Chicago White Sox say so long to Flowers, Beckham
Tyler Flowers has plenty of positive qualities.
The 29-year-old catcher is a standup player and often pokes fun at himself for his offensive shortcomings.
Pitch framing is now being recognized as a valuable defensive skill, and Flowers turns balls into strikes more frequently than most of his peers.
Chicago White Sox pitchers, particularly ace starter Chris Sale, love throwing to him, and Flowers can hit the baseball a long way when he does manage to connect.
Flowers was elevated to No. 1 catcher in 2013 after the Sox let A.J. Pierzynski exit as a free agent. For the last three years, they waited for him to hit.
Outside of a strong start in 2014 and strong finish last season, Flowers was a glaring liability with the bat.
On Wednesday, the White Sox non-tendered Flowers and pitcher Jacob Turner, who they claimed off waivers from the Cubs in late October.
Earlier Wednesday, infielder Gordon Beckham reportedly agreed to a one-year contract with the Atlanta Braves.
In parts of seven seasons with the Sox, Flowers had a .223/.289/.376 hitting line with 46 home runs and 142 RBI over 431 games.
Last season, Flowers had a .239/.295/.356 slash line and struck out 104 times in 331 at-bats.
"Flowers, obviously he has been here a long while and served us very well," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "I commended him today on his professionalism and the class with which he tried to fill big shoes in replacing A.J. Pierzynski."
Hahn said the Sox are close to adding a catcher to replace Flowers and ostensibly get the bulk of the playing time over Alex Avila, who signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract last week.
"The (Flowers) decision basically came down to we saw an opportunity to improve the club from an offensive standpoint," Hahn said. "At this point, while we're not able to get into specifics as to what the next move will be to fill the roster spot vacated by Tyler, know this move was done as part of a plan. We're just not in a position to announce what the next move's going to be.
"We've obviously talked repeatedly how this off-season, one of the things we need to improve upon is our run scoring ability. While Tyler certainly had some strengths from the defensive side of the game, and it's an area of importance, we did see the opportunity to make us a little bit stronger, along with Alex Avila, from an offensive standpoint."
The White Sox ranked last in the American League in runs scored (622), homers (136) and OPS (.686) last season.
As for Beckham, he was drafted by the Sox with the No. 8 overall pick in 2008 following an All-American career at the University of Georgia. Beckham rocketed out of the gates while batting .270 with 14 home runs and 63 RBI over 103 games in '09, his rookie season.
It was a steady fizzle after that, specifically with the bat.
A Gold Glove caliber defender at second and third base, Beckham never came close to hitting like he did as a rookie and was traded to the Los Angeles Angels in August of 2014.
Beckham rejoined the Sox last season after agreeing to a one-year, $2 million contract, but he barely played after the all-star break and finished with a .209/.275/.332 hitting line with 6 homers and 20 RBI in 100 games.
The Braves reportedly signed Beckham to a one-year, $1.25 million contract that includes $500,000 in incentives.
It's a good landing spot for Beckham, who is an Atlanta native. He'll reunite with former White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski and Greg Walker, his old hitting coach with the Sox and current special assistant for the Braves.
Over six major-league seasons, the 29-year-old Beckham has a .242/.304/.372 slash line with 69 home runs and 304 RBI in 865 games.