Some Final Roster Notes
Blue Jays trade catcher Reese McGuire to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for catcher Zack Collins, first baseman Greg Bird exercises his release clause.
This series of spring training previews was supposed to end with the last one, but a couple of extremely minor happenings that didn’t necessarily warrant their own post, but did warrant some comment forced my hand. Those being the trading of Reese McGuire to the White Sox in exchange for Zack Collins, as well as the release of Greg Bird. I didn’t want to jerk anyone around for the sake of just pumping out content, but I also didn’t want to commit to blowing my load too early either if the situation warranted it.
Ahem. Anyways.
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The Backup Catcher Shuffle
On Sunday afternoon, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the Jays and the Chicago White Sox had agreed to swap 27-year old backup catchers, with Toronto receiving Zack Collins and Chicago getting Reese McGuire.
McGuire, of course, has spent parts of the last four seasons with the Blue Jays, mainly as a backup to Danny Jansen. He was of course first acquired in August 2016 alongside Francisco Liriano and Harold Ramírez for Drew Hutchison, a trade that we also have to thank for the later acquisition of Teoscar Hernández, for which I will be eternally grateful.
His main calling card has been is defence, as his glovework and framing more than strong enough to overcome his other flaws and establish himself as an MLB-quality backup catcher. Those main flaws being (aside from what he got up to in North Florida parking lots at least once) anything to do with his bat. McGuire always profiled as a glove-first catcher in the minors, rarely posting seasons with an OPS over .700, and that carried over to MLB. In 141 games with the Blue Jays, McGuire slashed .248/.297/.390 with 81 wRC+, not impressing in either the power or walks department, but occasionally going on some BABIP-assisted streaks where he would spray some base hits.
There wasn’t really much of a pathway to consistent playing time for McGuire this season barring something happening to Jansen or Alejandro Kirk except as an occasional defensive sub for whenever Kirk was catching who would only get as much plate appearances as absolutely necessary. Going to the White Sox, McGuire should get more consistent playing time whenever Yasmani Grandal is resting, playing first base, or DHing.
That’s not necessarily to say that Zack Collins is better than Reese McGuire. When all things are taken into account, he may actually be worse. A first round, tenth overall pick in the 2016 draft, Collins has yet to put his offensive potential on display in the Majors, slashing .195/.315/.330 with a 80 wRC+ over 114 games. This would maybe not be good, but palatable if he was a good defensive catcher. He was not.
According to Defensive Runs Saved, Collins cost the White Sox 18 runs last year. That’s more than noted defensive stalwarts Gary Sánchez and Kurt Suzuki. He was also the second-worst framer in the big leagues behind only Salvador Pérez and has caught 10 of 64 runners stealing over his MLB career. And yes, this means that Alejandro Kirk is now somehow not the worst defensive catcher on the active roster anymore. And yes, I do (tentatively) mean ACTIVE roster, as it seems/I speculate that the Jays are going to carry Collins on the opening day roster.
The good news is that Collins probably won’t actually see much time at catcher, instead filling the “lefty bench bat” role that Greg Bird was originally projected to fill, while serving as backup first baseman (I assume thrid string behind Vladdy and Gosuke Katoh) and as insurance when Jansen is catching and Kirk is DHing. He hasn’t had a great spring training or MLB career in general, but there are reasons for optimism in his offensive profile. While his biggest hole is that he whiffs on pitches down the dick that he should be driving, leading to a very high strikeout rate, he doesn’t really have a weakness otherwise that I can identify. He’s posted above average hard hit rates, exit velocities, and barrel rates when he can put the bat on the ball, and he doesn’t chase pitches out of the zone, leading to an excellent walk rate (14.7%). If the Jays deploy Collins in situations that allow him to put his strengths on display, he could be a nice bench bat. Is that likely? Fuck if I know, probably not! But it’s worth keeping an eye on.
Perhaps most importantly though, he has options, something that McGuire did not have. Collins is able to be optioned to the minors whenever a greater need arises (especially if that need is “Gabriel Moreno having nothing left to prove in the minors”). Sure, okay, fine!
The Search For Ol’ Lefty
On Monday morning, Ben Nicholson-Smith reported that the Blue Jays had decided against adding Greg Bird to the 40-man roster, despite a strong spring training. Bird exercised the release clause in his contract and will pursue an opportunity with another team that can provide him more playing time.
This comes as a pretty big surprise for the sizeable amount of Jays fans (myself included) who had already assumed that Bird had played himself into the aforementioned lefty bench bat role. Instead, a role on the Jays’ bench will go to a player who’s had a comparably good spring: Super utilityman Gosuke Katoh.
I said the following about Katoh in the first entry in this series:
While Katoh’s 2021 was one of his strongest seasons offensively (.306/.388/.474 in 402 plate appearances with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate), his main calling card has been his versatility. While he’s mostly played second (his main position since being drafted) and first base, he’s also spent some time at third, shortstop, and left field. Offensively, he’s taken his fair share of walks, but doesn’t have much power, instead relying on putting the ball in play. While his profile doesn’t jump off the page, his versatility makes him a nice bench or depth asset, and he’s earned some fans due to his enthusiasm for being a part of the team, as well as his social media presence.
That social media presence has put him on the path to being a fan favourite, especially due to his misadventures with Robbie Ray’s pants.
Katoh will be making his hard-earned MLB debut once he gets into a game with the Jays. Based on games played at the position last year, Katoh would seem to be the player most likely to get reps at first base when Vladdy needs a game at DH, though Collins may be a serious option as well, depending on if the Jays like him there. He’ll likely see time all over the place though, serving kind of a poor man’s Cavan Biggio role.
Bullet Points on Some Other Guys
Dexter Fowler
The 2016 One That Got Away for Jays fans, World Series champion and minor league signing Dexter Fowler has had a rough go of it in recent ears, in large part due to injury. Over the last two season, he’s slashed .236/.311/.364 with an 88 wRC+, with almost his entire 2021 season wiped out by a torn ACL suffered in April against the Blue Jays in Dunedin.
Fowler has struck out a lot in recent years and he doesn’t hit for very much power. He’s also been a poor defender in right field, and his sprint speed has steadily declined to below-average over the years. If he rehab from his injury though, he could still be useful as a bench player later in the season. He’s only a couple years removed from a solid season with the Cardinals (.238/.346/.409, 103 wRC+, 1.6 fWAR).
Nathan Lukes
There is remarkably little information out there on 27-year old Nathan Lukes other than he’s an outfielder who can play each of the three positions, has played in both Cleveland and Tampa Bay’s farm season, and has had a comparable season to Bird and Katoh’s in terms of both OPS and opposing pitcher quality, though it’s hard to find a fit for him on the active roster.
In 85 games with the Triple-A Durham Bulls, Lukes slashed .303/.352/.456 with a 115 wRC+.
Joshua Fuentes
Joshua Fuentes is Nolan Arenado’s cousin, and was his teammate for part of the 2019 season, when he made his debut. In parts of three seasons, he’s bounced around the diamond a bit, but has spent the majority of the time in the corner infield at either first or third base.
Fuentes takes after his cousin in the sense that he’s an excellent fielder, though his strongest position is definitely first base. Unfortunately, he contributes nothing offensively besides some speed, with only a .243/.269/.377 slash line and 56 wRC+ in 149 games with the Rockies. He’ll purely be depth for the Blue Jays, and currently looks like the starting first baseman in Buffalo for the Bisons.