March 8, 20197 yr Why? Why did the White Sox do it? The depth in the minors is weak at the position outside of Seby Zavala, who seems to be the only legit Major League ready catching prospect in the system. I understand the Sox believe in Zack Collins, but there's no guarantee he translates defensively. Smith was a pretty productive offensive catcher and went from a minus pitch framer in 2016 to a guy with an above average clip (1.6 and 1.5 in '17 & '18, respectively, according to Baseball Prospectus). Going back to 2011, Smith spent his entire professional career in the White Sox system, meaning he has a relationship with so many prospects and arms like Rodon (minimal, but still parts of two seasons in the Bigs), Lopez, Giolito and more. Speaking of Giolito...it seemed the two developed a bit of chemistry last season that resulted in success. Giolito needs every strike he can get. James McCann is not the answer to steal any strikes for a wildcard like Giolito. I like Welly as one of the two everyday catchers, but James McCann? Really? That's the plan? Help me out here because I just can't get over the decision to DFA Smith.
March 8, 20197 yr The White Sox don't know how to evaluate catcher talent, and Smith is marginal at best.
March 8, 20197 yr Probably should have tried to keep him, but not a huge loss Rather Smith than Castillo
March 8, 20197 yr They tried to sneak him through waivers early in the offseason correct? I prefer him to McCann however. Edited March 8, 20197 yr by soxfan2014
March 8, 20197 yr Smith (30 years old) hit .292 with only 18 k's to 10 BB in 187 plate appearances McCann(28 years old) hit .220 116 k's to 26 BB in 457 plate appearances Sox like guys that K's alot and hit for a low average...j/k being a funny guy I do like McCann though, maybe he can get in with the pitchers and help their performance. Edited March 8, 20197 yr by Chisox378
March 8, 20197 yr To me, it is another example of poor planning this offseason. Especially if they had any idea they'd be trading Narvaez, it was silly to lose Smith to have to spend more money on another backup catcher. Especially one this is well, probably not as good.
March 8, 20197 yr 17 minutes ago, soxfan2014 said: They tried to sneak him through waivers early in the offseason correct? I prefer him to McCann however. This is how I remember it. They were probably trying to sneak him back to AAA to open a 40 man spot and LAAAA claimed him.
March 8, 20197 yr 37 minutes ago, Rankin said: Why? Why did the White Sox do it? The depth in the minors is weak at the position outside of Seby Zavala, who seems to be the only legit Major League ready catching prospect in the system. I understand the Sox believe in Zack Collins, but there's no guarantee he translates defensively. Smith was a pretty productive offensive catcher and went from a minus pitch framer in 2016 to a guy with an above average clip (1.6 and 1.5 in '17 & '18, respectively, according to Baseball Prospectus). Going back to 2011, Smith spent his entire professional career in the White Sox system, meaning he has a relationship with so many prospects and arms like Rodon (minimal, but still parts of two seasons in the Bigs), Lopez, Giolito and more. Speaking of Giolito...it seemed the two developed a bit of chemistry last season that resulted in success. Giolito needs every strike he can get. James McCann is not the answer to steal any strikes for a wildcard like Giolito. I like Welly as one of the two everyday catchers, but James McCann? Really? That's the plan? Help me out here because I just can't get over the decision to DFA Smith. They needed to add Seby Zavala to the roster and weren't going to carry 4 catchers on the 40-man. They tried to slide him off the 40 man. He was claimed and then an opportunity came to acquire Colome for Narvaez and they did it. That left them with just Welington/Zavala on the 40-man. James McCann sucks so I understand being critical of that signing but Kevan Smith is just a guy and is 30 years old. We should see Zavala and Collins sometime this season.
March 8, 20197 yr 1 minute ago, Y2Jimmy0 said: They needed to add Seby Zavala to the roster and weren't going to carry 4 catchers on the 40-man. They tried to slide him off the 40 man. He was claimed and then an opportunity came to acquire Colome for Narvaez and they did it. That left them with just Welington/Zavala on the 40-man. James McCann sucks so I understand being critical of that signing but Kevan Smith is just a guy and is 30 years old. We should see Zavala and Collins sometime this season. Probably could have just waited and signed McCann (or someone else) to a minor league deal. If you're going to spend a few mill and guarantee an MLB spot, might as well have just signed Maldonado. Edited March 8, 20197 yr by soxfan2014
March 8, 20197 yr 58 minutes ago, Rankin said: Why? Why did the White Sox do it? The depth in the minors is weak at the position outside of Seby Zavala, who seems to be the only legit Major League ready catching prospect in the system. I understand the Sox believe in Zack Collins, but there's no guarantee he translates defensively. Smith was a pretty productive offensive catcher and went from a minus pitch framer in 2016 to a guy with an above average clip (1.6 and 1.5 in '17 & '18, respectively, according to Baseball Prospectus). Going back to 2011, Smith spent his entire professional career in the White Sox system, meaning he has a relationship with so many prospects and arms like Rodon (minimal, but still parts of two seasons in the Bigs), Lopez, Giolito and more. Speaking of Giolito...it seemed the two developed a bit of chemistry last season that resulted in success. Giolito needs every strike he can get. James McCann is not the answer to steal any strikes for a wildcard like Giolito. I like Welly as one of the two everyday catchers, but James McCann? Really? That's the plan? Help me out here because I just can't get over the decision to DFA Smith. Ask yourself: did the White Sox consider all of the above? The answer is “yes and for a long time before you ever thought about it”. So they think this is the smartest course of action. Saw Hahn has been hash tagging #Seby4ROY like crazy online so we’ll see
March 9, 20197 yr 5 hours ago, Jerksticks said: Ask yourself: did the White Sox consider all of the above? The answer is “yes and for a long time before you ever thought about it”. So they think this is the smartest course of action. Saw Hahn has been hash tagging #Seby4ROY like crazy online so we’ll see Yea I'm a little concerned over just how many think the Sox don't have plan or fly by the seat of their pants. Do they execute their plans well ? Nope but sometimes the plan just is ill conceived like thinking they could get a superstar under value and then seemed shocked about it when they don't. As far as Smith , really good guy but is 30 and c' mon he's an older backup with Zavala and Collins lurking. Players come and go especially when you lose 100 games. Will it matter at all in 2/3 years when the Sox might actually be good ? Nope Kevin Smith will be a distant memory while we all get pissed because Eloy didn't make the All-Star team.
March 9, 20197 yr Kevan Smith never struck me as a permanent major leaguer. A really good minor league player that could be called up when needed in emergency but nothing more. Actually I didnt even think he was that much when I first watch him play and practice in person at ST a couple years ago. I didnt think he should even sniff the majors. He proved me wrong in that sense.
March 9, 20197 yr 20 hours ago, SouthWallace said: This is how I remember it. They were probably trying to sneak him back to AAA to open a 40 man spot and LAAAA claimed him. I see what you did there
March 9, 20197 yr 14 hours ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said: Yea I'm a little concerned over just how many think the Sox don't have plan or fly by the seat of their pants. Do they execute their plans well ? Nope but sometimes the plan just is ill conceived like thinking they could get a superstar under value and then seemed shocked about it when they don't. As far as Smith , really good guy but is 30 and c' mon he's an older backup with Zavala and Collins lurking. Players come and go especially when you lose 100 games. Will it matter at all in 2/3 years when the Sox might actually be good ? Nope Kevin Smith will be a distant memory while we all get pissed because Eloy didn't make the All-Star team. I'm more concerned over how "They don't know what they are doing and are literally flying by the seat of their pants" seems such an apt description of their behavior. People insist they can't be this bad based on some notion of these guys being professionals, and then we watch how an offseason like this one went down. This move wasted $2.5 million. In the scheme of things it isn't the biggest loss, but in the context of them crying for payroll flexibility in 2027, it leaves one feeling like turning over a table and yelling at them that they need to listen to their own words. That seems like not having a plan, that seems like flying by the seat of their pants. Waste $2.5 million here, $5 million on Nova, a couple million on each of the relievers, and then scream about payroll flexibility when the target you should be going after slips through your fingers.
March 9, 20197 yr Hahn’s offseason has been awful. He replaced young mediocre players with older and/or more expensive mediocre players. Just terrible. I’d rather have stuck with Kevan Smith, Avisail Garcia, and Matt Davidson than paid $15.5 million to the pile of crap that is McCann, Jay, and Alonso. Edited March 9, 20197 yr by Harper2Sox
March 9, 20197 yr They made the correct call to keep Narvaez instead of Smith. Later on the Mariners put on a fire sale and we decided to join the fun, leaving an opening at backup catcher.
March 10, 20197 yr On 3/8/2019 at 2:30 PM, Dick Allen said: Kevan Smith is a nice guy, but no need to be upset he's gone. One reason to be upset is we have to watch McCann hit. I hate acquiring bad players: McCann, Alonso, Jay. Right way to tank. Wrong way to win.
March 10, 20197 yr 1 minute ago, greg775 said: One reason to be upset is we have to watch McCann hit. I hate acquiring bad players: McCann, Alonso, Jay. Right way to tank. Wrong way to win. Disappointing off-season in the sense that we added so many freaking mediocre guys. We had enough of those guys already.
March 10, 20197 yr 1 hour ago, ron883 said: Disappointing off-season in the sense that we added so many freaking mediocre guys. We had enough of those guys already. Yeah it reminds me of all those bad Baltimore teams a few years ago.
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