It doesn’t take much
baseball to keep me going in the offseason.
A line or two of Transactions tiny-type, and I’m good for the week. That the White Sox signed catcher Wellington
Castillo to a two-year deal should tide me over to Christmas.
The move leads to all
sorts of questions for a fan to ask: How
many catchers will the Sox keep next year?
Does signing Castillo have anything to do with the possible trade of
Jose Abreu? Does this mean the rebuild
is moving quicker than anticipated or right on time? Does this mean the Sox have soured on Zack
Collins, their purported catcher of the future who hit a combined .224 in high
A and Double A last season? When was the
last time the Sox had a catcher with a major-league best 49 percent
caught-stealing rate for the past season?
The questions are the
fun part; the realization that either Omar Narvaez or Kevan Smith will probably
be moved is a reminder that baseball is a business. Personally, I was pretty happy with both
catchers last year. Narvaez hit .277 and
Smith .283 with a combined 44 RBIs to Castillo’s 53; and by the end of the
season, they were actually throwing out a fair share of baserunners. The odd man out looks to be Smith, who bats
right handed (Narvaez hits left handed), in which case that’s too bad. Smith put “Szmydth” on his jersey for Players
Weekend last August.
Szmydth is the name Smith’s
paternal grandparents used when they came over from Poland. It was a nice gesture, one that any Bukowski
could appreciate.
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