The White Sox and Blue Jays have agreed to exchange the catcher, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link). Zach Collins Heading to Toronto, while Reese McGuire Sox has been dealt with.
Rumors have swirled for months that the Jays have been looking to move some of their striking depth, although today’s move still gives Toronto more flexibility in the roster behind the plate while still retaining that depth. Collins has a minor league option left while McGuire is out of options, so Blue Jays can now more easily hide Collins in Triple-A.
From Chicago’s point of view, the Sox now has a much more established big player who can act as a backup Yasmani Grandal. Since Grandal is going to get some time at the DH spot, McGuire and Sibi Zavala (Which is also out of options) Each could get some movement behind the board, and the expanded 28-man rosters for April would allow the White Sox the luxury of carrying three poachers.
He picked Pirates McGuire with the 14th overall pick for the 2013 draft, and was a regular on the Top 100 potential list during his time in the Pittsburgh farm system. However, despite some good numbers in limited work in 2018-2019, McGuire’s potential hasn’t really shown itself at the big league level. The 27-year-old has racked up .248/.297/.390 with nine Bug owners on more than 400 board appearances with the Blue Jays, often finding McGuire himself in the back. Danny JanssenAnd the Alejandro KirkAnd the luke miley On the depth chart is remarkable.
Collins and McGuire share fairly similar resumes—both left-handed catchers, born less than a month apart in 1995, and both former first-round picks. The White Sox picked Collins 10th overall in 2016, and like McGuire, Collins also didn’t do much production in the majors. Collins has a .195/.315/.330 slash and seven home runs in his 351 PA career, and he’s made 113 of those tablet appearances.
Defending was a question mark for Collins dating back to his college days at the University of Miami, while McGuire is a decent defender. (Statcast McGuire gave a solid +4 in the framing rounds during the 2021 season.) This could be seen as something of a blow to defense, if Jays thought they saw something in Collins that could allow him to unlock it. potential strength.
With the potential to pick Collins, Jansen and Kirk now plan to serve as a tandem for a regular catch in Toronto, and Kirk is also expected to get some DH time. It is not excluded that Jay treats this remarkable depth, as the possibility of a star Gabriel Moreno The season begins in Triple-A and could be his first major league appearance before the 2022 knockout.
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