Source: Free-agent catcher Dioner Navarro in agreement with #WhiteSox on a one-year contract, pending a physical.

 

Per Rosenthal

Makes Flowers non-tender more understandable.

Not surprising at all.

Sounds good to me.

Looking at his stats, it looks like he's been more of a platoon/back-up guy except for a couple years. One would expect the Sox to truly use a platoon approach with him and Avila.

Like I said in the T-Flo thread, I really like Navarro's bat, I just hope the offensive upgrade is worth the defensive downgrade.

I love it!

Meh.

 

Very lateral move, but what I was expecting.

Not an exciting move, but at least Flowers is gone.

Like I said in the T-Flo thread, I really like Navarro's bat, I just hope the offensive upgrade is worth the defensive downgrade.

We have a nice offensive platoon situation going now. I understand Flowers "pitch framing" ranking is one of the best but I still think his numbers are inflated simply by catching Chris Sale. He was never able to stop the running game.

Not an exciting move, but at least Flowers is gone.

Beckham and Flowers are gone. Good start to the off season.

Whelp I was hoping for a trade but I'll take it.

I would say this dramatically lowers the chances that the Sox deal Sale, and slightly lowers the the chances that they deal Quintana.

 

You don't sign two veteran catchers with limited upside to one year deals if you are trying to rebuild.

 

Like I said in the T-Flo thread, I really like Navarro's bat, I just hope the offensive upgrade is worth the defensive downgrade.

Flowers pitch framing was elite. Navarro's supposedly poor. Flowers did have a tough year behind the plate, Navarro is supposed to be decent behind the plate. This could be a good case study on the importance of pitch framing. Pitchers liked throwing to Flowers, but supposedly they like throwing to Navarro as well. All in all, it isn't an earth shattering upgrade, but perhaps change is good.

 

Beckham, Flowers, Alexei...next year Danks and LaRoche. Avi supposedly on the block. They are running out of punching bags.

Edited December 3, 201510 yr by Dick Allen

I would say this dramatically lowers the chances that the Sox deal Sale, and slightly lowers the the chances that they deal Quintana.

 

You don't sign two veteran catchers with limited upside to one year deals if you are trying to rebuild.

 

I would hope that signing two platoon catchers wouldn't preclude the White Sox from trading Quintana (if they thought this trade would help them).

Flowers pitch framing was elite. Navarro's supposedly poor. Flowers did have a tough year behind the plate, Navarro is supposed to be decent behind the plate. This could be a good case study on the importance of pitch framing. Pitchers liked throwing to Flowers, but supposedly they like throwing to Navarro as well. All in all, it isn't an earth shattering upgrade, but perhaps change is good.

 

Agree 100%. His pitch framing is good but he's not very good defensively.

I personally think this is a perfectly suitable platoon at catcher. I will not miss Flowers one bit.

Flowers pitch framing was elite. Navarro's supposedly poor. Flowers did have a tough year behind the plate, Navarro is supposed to be decent behind the plate. This could be a good case study on the importance of pitch framing. Pitchers liked throwing to Flowers, but supposedly they like throwing to Navarro as well. All in all, it isn't an earth shattering upgrade, but perhaps change is good.

Looking at the pitch framing statistics, most of the guys at the top of the heap were personal catchers for some of the best pitchers in baseball. Are we going to say that the pitcher is elite because of the framing of his pitches or say that the strikes called outside the zone are because the pitcher is elite?

 

It will be interesting to see where he ends up because Sale almost single handedly puts Flowers at the top of the stack rankings. And I am not sure I am on board with Flowers' pitching framing being the reason he gets so many called strikes.

Flowers pitch framing was elite. Navarro's supposedly poor. Flowers did have a tough year behind the plate, Navarro is supposed to be decent behind the plate. This could be a good case study on the importance of pitch framing. Pitchers liked throwing to Flowers, but supposedly they like throwing to Navarro as well. All in all, it isn't an earth shattering upgrade, but perhaps change is good.

 

 

When you are the Pirates, it is imperative. Russell Martin was a huge reason for their success and Cervelli jumped right in. It's very important for those guys to "steal" strikes and rehab pitchers in the process. It's important for the Sox too but maybe a little less important when you have Sale, Q, and Rodon throwing.

The Sox rotation can make any catcher look good pitch framing wise.

 

I'm not worried about the defensive downgrade at all.

@Buster_ESPN: Last year, Dioner Navarro posted an .894 OPS vs. lefties, so White Sox can work a platoon of he and the left-handed hitting Alex Avila.

The Sox rotation can make any catcher look good pitch framing wise.

 

I'm not worried about the defensive downgrade at all.

That has always been the argument against pitch framing. I personally think there is a bit more to it, and a skill. How much it changes games is up for debate, but I will give Flowers credit for it. He is a hard worker. The results haven't been great, but his teammates respected him.

 

 

Hopefully, Navarro and Avila can make it through the year healthy and be what we are hoping them to be. At least on paper, it seems a good idea, but they have both had seasons they didn't hit .200. But even worst case scenario, you aren't behind the rest of the league too much if your catching is an offensive black hole.

He's a switch-hitter, right?

 

I hope he can keep his offensive production up.

I recall him killing the Sox when he was on the Cubs.