White Sox catcher Kyle Teel has been drawing trade interest, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon. This item comes a few days after another report indicating that Sox backstop Edgar Quero was also receiving trade inquiries.
It would take “a spectacular return” for Chicago to deal either catcher, in the words of Rosenthal and Sammon. This aligns with recent comments made by White Sox GM Chris Getz, who told Sox Machine’s James Fegan that “I don’t think” it was time for the Sox to consider trading from their depth behind the plate.
The fact that rival clubs are even asking about Teel or Quero is a reminder that teams make all sorts of due-diligence inquiries about many players, no matter how seemingly unlikely a trade would seem. Teel and Quero are top-100 prospects who just finished their rookie seasons, and are under team control through the 2031 season. On paper, there is little reason why a rebuilding team like the White Sox would be open to dealing either catcher so early in their careers.
Even if the Sox might already have one of Teel or Quero specifically in mind as their proverbial catcher of the future, there’s no immediate reason for the club to move the other, especially when the duo can split time behind the plate in 2026 and also gain extra at-bats via the DH role. Catching depth is such a rare commodity around the league that it isn’t surprising to see teams inquire about what is technically a surplus for Chicago at the position (Korey Lee is also on the 40-man roster), but for that same reason, the Sox are surely wary about trading from this surplus.
Teel is the higher-profile of the two catchers, as the Red Sox selected him 14th overall in the 2023 draft and Teel was perhaps the key piece of the trade package Chicago received for Garrett Crochet last offseason. Called up to the Show in early June, Teel made a strong showing in his rookie year, hitting .273/.375/.411 with eight home runs in his first 297 plate appearances against big league pitching. By comparison, Quero hit .268/.333/.356 with five homers in 403 PA, and neither catcher was particularly impressive from a defensive standpoint.