weeks, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com. He’ll open the season on the 10-day injured list.
Teel, 24, suffered the injury last night when legging out a double in Italy’s upset win over the United States in the World Baseball Classic. He ran hard out of the box and pulled up limping shortly after rounding the first base bag (video link). Teel was visibly frustrated when standing on second base, clearly aware that he’d an injury of some note. He left the field with the training staff, albeit under his own power.
It’s a sour note on which to end Teel’s WBC run and on which to begin his 2026 season. The 2023 first-rounder headlined the prospect package the White Sox received when trading Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox last offseason and quickly broke out as what looks like Chicago’s catcher of the future. Teel played in 78 games last year, tallied 297 plate appearances and batted .273/.375/.411 with eight homers, 11 doubles and a huge 12.5% walk rate. His defense could use some improvement, but the lefty-swinging Teel looks the part of a big league catcher with strong offense for the position.
With Teel sidelined, the South Siders will open the season with Edgar Quero and Korey Lee as their catching tandem. Quero, like Teel, is a trade acquisition and former top prospect, coming to the Sox by way of the 2023 Lucas Giolito/Reynaldo Lopez trade with the Angels. The Cuban-born Quero is a switch-hitter who logged a respectable .268/.333/.356 slash (95 wRC+) in 403 plate appearances last year, though his glovework drew particularly poor grades; he caught only 15.8% of attempted thieves on the basepaths and graded as one of the worst pitch framers in the game.
Teel’s injury means Quero will open the season in a starting role and look to improve on both his power output and his defensive acumen behind the plate. Lee is another former first-round pick whom the Astros added in a trade (Kendall Graveman, 2023). He profiles strictly as a backup at this point, having slashed .195/.237/.325 with 14 homers in 504 plate appearances with the Sox — but only a 5.2% walk rate and a gaudy 29.6% strikeout rate. Lee has nabbed nearly one-quarter of runners who’ve attempted to steal against him since being traded to Chicago, but he’s drawn below-average grades for his framing and his efforts to block balls in the dirt.
The injury to Teel allows the White Sox to kick the can down the road a bit when it comes to a decision on their catching corps. Teel and Quero seem like the clear long-term candidates at the position, while the 27-year-old Lee (28 in July) is out of minor league options. He’ll now have at least a bit of runway to make a case that he deserves to stay on the roster once Teel is healthy, but Lee’s hold on a roster spot alongside a healthy Teel and Quero looks tenuous at best. Drew Romo, a former top prospect with the Rockies, is also in camp as non-roster depth if the Sox incur further injuries among their catching group.
Will Venable Discusses White Sox’s Catching Mix
The White Sox have a pair of potential long-term starting catchers. Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero were each highly-regarded prospects who showed promise as rookies. Teel was particularly good after being called up in early June.
Teams inquired about Chicago’s willingness to trade one of that duo early in the offseason. It doesn’t seem talks ever got far. Teel and Quero now seem all but assured to begin the season with the White Sox. That leaves them with a decision to make on third catcher Korey Lee, himself a former first-round pick who might be squeezed out of the picture.
Lee exhausted his last minor league option in 2025. The Sox need to keep him on the MLB roster at this point. Teel and Quero have options but aren’t in jeopardy of getting sent down. Teel hit .273/.375/.411 through his first 78 MLB games. Quero batted .268/.333/.356 over 111 contests.
Manager Will Venable addressed the catching plans on Monday. “I think it really is going to take care of itself,” the second-year skipper told reporters (including Scott Merkin of MLB.com and LaMond Pope of The Chicago Tribune). “We know that we like Kyle catching and hitting against righties. We know that Edgar can DH. We’ll have a couple of guys who will fill that DH spot versus right-handed pitching.”
Teel, a left-handed hitter, hit .290/.388/.448 against righties. The Sox gave him 52 plate appearances against southpaws, in which he hit .186 without a home run while striking out 20 times. Quero is a switch-hitter whose numbers were much better from the right side. He batted .357/.394/.457 against lefties compared to a .220/.301/.301 line while hitting left-handed.
Venable indicated that the Sox would use Quero more frequently behind the plate when an opposing lefty is on the mound. That’d allow them to spell Teel against southpaws, though the manager added it won’t be a strict platoon. The Sox are still rebuilding and presumably don’t want to firmly lock either player into a platoon role within their first two seasons in the big leagues.
Does that leave room on the roster for Lee? Most teams prefer not to carry three catchers when they’re primarily using a four-man bench. Assuming Quero sees a decent amount of run as a DH against righties, the third catcher would provide Venable more in-game flexibility. If they wanted to pinch-hit for Teel against a tough lefty reliever, they could plug Lee in behind the plate instead of moving Quero there (which would forfeit the DH). There’s also simply the likelihood that another team would claim Lee if the Sox tried to run him through waivers at the end of camp.
Lee didn’t get much of a look last season, only taking 40 plate appearances in 25 MLB games. He put up a solid .255/.313/.405 showing in Triple-A but is a career .193/.234/.321 hitter against big league pitching. Lee had a strong defensive reputation as a prospect. Statcast hasn’t looked favorably on his pitch-framing work in the majors, but he has a plus arm and seems to work well with the pitching staff.
The Padres reportedly had some interest in Lee last summer. They wound up trading for Freddy Fermin from Kansas City instead. San Diego’s already thin catching depth has been hit by injury, but they might be better served signing a veteran to a minor league deal. Their backup catcher Luis Campusano is also out of options, so they’d need to consider Lee a definitive upgrade to put Campusano on waivers.
Speculatively, Lee’s former team in Houston could look for a backup catcher after losing Victor Caratini to free agency. The Rays, Rockies or Mariners are other potential fits to upgrade the #2 catching spot on the depth chart.
Poll: Should The White Sox Trade A Young Catcher?
While they improved on their historically bad 2024 season this past year, the 2025 White Sox were still among the league’s bottom-feeders with little end in sight to the rebuild that GM Chris Getz is undertaking. The problem for Chicago is that they’re running out of notable pieces to dangle in trades if they hope to accelerate that rebuild. Andrew Benintendi has the capacity to be a decent corner bat, but he’s overpaid and could be difficult to move without eating almost all of his salary. Luis Robert Jr. has long been on the trade block, but the White Sox have never been able to extract the value they’re looking for.
That dearth of quality trade pieces could lead the Sox to look for more unorthodox trade candidates on their roster. For all of the team’s faults, Chicago does have one area of legitimate depth on its roster: young catching talent. Edgar Quero and Kyle Teel both turned in solid rookie seasons after entering the 2025 season as consensus top-100 prospects in the sport, and both players are controlled through the end of the 2031 season. Six full seasons of team control on a player who has already proved capable of hitting big league pitching from the toughest defensive position on the diamond is arguably one of the most attractive tradable assets in the entire game.
There’s also the current market conditions to consider. The free agent market is headlined by J.T. Realmuto but he’s expected to return to the Phillies. Even if he doesn’t, he’s about to turn 35 and some clubs would certainly prefer to find a younger franchise catcher like those currently on the White Sox. Apart from Realmuto, guys like Victor Caratini and Danny Jansen are the top guys available. Ryan Jeffers might be on the trade block but it’s not entirely confirmed that the Twins are going to continue the selloff they began at the deadline.
That could make it easy to dream on what sort of elite return the White Sox could get if they were willing to trade either Teel or Quero, both of whom they’ve received interest on. For a team with a need in the starting rotation, multiple holes in the lineup, and plenty of room to improve in the bullpen, a trade return with a number of players could help patch holes and quicken the team’s return to contention in an AL Central division that appeared a bit more vulnerable than expected by the end of the year. Teel or Quero would also not necessarily need to be replaced if traded given the presence of Korey Lee on the 40-man roster, though Lee’s track record in the majors is mixed at best.
An offer that included a controllable starter and help for the lineup could be hard to turn down, but Getz has indicated that he isn’t especially inclined to deal either Teel or Quero at this point. That’s understandable, given that the team has no reason to rush into a trade. Keeping both Teel and Quero in the fold would allow them to better evaluate which of the two is better suited to be a franchise cornerstone behind the plate and, if both players excel, wouldn’t substantially decrease their value on the market. Any loss in team control could be made up for or perhaps even exceeded by the value created by the youngster proving themselves more solidly at the big league level.
What’s more, waiting to trade could mean that the players acquired would be under control longer when the White Sox are earnestly trying to contend again. Acquiring a player with three years of team control in 2026 would likely only mean one or two years in the organization while its competitive, but acquiring a player with the same amount of control remaining a year or two from now could mean having that player’s services for a much larger portion of the team’s competitive window. Waiting would also allow the White Sox to better evaluate the rest of the talent in their system and more accurately identify which needs should be prioritized.
Of course, there’s risks in waiting as well. Injury or underperformance could diminish either player’s value. Given the inconsistencies that even high-end young catchers often face early in their time as big leaguers, the possibility of such a decline cannot be ignored. Perhaps future offseasons will have more catching talent available in free agency and/or trades.
Even if Teel and Quero both remain productive and command strong markets a year or two from now, there are drawbacks to waiting. For one, the clocks on the team’s existing young players are already ticking. Any time spent waiting out the market is time that acquired players and prospects won’t be able to spend alongside young up-and-comers like Shane Smith, Colson Montgomery, and whichever catcher does remain in Chicago long-term. Another concern would be that those players and prospects themselves may not yet be fully established at the big league level, and any additional development time necessary might be better done while the White Sox are still rebuilding rather than when they’re already trying to compete.
How do MLBTR readers think the White Sox should handle their catching surplus? Should the team be open to moving one of their top catching talents, or should they hold onto both players and continue evaluating them in 2026? Have your say in the poll below:
Should The White Sox Trade A Catcher This Winter?
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No, be patient and hope both continue to develop so they can be traded for even more value later. 60% (2,262)
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Yes, trade either Teel or Quero now to capitalize on a weak market for catching and their years of control. 40% (1,486)
Total votes: 3,748
Edgar Quero Drawing Trade Interest From Multiple Teams
White Sox catcher Edgar Quero is drawing trade interest from multiple teams, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. Romero notes that the Sox would have a high asking price. That aligns with recent comments from White Sox general manager Chris Getz. Per James Fegan of Sox Machine, Getz pushed back on the idea that now was the time to trade a catcher. “Is that time now? I don’t think so. I don’t,” Getz said. “But down the road, you never know.”
The Sox came into 2025 with two notable catching prospects in Quero and Kyle Teel. Both were generally considered top 100 guys by prospect evaluators. Both debuted in 2025. Teel had a better season but he’s a year older.
Quero got into 111 games and stepped to the plate 403 times, producing a .268/.333/.356 line. That led to a 95 wRC+, which indicates he was 5% less productive than the average big league hitter. Catchers are usually about 10% worse than par, so Quero’s production was actually decent for the position. However, outlets like FanGraphs, Statcast and Baseball Prospectus all panned his glovework, particularly his framing.
Teel, meanwhile, got into 78 games with 297 plate appearances. He slashed .273/.375/.411 for a 125 wRC+. His defensive grades weren’t elite but he was often considered to be close to average, give or take.
The Sox also have Korey Lee on the roster. He wasn’t the same level of prospect as Teel or Quero but he was a 32nd overall pick of the Astros back in 2019. He hasn’t clicked in the majors yet, with a .193/.234/.321 batting line and poor defense to boot.
The Sox don’t have to make a trade now, though it does feel as though one is inevitable in the long term. Most clubs have two catchers sharing the catching duties these days. The Sox could certainly do that with Teel and Quero for the time being.
The designated hitter slot can also allow them to get both into the lineup fairly regularly, as they continue to develop as major leaguers. The Sox don’t have a full-time DH, though they might want to have their veteran outfielders in there from time to time. Luis Robert Jr., Andrew Benintendi and Mike Tauchman are all trade candidates and it would be good to keep them fresh and productive for trade possibilities, especially given Robert’s injury history. It’s also possible the roster is changed in the offseason via a trade of one of those three or perhaps even a non-tender of Tauchman.
At some point, a trade should be a real consideration, however. Even if Quero is the 1B catcher behind 1A Teel, other clubs might view him as a viable 1A option. The Sox could trade Quero to bolster another part of the roster, then use Lee or sign some veteran to back up Teel. It’s also theoretically possible that Quero surpasses Teel as the top option in Chicago and the inverse becomes a possibility, though as Fegan mentions, the Sox are probably committed to Teel since they made him such a key piece of the Garrett Crochet trade.
From the perspective of the Sox, there shouldn’t be urgency. The 2025 White Sox showed some progress relative to the 2024 squad, but that’s not saying much. Even the improved 2025 group still lost 102 games. The end of the rebuild is not imminent. This year’s free agent crop of catchers isn’t especially strong, which could tempt them to put Quero out there, but next year’s class doesn’t appear to be much better.
The Sox can continue using their big league playing time to focus on development. Unless they are bowled over by an offer, that can include Quero. As mentioned by Fegan, the Sox don’t feel Quero has reached his potential yet. Some signs of progress in the next year or two would only increase his trade value. By that time, the Sox might also have a better idea of which parts of the roster they need to target in the trade return, in order to best forge a path for future success.
Lee is out of options now, so he may have a hard time sticking around, though there is an argument for keeping him on the bench. As mentioned, the Sox may use the DH spot to have both Teel and Quero in the lineup regularly. If they indeed plan to do that, they could perhaps keep Lee around as a classic backup catcher who is ready to jump in if one of the other two suffers an injury.
Photo courtesy of Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images
AL Central Notes: Tigers, Ragans, Lee
Some of baseball’s top prospects have made their MLB debuts within the last week, but don’t expect any of the Tigers‘ top minor leaguers to be appearing in 2025. In an interview with MLB Network this past week (hat tip to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press), Tigers GM Jon Greenberg said a call-up of shortstop prospect Kevin McGonigle is likely not “on the radar right now,” and Greenberg also downplayed the possibility of Max Clark or Josue Briceno arriving in the majors.
“They’ve only been in Double-A for a month. It’s been fewer than 30 games,” the GM said. “Really excited with what Kevin has done, really excited with what Max has done, and some of the other guys in our system. But right now, the focus is on their development and getting the reps to continue to take those steps forward.”
MLB Pipeline and Baseball America each rank McGonigle as the second-best prospect in baseball, Clark ninth, and Briceno also in a prominent top-100 spot (Pipeline has him 32nd, BA 54th). As Greenberg noted, none of the group has much experience even at the Double-A level, though McGonigle and Clark have both been on fire at the plate since their call-up. While it seems like a further promotion to Triple-A could be possible before the 2025 season is through, any of these top prospects would very likely have to further excel in Toledo, and then the Tigers would have to feel confident enough to install any of these rookies right into the extra pressure of a postseason push. There isn’t much urgency for Detroit to make such an aggressive prospect promotion, as the Tigers have a 10.5-game division lead and look to be cruising towards the AL Central crown.
More from within the division…
- A rotator cuff strain sent Cole Ragans to the injured list in early June, but the Royals southpaw seems to be making good progress towards a late-season return. Manager Matt Quatraro told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters that things went “really well” during a 30-pitch bullpen for Ragans on Thursday, which was Ragans’ fourth pen session. The next step is an “up-down” session today. Since Ragans will surely need at least couple of minor league rehab outings as the final stage of his recovery process, it would seem like the second week of September would be the absolute earliest Ragans might be able to return to the K.C. rotation. While a timeline is still very fluid, getting Ragans back would be a late boost to a Royals team that has won 14 of its last 22 games to surge back into the wild card race.
- The White Sox called catcher Korey Lee up from Triple-A yesterday, creating what is technically a bit of a logjam since Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero are already both on the active roster. However, manager Will Venable told reporters (including Vinnie Duber of the Chicago Sun-Times) that having a third catcher available gives the Sox the ability to have both Teel and Quero in the lineup at catcher and DH, without worrying that an injury would leave the team short-handed during a game. Naturally the White Sox want to see as much as they can from both Teel and Quero in their rookie seasons, as the former top prospects both appear to be key pieces of Chicago’s rebuild, even if there’s still a lingering question about who will eventually emerge as the regular catcher.
White Sox Notes: Cannon, Teel, Quero
The White Sox announced Tuesday that righty Jonathan Cannon has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a lower back strain. Right-hander Caleb Freeman is up from Triple-A Charlotte to take Cannon’s spot on the active roster.
Cannon, 24, was sharp through his first nine trips to the hill this season (3.60 ERA, 18 K%, 7.8 BB% in 50 innings) but has run into a rough patch of late. Over his past trips to the mound, he’s been roughed up for 13 runs on 17 hits and four walks in 13 2/3 innings. Yesterday’s outing against the Tigers was particularly shaky; Cannon surrendered five runs — on the strength of three homers — and walked three batters in just three innings. A recent velocity drop could underscore the fact that he’s been pitching at less than 100 percent; Cannon averaged 93.5 mph on his four-seamer and 93 mph on his sinker through May 18 but has averaged just 91.8 mph and 92 mph, respectively, since.
The South Siders haven’t yet said how long Cannon will be out. Bruce Levine of 670 The Score reports that the Sox have already had imaging performed but have not yet publicly disclosed the results. It’s also not clear who’ll replace Cannon in the rotation. The Sox are currently going with Shane Smith, Davis Martin, Sean Burke and Adrian Houser in an all-righty rotation. Swingman Bryse Wilson is stretched out enough that he tossed five innings yesterday in relief of Cannon, but he’s sitting on a 6.80 ERA this year — including 17 earned runs in his past 14 2/3 innings.
Chicago’s depth chart has thinned out in recent months. Prospects Ky Bush and Drew Thorpe are out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery this spring. Other once-well-regarded prospects like Jairo Iriarte, Nick Nastrini, Owen White and Wikelman González have all struggled in the upper minors. Veteran southpaw Martín Pérez is out until at least September and could miss the rest of the year due to a flexor strain.
Lefties Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith are two of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball, but neither has even reached Triple-A yet; Smith only has 25 Double-A frames under his belt. The Sox probably want both to get more development time in before bringing them to the majors — particularly since neither needs to be added to the 40-man roster this offseason in order to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft.
The South Siders do have a top prospect who’s making a compelling case for a call to the majors sooner than later, but it’s not one of their coveted young arms. Catcher Kyle Teel, the headline prospect in the trade sending Garrett Crochet to Boston, is hitting .289/.394/.491 in Triple-A (131 wRC+). Teel has walked in a massive 14.8% of his plate appearances, fanned at a 26.6% clip that the Sox would surely like to bring down, clubbed eight homers and even swiped seven bags in eight attempts.
A consensus top-50 prospect in the sport, Teel got out to a slow start this season but has only been held hitless four times in 34 games dating back to an April 12 doubleheader where he went 0-for-3 in both halves of that twin bill. In 134 plate appearances since that time, the 2023 first-rounder (No. 14 overall) is batting .331/.428/.532. Strikeouts remain an issue, and Teel’s .378 average on balls in play isn’t sustainable, but it’s hard for him to do much more to clamor for a call to the majors.
The Sox, it seems, are taking notice. Teel tells Scott Merkin of MLB.com that the organization has begun to have him work out at first base. Teel hasn’t played there in a game yet but has been taking grounders at first base the past few days and working with the staff in Charlotte to acclimate himself to a new position.
Chicago recently optioned longtime first baseman Andrew Vaughn to Charlotte. The former No. 3 pick has been a constant in their lineup for four-plus seasons but has never lived up to expectations when he was one of the top prospects in his draft class. Vaughn has been a roughly average offensive performer with poor glovework and baserunning. The Sox are surely hoping he can get on track in Triple-A and salvage some value later this summer, but sending him down and getting Teel some looks at first base signal a clear shift in the team’s plans.
Teel probably isn’t an option to be the Sox’ everyday first baseman moving forward. He’s regarded as a viable defensive catcher who blocks balls in the dirt and throws well. He’s nabbed 33% of would-be base thieves this season. Baseball Prospectus also gives him solid framing marks behind the dish in the minors.
That said, the Sox entered 2025 with two of baseball’s top catching prospects: Teel and former minor league teammate Edgar Quero. It was Quero who received the first call to the majors, and he’s held his own, hitting .248/.336/.301. That’s about 13% worse than league-average overall, per wRC+, but not far off the average line posted by catchers in 2025. Quero has walked in 10.2% of his plate appearances against a 16.4% strikeout rate that’s about six percentage points better than average. He’s also making plenty of hard contact, but too much of it is resulting in grounders rather than line-drives or fly-balls. For a player whose sprint speed ranks in just the seventh percentile of MLB hitters, per Statcast, that’s not a good batted-ball trait.
Quero started quite strong and had a league-average batting line as deep into the season as May 25, so it’s not as if he’s been a lost cause at the plate. He’s in the midst of a dreadful 6-for-38 stretch, but he’d hit well prior to this slump. A cold streak spanning all of two to three weeks isn’t going to change the organization’s long-term view of Quero. The Sox are still hopeful that Quero and Teel can be their catching tandem for the next several years, and Teel getting some reps at first base only makes it easier for the Sox to get both into the lineup — assuming Teel handles the drills at first base reasonably well.
MLBTR Podcast: Justin Steele, Triston McKenzie, And Tons Of Prospect Promotions
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Cubs’ rotation outlook after Justin Steele’s UCL surgery (1:15)
- The Guardians designating Triston McKenzie for assignment (7:30)
- The Athletics promoting prospect Nick Kurtz (16:10)
- The White Sox promoting prospect Edgar Quero (20:55)
- The Rays promoting prospect Chandler Simpson (26:45)
- The Marlins promoting prospect Agustín Ramírez (33:30)
- The Twins promoting prospect Luke Keaschall (38:30)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Can high-caliber early-career players like Paul Skenes demand trades or are they stuck where they are? (44:45)
- With constant injuries and DFAs, could the new CBA lead to some changes in roster rules? (49:25)
Check out our past episodes!
- Free Agent Power Rankings – listen here
- Vlad’s Massive Deal, Extensions for Merrill and Marte, And Quinn Priester Traded – listen here
- Garrett Crochet’s Extension, Problems In Atlanta, And Other Early-Season Storylines – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images
White Sox Designate Omar Narvaez For Assignment
The White Sox announced Thursday that they’ve designated veteran catcher Omar Narvaez for assignment. His spot on the 40-man and active rosters will go to top catching prospect Edgar Quero, whose previously reported promotion to the majors is now official; his contract has been formally selected. Chicago also reinstated outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the injured list and optioned fellow outfielder Greg Jones to Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move.
Narvaez returned to the White Sox — the team with which he made his major league debut — when he signed a minor league contract back in January. He was selected to the 40-man roster earlier this month when Korey Lee suffered an injury, but with the presence of top catching prospects Quero and Kyle Teel in Triple-A, the potential for the reunion to be short-lived was always present. The 33-year-old Narvaez wound up appearing in only four games, during which he went 2-for-7 with a pair of singles and a couple of walks.
Narvaez’s days as a regular behind the plate look to be in the past. He was a solid option behind the dish from 2017-21, batting a combined .266/.351/.403 in 1670 plate appearances. That was effectively league-average offense (101 wRC+), but catchers tend to be well below-average hitters. Relative to his position, Narvaez was a comfortably better-than-average hitter. Though he posted below-average defensive grades early in his career, his glovework — framing in particular — has improved considerably over the years.
Since a nice showing with the 2021 Brewers, however, Narvaez’s production has tanked. He struggled with Milwaukee in 2022, signed a two-year contract with the Mets the following offseason, and wasn’t able to right the ship. Overall, he’s posted a .201/.278/.286 line in his past 521 plate appearances (including his brief look with the ChiSox this year).
The White Sox can place Narvaez on waivers or trade him at any point in the next five days. Waivers themselves are another 48-hour process, meaning the max length of his stay in DFA limbo will be one week. While he’s struggled quite a bit in recent seasons, Narvaez could still hold appeal to clubs seeking catching depth in the wake of injuries. The Red Sox (who currently roster his cousin, fellow catcher Carlos Narvaez) are without Connor Wong for the foreseeable future due to a broken finger. The Tigers (Jake Rogers), Reds (Tyler Stephenson) and Marlins (Nick Fortes) have all seen their starting catchers go down with an oblique strain — quite recently in the case of Detroit and Miami.
The Sox won’t get a prospect back for Narvaez, but he could be flipped for cash or claimed off waivers. If he clears waivers, he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.
Quero will be the first of Chicago’s touted catching prospects to get a look in the big leagues. He’s out to a terrific start in Charlotte, having slashed .333/.444/.412 through his first 63 trips to the plate. That performance follows up last year’s stout .286/.366/.463 batting line in a combined 402 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A. The switch-hitting Quero isn’t considered a plus defender, but he has the chance to be a bat-first regular behind the plate. He and Teel have big enough offensive ceilings to envision a scenario where both are on the same roster and splitting time between catcher and designated hitter.
Benintendi’s stay on the injured list due to an adductor strain proved minimal. That’s good news for the Sox, as the former All-Star has gotten back on track in a major way dating back to the midpoint of last season. Benitendi caught fire last summer and closed out the year with a .251/.325/.473 slash over his final 317 trips to the plate. Coupled with an even stronger start to his 2025 season, he’s now hitting .255/.326/.475 with 18 homers, a 9.4% walk rate and a 19.1% strikeout rate over his past 350 plate appearances.
Benintendi’s contract once looked immovable, but if he continues to produce along these lines for another couple months, he could emerge as a viable summer trade candidate. He’s being paid $16.5MM in 2025 and is owed a total of $31MM in 2026-27 as part of his five-year, $75MM contract.
White Sox To Promote Edgar Quero
The White Sox intend to promote catching prospect Edgar Quero, reports Francys Romero. He’s expected to join the team for tomorrow afternoon’s series finale against the A’s. It’ll be the first major league call for the 22-year-old. Quero is not on the 40-man roster, so there’ll be a forthcoming move in that regard.
Quero, a native of Cuba, signed with the Angels in February 2021. He quickly impressed prospect evaluators as an advanced switch-hitting catcher. He’d gotten to Double-A at age 20 before the Halos sent him to the White Sox alongside lefty Ky Bush for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López at the 2023 deadline. The Angels regretted that push very quickly, as they fell firmly out of contention and wound up waiving Giolito and López a month later to shed their salaries.
It was a nice return for the White Sox. Quero has ranked in the latter half of Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects for each of the past three years. BA placed him sixth in the Chicago farm system this winter. That came on the heels of a strong .280/.366/.463 slash line with 16 home runs between the top two minor league levels. He kept his strikeout rate around 17% while drawing walks at a solid 9.7% clip.
Evaluators credit Quero with solid grades across the board (aside from the below-average speed expected of a catcher). He’s more of a bat-first player, drawing particular praise for his hit tool. BA writes that he has an average arm and has continued to improve his receiving skills, though, so there’s not much doubt that he can stay behind the plate.
At the time of the Giolito trade, Quero looked to be Chicago’s catcher of the future. That’s no longer a given, albeit for reasons beyond his control. The White Sox built the Garrett Crochet deal around former first-round pick Kyle Teel. Teel is generally viewed as the superior prospect, though it’s Quero who earns the major league call first.
The two highly-regarded young catchers have split the playing time at Triple-A Charlotte. Quero has had the much better start to the season. He’s hitting .333/.444/.412 with 11 walks and 14 strikeouts over 63 plate appearances. Teel has fanned 19 times and is batting .192 in a similar amount of playing time.
Matt Thaiss and Korey Lee began the season as Will Venable’s catching tandem. The Sox lost Lee to an ankle sprain last week. They initially brought up veteran Omar Narváez from Double-A rather than promote Quero or Teel. They’ll reverse course now with Quero, who should play fairly regularly.
It’s no longer possible for a player to accrue the 172 days on an MLB roster necessary to get a full year of service. Quero was a preseason top 100 prospect at each of Baseball America, ESPN and MLB Pipeline, so he would qualify for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. That means he could earn a full service year if he finished in the top two in AL Rookie of the Year balloting. The White Sox would not receive a bonus draft choice if that happens because they didn’t promote Quero early enough to spend 172 days in the majors.
White Sox Add Edgar Quero To Taxi Squad
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.