Chicago reduces their catching logjam but ignores first base gap in latest Dru Baker acquisition
The White Sox love to avoid addressing their most pressing roster issues, and it’s most evident in their latest trade. In their most recent and not-so-greatest transaction, Chicago traded Matt Thaiss to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for utility outfielder Dru Baker. Thaiss broke camp with the team in March and slashed, as expected, .212/.382/.294 with a home run, eight RBIs, and 11 runs in 35 games with the Sox.
Parting ways with Thaiss is one of the easiest management decisions Chris Getz has had. Thaiss’ poor fielding resulted in five errors already this season, which is an alarming amount for his six years in the league and this early in the season. Paired with his unimpressive hitting, Thaiss was the weakest link of the Sox’s catching surplus and the easiest one to trade.
Like Adrian Houser and Miguel Castro, Dru Baker has spent 2025 thus far in the minors. He was surprisingly promoted from the Rays’ Rookie level to Triple-A after batting below .100. Baker’s stint with the Durham Bulls has been marred by a left abductor strain for nearly a month. Still, the 25-year-old outfielder is batting better than Colson Montgomery with a .245 batting average and .344 on-base percentage in 17 games. He joins a relatively underwhelming Charlotte Knights outfield comprising Corey Julks, Dominic Fletcher, Zach DeLoach, and Brooks Baldwin.
This transaction is puzzling and amusing, like much of the Sox’s season so far. For no logical reason, Getz loves to trade for guys who haven’t played in the majors this year. It’s as if his secret passion project is to find random minor leaguers and turn them into stars, like Chip and Joanna Gaines’ “Fixer Upper” show, but for MLB. Although Getz’s guilty pleasure of an undertaking addressed one roster backlog that needed to be resolved at some point, his refusal to promote or sign a first baseman is a prime example of incompetent management. Instead of redirecting roster improvements to the most glaring areas, Getz opts to hoard outfielders in the majors and minors as if there’s a limit on mediocre outfielders.
The Sox have no business sitting on a stockpile of catchers or outfielders, but at least they acknowledged that they can get more for one than the other.