In what world is McGuire worth more to a future Sox championship?

If they just end up DFAing Lee with nothing in return...this move is just pointless.

Losing Lee is no big deal obviously, and it's possible no one claims him. No one else seemed to want Spanky,, and they Sox made him their highest paid backstop. It just seems odd to me. Why hang on to him until now if you didn't want him? Did they really think he may get better at the things they didn't like about him during the winter?

8 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

In what world is McGuire worth more to a future Sox championship?

If they just end up DFAing Lee with nothing in return...this move is just pointless.

I think a lot of people are probably overvaluing Lee, but his age, Teel’s presumably short time out, and the timing of Teel’s return perhaps assisting with sneaking Lee through waivers to Charlotte make this a somewhat strange move.

7 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

In what world is McGuire worth more to a future Sox championship?

If they just end up DFAing Lee with nothing in return...this move is just pointless.

... present day Earth? McGuire is better than Lee, both offensively and defensively. You seem to be one who argues that the White Sox cannot develop baseball players. How will they magically turn Korey Lee into an All-Star catcher?

Chris Widger was the backup catcher on the 2005 team. Should that team not have "settled" for Widger, and kept that roster spot open until some 5 WAR catcher became available?

6 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

... present day Earth? McGuire is better than Lee, both offensively and defensively. You seem to be one who argues that the White Sox cannot develop baseball players. How will they magically turn Korey Lee into an All-Star catcher?

Chris Widger was the backup catcher on the 2005 team. Should that team not have "settled" for Widger, and kept that roster spot open until some 5 WAR catcher became available?

Widger was simply a dirt cheap signing that worked out decently by sheer luck. He was 34 and hadn’t played in the majors for 2 years. He was playing for the Camden Riversharks in the Indy league before Kenny signed him. Yes, people are overvaluing Lee, but I would hope 27-year old Korey Lee has more value than Widger.

Lee stinks, don't get it twisted. So does Reese. I just don't understand why you give a guy a guarantee 1.3 million to come and catch for four weeks. The value add there for a back-up catcher in the first month of the season is basically zero. Go spend that money somewhere else.

I believe this isn't allowed, I think @Y2Jimmy0 discussed this on futuresox YouTube (might be getting my Sox social media confused)

Why? He would be retuned to the Red Sox if he doesn’t make the team and then you figure he can be the PTBNL that our Sox select and come back to us.

7 hours ago, Capn12 said:

Its less about the who, and more about the why. An organization that cried over a similar amount it would take to replace Beni as the reason to keep him, just goes out and wastes the same amount for something they ALREADY had a solution for.

I'm lost on the Benintendi thing. He's on the team because the owner doesn't like paying people to go away. He's not relevant at all in this discussion.

7 hours ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

They already had Lee who is significantly younger and has had a much better spring. I just don’t understand why they would push him to the side to give McGuire a guaranteed contract. That said, ideally neither will play that much so it doesn’t really matter.

They don't like Lee and don't want him catching regardless of what anyone says publicly. I wasn't expecting him to be rostered until Teel was injured. I'm surprised by the reaction to the move. Venable knows and likes McGuire. McKinven clearly trusts him more as well. We'll see if they're correct.

2 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Lee stinks, don't get it twisted. So does Reese. I just don't understand why you give a guy a guarantee 1.3 million to come and catch for four weeks. The value add there for a back-up catcher in the first month of the season is basically zero. Go spend that money somewhere else.

Put it toward a LF and send Benintendi to the glue factory. 🤣

3 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Widger was simply a dirt cheap signing that worked out decently by sheer luck. He was 34 and hadn’t played in the majors for 2 years. He was playing for the Camden Riversharks in the Indy league before Kenny signed him. Yes, people are overvaluing Lee, but I would hope 27-year old Korey Lee has more value than Widger.

My point is shooting down the "every single move must build towards the next championship" canard. There is a season right in front of them that has to be played. We're talking about a backup catcher. Chris Widger was a prototypical backup catcher. Utile. I'm guessing McGuire doesn't see August in a Sox uniform. Cutting or trading him, it doesn't matter. If Reese McGuire doesn't "build towards the next championship", then Korey Lee does even less of it.

2 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

My point is shooting down the "every single move must build towards the next championship" canard. There is a season right in front of them that has to be played. We're talking about a backup catcher. Chris Widger was a prototypical backup catcher. Utile. I'm guessing McGuire doesn't see August in a Sox uniform. Cutting or trading him, it doesn't matter. If Reese McGuire doesn't "build towards the next championship", then Korey Lee does even less of it.

The irony is you not realizing that a World Series winning team giving the league minimum to a player who was out of baseball for two years prior shows that investing anything in the back-up catcher position for a team with established catchers is relatively meaningless... and that Korey Lee wouldn't hamper anything if we played a few games instead of Reese. In fact, because the sample is so small there's a reasonable possibility that Korey Lee would actually produce better than Reese.

Edited March 23Mar 23 by Look at Ray Ray Run

22 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

The irony is you not realizing that a World Series winning team giving the league minimum to a player who was out of baseball for two years prior shows that investing anything in the back-up catcher position for a team with established catchers is relatively meaningless... and that Korey Lee wouldn't hamper anything if we played a few games instead of Reese. In fact, because the sample is so small there's a reasonable possibility that Korey Lee would actually produce better than Reese.

I am not following. What does the salary of the backup catcher on a team from 21 years ago have to do with any of this?

1.2 million dollars is not a big amount in 2026. They aren't "investing" anything.

37 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Lee stinks, don't get it twisted. So does Reese. I just don't understand why you give a guy a guarantee 1.3 million to come and catch for four weeks. The value add there for a back-up catcher in the first month of the season is basically zero. Go spend that money somewhere else.

Would have rather hired three more Pacific Rim scounts at 400k each then throw this money at a backup catcher. Really doesn't seem a great way to spend limited resources. But this is the Sox. Even when they make a few good moves the inevitable head scratcher is never too far down the road.

5 minutes ago, Nardiwashere said:

I am not following. What does the salary of the backup catcher on a team from 21 years ago have to do with any of this?

1.2 million dollars is not a big amount in 2026. They aren't "investing" anything.

Reese is now the 9th highest paid player on the team. How can you say they're not investing anything?

1 hour ago, WestEddy said:

"Hold a spot"? Can you explain the benefit of pitchers throwing to guys who are still learning the rudiments of the position and how to call a game instead of a more experienced player? And who would have taken Lee's 40-man spot? McGuire signed on with the Brewers. Do teams generally waive players and keep an empty spot on the roster to telegraph to preferred players on other teams that they want them?

Do teams generally hold 40 man roster spots for Spring Training catchers who apparently can't catch? Or is it just the White Sox?

1 minute ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Reese is now the 9th highest paid player on the team. How can you say they're not investing anything?

Because its 2026 and its not a lot of money.

He's the 9th highest paid player on the team because they are rebuilding and a large portion of the team is still making league minimum, not because $1.2 million dollars is a lot of money in MLB terms.

According to your thinking, if a team (hypothetically) had 22 very good starting caliber pre-arb players, it would be bad to spend a million dollars to sign a backup because that player would be a top 5 salary on the team. That's not how it works in real life.

Edited March 23Mar 23 by Nardiwashere

13 minutes ago, Nardiwashere said:

I am not following. What does the salary of the backup catcher on a team from 21 years ago have to do with any of this?

1.2 million dollars is not a big amount in 2026. They aren't "investing" anything.

I agree with you, but probably not for the reasons you believe.

14 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Would have rather hired three more Pacific Rim scounts at 400k each then throw this money at a backup catcher. Really doesn't seem a great way to spend limited resources. But this is the Sox. Even when they make a few good moves the inevitable head scratcher is never too far down the road.

Or released Andrew Benny and paid his replacement a near league minimum salary instead of blocking that position for no reason.

2 minutes ago, Nardiwashere said:

Because its 2026 and its not a lot of money.

He's the 9th highest paid player on the team because they are rebuilding and a large portion of the team is still making league minimum, not because $1.2 million dollars is a lot of money in MLB terms.

According to your thinking, if a team theoretically had 22 very good starting caliber pre-arb players, it would be bad to spend a million dollars to sign a backup because that player would be a top 5 salary on the team. That's not how it works in real life.

He's mocking the White Sox for being cheap, not making an actual quantitative statement on the quality of the player based on his salary.

40 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

The irony is you not realizing that a World Series winning team giving the league minimum to a player who was out of baseball for two years prior shows that investing anything in the back-up catcher position for a team with established catchers is relatively meaningless... and that Korey Lee wouldn't hamper anything if we played a few games instead of Reese. In fact, because the sample is so small there's a reasonable possibility that Korey Lee would actually produce better than Reese.

You're not using "irony" correctly.

Chris Getz isn't being tasked with rostering players who are better than their 2005 counterparts. His goal is to pick the best players available for the 2026 team. The team feels like McGuire is an upgrade from Lee. It seems to me that Venable wants to go with 3 catchers, originally, to not lose the DH in case of substitution, but in reality, to not rush Teel, or to ease him in behind the plate once he's back. Depending on how that arrangement works, that could get them to Memorial Day, 2 months. All told, McGuire could start up to 15-20 games.

If this team thinks they can challenge .500, then surely, they are in the divisional race. Every win matters, and improving from a catcher they clearly don't like to one that some coaches have a working relationship with, and the team does like makes a difference.

$1.2 million is nothing for payroll. I guess it's fun for people looking for some reason to indict this front office for every single move to cry about paying a player a guaranteed $450K above the minimum. That amount is negligible, and they'll probably be able to offload more than half of it once they're satisfied that Teel is at full speed. Or not, in which case, nobody cares.

The funny part is that you actually agree that a backup catcher isn't an integral part of a roster that must contribute towards the next future championship, which was my point.

7 hours ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

I tend to agree with you. However, Lip posted an article that said Sox management is not a fan of Lee’s defense and that McGuire’s lefty bat better complements Quero’s strong-side righty bat.

The problem is that most pitchers are right handed. McGuire better not be getting much if any playing time over Quero, even if he’s the better left handed hitter of the two as of now. Quero needs those at-bats to continue improving from the left side.

13 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Do teams generally hold 40 man roster spots for Spring Training catchers who apparently can't catch? Or is it just the White Sox?

I don't understand this term "hold a spot". They had 3 or 4 catchers on the 40-man at different times over the winter. As soon as spring training started, 3 more spots opened up. Who did the White Sox not sign because they rostered Lee? It seems they added as they needed, and DFAed players they saw as replaceable, or at low risk of being claimed.

When they have control over a player whose services they might need, either in spring training, or the regular season, they keep them rostered until they feel they could move on. I don't understand the confusion.

2 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

You're not using "irony" correctly.

Chris Getz isn't being tasked with rostering players who are better than their 2005 counterparts. His goal is to pick the best players available for the 2026 team. The team feels like McGuire is an upgrade from Lee. It seems to me that Venable wants to go with 3 catchers, originally, to not lose the DH in case of substitution, but in reality, to not rush Teel, or to ease him in behind the plate once he's back. Depending on how that arrangement works, that could get them to Memorial Day, 2 months. All told, McGuire could start up to 15-20 games.

If this team thinks they can challenge .500, then surely, they are in the divisional race. Every win matters, and improving from a catcher they clearly don't like to one that some coaches have a working relationship with, and the team does like makes a difference.

$1.2 million is nothing for payroll. I guess it's fun for people looking for some reason to indict this front office for every single move to cry about paying a player a guaranteed $450K above the minimum. That amount is negligible, and they'll probably be able to offload more than half of it once they're satisfied that Teel is at full speed. Or not, in which case, nobody cares.

The funny part is that you actually agree that a backup catcher isn't an integral part of a roster that must contribute towards the next future championship, which was my point.

Yet two seconds later, the team can't afford the same money to make a much bigger improvement in LF, because they are broke and have to stay in a budget because everyone has a budget.

While the temptation is to look at every move in isolation and pretend to not understand why people aren't happy, but when the moves actually contradict each other, not looking at them as a whole makes it easy to ignore that. If we are managing for today, manage for today. If we are managing for tomorrow, manage for tomorrow. But don't piss on my leg and tell me it is raining when the moves don't add up together.

1 minute ago, WestEddy said:

I don't understand this term "hold a spot". They had 3 or 4 catchers on the 40-man at different times over the winter. As soon as spring training started, 3 more spots opened up. Who did the White Sox not sign because they rostered Lee? It seems they added as they needed, and DFAed players they saw as replaceable, or at low risk of being claimed.

When they have control over a player whose services they might need, either in spring training, or the regular season, they keep them rostered until they feel they could move on. I don't understand the confusion.

Then you shouldn't be on a baseball message board telling everyone how great a move is if you don't understand how a 40 man roster works.

7 minutes ago, ChiSoxFanMike said:

The problem is that most pitchers are right handed. McGuire better not be getting much if any playing time over Quero, even if he’s the better left handed hitter of the two as of now. Quero needs those at-bats to continue improving from the left side.

Sure. But McGuire will take some of them. I'm guessing there will be about 22 games before Teel returns. I could see McGuire starting 7-10 of those. The team was very right-handed. McGuire and maybe Peters gives Venable a balance of options on the bench.

5 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Yet two seconds later, the team can't afford the same money to make a much bigger improvement in LF, because they are broke and have to stay in a budget because everyone has a budget.

Is this an actual situation you're referring to, or are you rehashing a weeks old argument with somebody on this board? Did Getz give a teary-eyed interview where he said they can't cut Benintendi because they can't afford a replacement, or did somebody here just toss that out in a back and forth?

You seem to take some off-hand excuse from one of the commenters, then automatically assign it to the Front Office as their creed.