Catch of the day: Sox thrilled to land Quero in trade with Angels
The White Sox have not been great behind the plate since 2012, A.J. Pierzynski's final season on the South Side.
Tyler Flowers, Dioner Navarro, Omar Narvaez, Welington Castillo, James McCann, Yasmani Grandal and Seby Zavala are among the string of catchers following Pierzynski, and none of them made a lasting impact.
Last week, Sox general manager Rick Hahn addressed the ongoing problem in a pair of trades.
On Friday, Hahn acquired Korey Lee from the Astros for veteran relief pitcher Kendall Graveman.
The 25-year-old Lee was Houston's No. 5 prospect, and he's likely to be with the White Sox at some point later this season.
It was a nice get for Hahn, but the trade he made two days earlier could have netted the White Sox their No. 1 catcher of the future.
Sending starting pitcher Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo Lopez to the Angels - a team desperate to make the playoffs for the first time since 2014 - the Sox got Edgar Quero and left-handed pitcher Ky Bush.
Both prospects are highly rated, but Quero ("CARE-oh") was the key to the deal.
One of the youngest players in the Southern League at age 20, Quero has already shown he can hit and play defense at baseball's most demanding position.
"I'm just trying to help the team and be a good player, a good teammate," Quero said. "Just try to help my teammates and the pitchers to be good. I'm focused on my work behind the plate, receiving, blocking, that's everything for me. I see my stats, but I don't think about that when I go to the plate."
A switch-hitter, Quero became a Top 100 prospect in baseball last year when he slashed .312/.435/.530 with 35 doubles, 17 home runs and 75 RBI over 111 games with Class A Inland Empire.
Quero was named the California League MVP and the Angels' Minor League Player of the Year, and he moved up to Double-A Rocket City this season.
In 69 games with the Trash Pandas, he hit .245/.385/.332 with 3 home runs and 35 RBI and was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game.
Quero joined the White Sox's AA Birmingham farm club late last week. Given his young age and need to add bulk to his 5-foot-11, 170-pound frame, Quero is likely to remain with Birmingham the rest of the year.
When are the Sox expecting him to be ready for the major leagues?
"Quero is 20," Hahn said. "He's the third or so youngest player in the Southern League, so to say he's going to be on the Opening Day roster in '24 is a tick aggressive. Catcher development can be a little quirky. There can be fits and starts.
"Sometimes the offense is ahead of the defense, or vice versa, and you've got to wait for those things to even out. So far, he's an extremely young player at a high level, an advanced level, he's performed very well and the defense continues to make positive strides to match where he was offensively when he was in A-ball."
Quero doesn't turn 21 until April 6, but he already has a veteran approach to catching and hitting. It's not surprising he's molding his game around his favorite player, former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.
"I like how he played," Quero said. "He was aggressive and he helped the pitchers."
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol is a former catcher and he played a big role in Salvador Perez's development when he was coaching in Kansas City.
Grifol spoke to Quero the day after he joined the White Sox.
"We had a really good conversation," Grifol said. "Very smart kid, he's got a good head on his shoulders. He understands the game. We know his abilities as a switch-hitter, he controls the strike zone. But you know what, he speaks pretty good English, understands the demands of the position, the communication part of the position.
"He's ready to get to work. I'm excited that he's here. He said all the right things. He seems to love the game, enjoys the game and he loves the leadership part of that position."