NEW YORK — A critical part of any rebuild is not just acquiring young players to augment the farm system but also filling the locker room with veterans who can impart wisdom about preparation and be a sounding board for the younger players.
Catcher Matt Thaiss spent nearly four months with the White Sox and had a considerable impact on both the pitchers and catchers. The pitchers lauded his communication, ability to make in-game adjustments and his detailed reports about opposing lineups.
Before Tuesday’s game, the Sox traded Thaiss to the Tampa Bay Rays for outfielder Dru Baker. The Sox were dealing from a position of strength because the organization has two catchers on the major-league roster in Edgar Quero and Korey Lee — who was reinstated Tuesday after being on the 10-day injured list since April 10 with a left ankle sprain.
General manager Chris Getz said before Tuesday’s game that the Rays were a team that was hunting for catching. And, given their surplus of the position, the Sox were a match.
“Matty did a really nice job for us,” Getz said. “You look at his on-base percentage and how he handled games behind the plate. He caught their attention and we were able to match up on a deal.”
Lee will share catching duties with Quero and be a designated hitter in some games. In nine games before his injury, Lee batted .333 with two doubles, one RBI and three runs scored. Getz likes that the trade “opens up some development time for our catchers.”
“I didn’t love having Korey in Triple-A Charlotte with Kyle from a development standpoint, playing time standpoint, so we were able to free that up a little bit,” Getz said.
The Sox are hoping that Thaiss’ preparation and professionalism rubbed off on their young catching tandem.
“[Thaiss] had some years on me in this league and he was never the starter, he was never the guy [with the Angels],” Lee said. “That’s something that you have to learn as a catcher … you’re not going to be catching every day. You’ve just going to learn when your spot is called on and how to perform there.
“He taught me [about] being ready every single day, being the same guy day in, day out. Your team is going to look to the catcher to be that guy for you and to be a good rock back there.”
Though the Sox have temporarily solved their catching dilemma, but prospect Kyle Teel could force their hand shortly with his immense success at the Triple-A level.
“We’ll continue to monitor [Teel’s] development, and I imagine at some point we’ll bring him up,” Getz said.
Teel, who’s rated as the No. 2 prospect in the Sox’ organization, owned a 32-game on-base streak before play Tuesday. He was also named International Player of the Week for the week of May 19-May 25.
“He’s been trending in a really positive direction on both sides, catching, the receiving side, the game calling, and offensively, he’s been a real force,” Getz said. “To find a left-handed-hitting catcher with the skills that he has on the defensive side is certainly very valuable. We’re lucky to have him in the organization.”
The Sox will run into another logjam once they decide to call up Teel. Getz said he’s pleased with the strides he’s made so far but acknowledged that only so much development can happen at the minor-league level.
The future is coming quickly for the Sox, and Getz has shown he’ll make room for the next iteration of the organization.
