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Steve Stone: more bullpen help is coming


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Sox are trading McCann.  This move cinches it...  😂

White Sox signed C Xavier Fernandez to a minor league contract.

The 24-year-old backstop spent the first seven seasons of his professional career in the Royals' organization. A career .272/.334/.407 hitter in the minors, Fernandez adds organizational depth behind the plate.

Edited by Moan4Yoan
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On ‎12‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 8:39 AM, Moan4Yoan said:

Why is he a non-entity to any fans younger than 35?  Is he out of touch with younger fans because he’s older?  If that’s the case, the majority of announcers are in the same boat as Stone.  Stone tweets about the Sox and even replies to fans questions.  He appears to be staying in touch to me.

Besides, Benetti couldn’t carry Stone’s jockstrap.

I'm 27. My friends and virtually every White Sox fan I associate with all like, enjoy and respect Stone a good deal. Sure, we were all introduced to him through our dads... but something connected beyond that. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, Moan4Yoan said:

Sox are trading McCann.  This move cinches it...  😂

White Sox signed C Xavier Fernandez to a minor league contract.

The 24-year-old backstop spent the first seven seasons of his professional career in the Royals' organization. A career .272/.334/.407 hitter in the minors, Fernandez adds organizational depth behind the plate.

This move may, or may not signal that McCann is being moved, but they now have a solid defensive catcher, in the system to provide some insurance, in the event that Grandal is injured. Here is a quote from a September, 2018 article, on a Royals' site:  

"I think Fernandez could have been a backup catcher in the bigs during this season.  His defense is outstanding.  Fernandez blocks well and is a tremendous receiver with soft hands that frame well.  As far as throwing, he has gunned down minor league runners at a 39% pace in his career and 41% this season in NWA.  His throws are low, on the money, and carry well.  Of all the catchers I’ve seen at NWA this season, he is the best overall.  

Fernandez’s bat seems to have developed this year and he is hitting .328/.382/.504 at NWA.  I’ve always heard it said that RBI and hits are found on the opposite side of the field.  Fernandez seems to have figured that out hitting 37.5% of pitches the other way in NWA.  His pull rate is the lowest in his career at just 32.7%.  For reference, his previous low for pull rate was 37.1%.  Now, this is somewhat of a small sample size alert because he has only 131 plate appearances in NWA.  Fernandez is carrying a .328 batting average with a .360 BABIP which suggests that he isn’t getting lucky and perhaps has more luck on his side in the future.  

Looking deeper into Fernandez’s bat we find a 7.6% BB rate compared to a 13.0% K rate this year at NWA.  Over the course of his career, Fernandez’s walk rate is 7.7% and the strikeout rate is 13.3%.  This year is a little better than his career norms on both accounts.  A couple of other telling numbers are his ISO at .176 and wRC+ which is 138. Both those numbers are from this year at NWA which is a little more of a hitter’s park." 

I also found this, from last October:

"The Royals drafted him in the 11th round in 2013, so he’s been in the organization awhile. He’s a very good receiver and looks to be a very good framer, so he definitely has the tools to be a backup catcher. He’s come around offensively to find himself firmly in the backup catcher conversation next year."

Edited by Lillian
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1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

Why would one of the worst teams in baseball cut him lose? 

He elected to become a free agent. He was in their Minor League system a long time, having signed very young. The Royals organization is also pretty deep at the catching position. I find this signing to be a little reassuring, as the other catchers in the Sox' organization are all defensively challenged. Neither Mercedes, nor Zavala are ready to catch in the Big Leagues and many have their doubts about Collins. From the inception of this discussion about McCann, I have asserted that the possibility of Collins being thrust into the full time catching role, in the event of an injury to Grandal, was a major reason to hang onto McCann. 

Edited by Lillian
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8 hours ago, Moan4Yoan said:

Sox are trading McCann.  This move cinches it...  😂

White Sox signed C Xavier Fernandez to a minor league contract.

The 24-year-old backstop spent the first seven seasons of his professional career in the Royals' organization. A career .272/.334/.407 hitter in the minors, Fernandez adds organizational depth behind the plate.

The Knights catching situation is getting awfully complicated.  Either we’re trading one of McCann / Collins or will be outrighting Zavala soon in response to the EE signing and hoping no one claims him.

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Since Fernandez seems to be very competent defensively, does this mean he would get those 40-50 starts to give Grandal a rest even when he is healthy?

If so, would Collins start in AAA to work on defense until he gets to the point where they feel he wouldn't be a liability as the primary backup who catches two games a week?

I agree that this signing seems to suggest a McCann trade is imminent. However that MLBExec guy said interest in him was not as strong due to framing so I wouldn't expect a great return.

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This acquisition of Fernandez could simply be about organizational depth. McCann will likely be gone by 2021, at the latest. Having a solid defensive catcher in the system, makes sense. It's premature to read much more into this move. We'll see. Has this move even been officially reported? I can't seem to find anything, to confirm it.

Edited by Lillian
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17 minutes ago, soxfan2014 said:

Any teams need catching help and have a reliever (even with one year of control/left on their contract) to spare? A straight one for one deal would make sense. 

I said it before,  Iglesias on the Reds makes some sense . They make about the same in 2020, but Iglesias is owed a bunch the next 2 years, so the Reds might be motivated. He was pretty bad last year but still struck out a lot of guys. As long as scouts don't feel he has lost it, it would be a good gamble 

Edited by Dick Allen
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4 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Why would one of the worst teams in baseball cut him lose? 

I was wondering the same thing.  He’s young and his minor league numbers look pretty good for a catcher.  I don’t know what his defense is like but maybe he could improve with the bat like Narvaez.

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1 minute ago, Dick Allen said:

I said it before,  Iglesias on the Reds makes some sense . They make about the same in 2020, but Iglesias is owed a bunch the next 2 years, so the Reds might be motivated. He was pretty bad last year but still struck out a lot of guys. As long as scouts don't feel he has lost it, it would be a good gamble 

Would love him, but Reds probably don’t want to hurt big league roster

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12 minutes ago, Lillian said:

This acquisition of Fernandez could simply be about organizational depth. McCann will likely be gone by 2021, at the latest. Having a solid defensive catcher in the system, makes sense. It's premature to read much more into this move. We'll see. Has this move even been officially reported? I can't seem to find anything, to confirm it.

And I would think the Sox are gonna do what is best for them.  If McCann is on the roster he is Gio's personal catcher.  Lets not go messing with what worked so well last season.

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17 minutes ago, Lillian said:

This acquisition of Fernandez could simply be about organizational depth. McCann will likely be gone by 2021, at the latest. Having a solid defensive catcher in the system, makes sense. It's premature to read much more into this move. We'll see. Has this move even been officially reported? I can't seem to find anything, to confirm it.

Source is Baseball America:

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/minor-league-transactions-nov-3-dec-17-2019/

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29 minutes ago, SoCalChiSox said:

Since Fernandez seems to be very competent defensively, does this mean he would get those 40-50 starts to give Grandal a rest even when he is healthy?

If so, would Collins start in AAA to work on defense until he gets to the point where they feel he wouldn't be a liability as the primary backup who catches two games a week?

I agree that this signing seems to suggest a McCann trade is imminent. However that MLBExec guy said interest in him was not as strong due to framing so I wouldn't expect a great return.

I think some sort of trade might be up. They still haven't announced EE, and that would require a roster move, so maybe they are waiting a little bit on a trade that will open up a spot instead of DFA someone  

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2 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

I think some sort of trade might be up. They still haven't announced EE, and that would require a roster move, so maybe they are waiting a little bit on a trade that will open up a spot instead of DFA someone  

Has EE been back to the US since his fathers funeral? 

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