McCann's gone, but White Sox have plenty of in-house options to back up Grandal
Even though they are loaded with promising starting pitcher prospects - Michael Kopech, Dylan Cease, Garrett Crochet, Jonathan Stiever, Jimmy Lambert and Jared Kelley head the lengthy list - the White Sox thought the time was right to get veteran Lance Lynn in a Dec. 8 trade with the Rangers.
"We want to put ourselves in the best position to win come October," Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "But at the same time, we know we need to get there. When you look at a guy like Lynn and his track record and durability over the course of the season, he's an extremely strong, stalwart piece of a quality rotation."
There is little doubt the Lynn addition strengthens the White Sox on the mound, but they took a hit behind the plate when all-star catcher James McCann exited as a free agent and signed a four-year, $40 million contract with the Mets.
With Yasmani Grandal still under contract for three more seasons after signing a four-year, $73 million deal with the Sox, Hahn is not likely to get a replacement for McCann outside the organization.
"We're going to explore both, but we really do like the three options we have in-house," the GM said. "We've talked a lot about this, they're different animals in terms of the profiles they bring to the position, (Zack) Collins, (Yermin) Mercedes and (Seby) Zavala. There's a chance, should we not add someone from outside the organization, that we have to sort of adjust on the fly during the course of the season based on how it plays out from among those three options.
"But we feel those are three good options. With anything, if there's a chance we can get better we're going to explore it."
It's difficult to make an accurate judgment on Grandal's first season with the Sox due to the shortened 60-game schedule due to COVID-19.
On the plus side, he threw out 5 of 12 (42%) of attempted basestealers, led the White Sox with 30 walks during the regular season and hit 2 home runs in the playoffs.
On the negative side, Grandal hit .230, went 9-for-52 (.173) to close the regular season and Sox pitchers had a 4.74 ERA when he was catching.
The White Sox are confident Grandal will get back to being one of the top all-around catchers in baseball next season. What they get from his new backup remains to be seen.
Collins, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2016 draft, figures to get first crack at the job after playing only 9 games last season and hitting .063 (1-for-16).
"I'm working every day to get better," Collins said during one of his brief stays on the major-league roster. "At-bats and in-game catching and experience is what it's going to come down to, but we have a pretty stacked team right now. I'm working offensively and defensively every day, trying to catch bullpens."
No longer stacked after McCann's departure, Mercedes gives the Sox an offensive option at catcher and Zavala is a skilled defender.