Speaker 1: Hey, vacationing the lawyer.
Speaker 2: Here's my business card.
Speaker 1: I'm Attorney Howard Ankle. You or someone who knows been
Speaker 1: heard it. Work ankin Law and get the medical bills paid,
Speaker 1: the lost wages reimbursed in the compensation you deserve. We're
Speaker 1: one of the largest filers throughout the state of Illinois
Speaker 1: of workers compensation claims. We're here to help call three
Speaker 1: one two six million injury law made personal. That's ankin Law.
Speaker 3: From your favorite source for Chicago White Sox talk, delivering news, interviews,
Speaker 3: analysis and more. This is The Socks Machine Podcast with
Speaker 3: your hosts Jim Margolis, James Vegan, and Josh Nelson.
Speaker 4: Hello and welcome to a new episode to The Sox
Speaker 4: Machine podcast, part of the Foul Territory Network. I'm your
Speaker 4: host Josh Nelson, and in this episode, we're gonna be
Speaker 4: talking about the impact of Kyle Teal's injury on the
Speaker 4: Chicago White Sox. As Kyle Teal suffered a left high
Speaker 4: ankle sprain in the series against the Texas Rangers. He
Speaker 4: is now going to be out for the next six
Speaker 4: to twelve weeks, So what is the impact on the
Speaker 4: White Sox. Does this force him to make a decision
Speaker 4: in finding another catcher before the trade deadline, and what
Speaker 4: is the long term outlook for Kyle Teal as the
Speaker 4: White Sox primary catcher. Join us first in the Sox
Speaker 4: Machine Podcast. You can see him on Foul Territory Daily
Speaker 4: at YouTube dot com slash foul Territory from twelve pm
Speaker 4: to two pm Central Time. Former Major League catcher, It's
Speaker 4: Eric Kratz, and Eric, thank you so much for join
Speaker 4: the Sox Machine Podcast.
Speaker 2: Yeah, just thanks for having me on. I'm excited that
Speaker 2: you guys are part of the Foul Territory network, and
Speaker 2: I'm excited that AJ doesn't have to be the only
Speaker 2: one to talk about his beloved White Sox.
Speaker 4: Especially a White Sox catcher when it comes to the
Speaker 4: impact of Kyle Teal. So let's start there. Eric left
Speaker 4: high ankle sprain for Kyle Teal. He's now going to
Speaker 4: miss the next six to twelve weeks. What's the impact
Speaker 4: on the White Sox with this injury.
Speaker 2: I mean, right out of the gate, everybody knows Kyle
Speaker 2: Teal has not been healthy, he's not been on the field,
Speaker 2: so they've been winning without him. When I watched this
Speaker 2: White Sox team, and I'll admit I don't watch it
Speaker 2: as much as fans watch it. I watch your show
Speaker 2: and everything, but I see this guy and I saw
Speaker 2: him ever since he got traded. He got traded from
Speaker 2: the Red Sox. I saw him early in his career
Speaker 2: when I worked for the Red Sox for a little
Speaker 2: bit and just talking about him two people or other
Speaker 2: people talking about him. His numbers don't necessarily as you
Speaker 2: see him on the board here, don't necessarily pop off
Speaker 2: the page. But his intensity, his like focus on baseball
Speaker 2: is something that's unmatched. And when you talk about the
Speaker 2: catching position, you say, okay, you need him to be
Speaker 2: offensively driven, Yes, you need to be defensively driven, and
Speaker 2: all those things. He needs to be selfless to be
Speaker 2: there for the pitchers, and I think he added something
Speaker 2: to this team that I think they were missing when
Speaker 2: when he was out, when they were trying to do
Speaker 2: the Edgar Carro dance, when they were trying to do
Speaker 2: the Drew Romo great story, like all those things. I
Speaker 2: get it, I watch them play. I just think he
Speaker 2: brings something more than what offensively you're going to see
Speaker 2: and even sometimes defensively you're going to see in the
Speaker 2: stats that I think his intensity and his focus are
Speaker 2: really encapsulating this whole team, and it sucks that he's out.
Speaker 2: It really does. No, there's no other way around it.
Speaker 4: And for this particular season, we were excited because he
Speaker 4: had an oppressive debut. Could he launch to another life
Speaker 4: like Colson Montgomery has in his second season and now
Speaker 4: Eric This is three separate lower half injuries. The pulled
Speaker 4: hamstring from the World Baseball Classic, twisted his knee in rehab,
Speaker 4: and now a high ankle spring. With these three separate
Speaker 4: lower half injuries, are there any concerns as far as
Speaker 4: longevity as Kyle Teal being a catcher.
Speaker 2: Not in this sen age. No, We're not in the
Speaker 2: early nineties when it's like, well, probably going to have
Speaker 2: to cut his leg off. You know. It's now. We
Speaker 2: have a lot of great rehab abilities. We have an
Speaker 2: ability to come back from different injuries. Is it more
Speaker 2: rigorous as a catcher? Yes? Is one of the tools
Speaker 2: that he has speed gonna be hindered a little bit? Yeah? Maybe,
Speaker 2: But I mean when he pulled his hamstring in the
Speaker 2: World Baseball Classic, you saw that like he was getting
Speaker 2: after it, Like it wasn't like he was just cruising
Speaker 2: through things and then he pulled something like he plays
Speaker 2: hard that might need to be curtailed a little bit
Speaker 2: to stay healthy. But he's also like five years old,
Speaker 2: he's super young. He's gonna learn that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2: And if anybody says, well, you know, lower half injury
Speaker 2: when you're a catcher, this is terrible. Like example a
Speaker 2: Buster Posey, Yeah, shattered his ankle. I mean if you
Speaker 2: see that. I got to see the X rays of
Speaker 2: his ankle. It was not good. And you go, uh oh,
Speaker 2: like a lower half ankle injury that is that is
Speaker 2: going to spell doom and gloom for the rest of
Speaker 2: his career. And now you know we're going to be
Speaker 2: voting for him for the Hall of Fame soon. So no,
Speaker 2: I don't think it's going to unless he's not able
Speaker 2: to curtail what is causing these injuries.
Speaker 4: And with the injury, I don't know if you've got
Speaker 4: a chance to watch as far as the highlight, but
Speaker 4: as you know, catchers get put into really bad fielding spots,
Speaker 4: especially a place at home plate and fielding those throws
Speaker 4: from the outfield as Brida Montgomery's throw was more up
Speaker 4: the first baseline until caught it. He's on his knees
Speaker 4: and he's leaning over to try to tag the runner.
Speaker 4: Is there a better technique in that particular play that
Speaker 4: Kyle Teal still needs to learn to avoid hurting himself.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one hundred percent, and I'm sure that he'll go
Speaker 2: through it, or he has gone through it. You put yourself,
Speaker 2: you practice techniques, and then when the game happens, you
Speaker 2: get the freaking job done. Like it's like you practice
Speaker 2: perfect blocking techniques. When it's time to block, you might
Speaker 2: look like a rodeo clown, like trying to sling your
Speaker 2: arm out there to block something that's probably gonna hurt.
Speaker 2: Like it's one of those things that yes, he put
Speaker 2: himself in a position. His injury actually is not that
Speaker 2: dissimilar to what happened to Buster Posey. If you remember
Speaker 2: that collision a long time ago with Cousins. I forget
Speaker 2: what his first name was, but as a play at
Speaker 2: the plate the ball, he was in a good spot.
Speaker 2: The ball bounced and then he kind of stuck to
Speaker 2: the with his knees in the ground, and that ankle
Speaker 2: got rolled up under him when Cousins hit him. Then
Speaker 2: his ankle stayed where it was and rolled up under him.
Speaker 2: Same with Teal. That ball kind of was in an
Speaker 2: awkward spot. Instead of shifting and moving his feet, staying
Speaker 2: on his toes, especially his left foot. Now we're getting
Speaker 2: really you know, mechanical about it. But if he stays
Speaker 2: on his toes, now he's able to step back or
Speaker 2: when he goes to make that move that like from
Speaker 2: his right side over to his left side to extreme
Speaker 2: tag because he was trying to the runner was trying
Speaker 2: to avoid a tag. Now it's more of an athletic
Speaker 2: move where he goes from his feet or even from
Speaker 2: his toe in like a crouch's position, and he's able
Speaker 2: to go down on that left knee. Instead, he was
Speaker 2: already down two knees and when he goes to roll
Speaker 2: that foot is basically both his feet were out like
Speaker 2: this and it just gets up on it and all
Speaker 2: that weight. And again, like I don't know how to
Speaker 2: say it other than the guy plays hard and he's
Speaker 2: not going to he doesn't care, like I wish I
Speaker 2: knew exactly hell when he's I think he's twenty four,
Speaker 2: he might be twenty three, but he puts his body
Speaker 2: at risk to get the play done. He puts his
Speaker 2: body at risk running down the line to be safe
Speaker 2: at first or to get to second on a hustle double.
Speaker 2: Like to me, his mentality and his mindset are what
Speaker 2: encapsulate this team, like I said, but it's also what
Speaker 2: could cause some of these types of injuries. But you
Speaker 2: learn that, you really do. You learn it, and he's
Speaker 2: gonna go over it and he probably already knows. I'm
Speaker 2: not saying that catching coaches haven't gone through that with him.
Speaker 2: It's just one of those things that in the moment,
Speaker 2: got to get the job done.
Speaker 5: Hey, for the families out there looking for a new
Speaker 5: path to help your child succeed, take a look at
Speaker 5: K twelve Powered Schools. K twelve offers tuish and free,
Speaker 5: accredited online public education for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade,
Speaker 5: all in a setting that works for your family. And
Speaker 5: they've been a leader in online education for over twenty
Speaker 5: five years, serving over three million families. And Todd Father,
Speaker 5: you've raved about the homeschooling experience.
Speaker 6: Hey, if you're a busy family, K twelve is where
Speaker 6: it's at. I've had a couple of my children who've
Speaker 6: been homeschooled. It's a fantastic opportunity for them. Not only
Speaker 6: to get better in school, but timely fashion too and
Speaker 6: make some new friends. K twelve has every opportunity to
Speaker 6: make your child better and smarter as they move forward
Speaker 6: in their academic career.
Speaker 5: See how K twelve powered schools can help unlock your
Speaker 5: child's full potential. Enroll online today at K twelve dot com.
Speaker 5: Slash foul. That's the letter K the number twelve dot
Speaker 5: com slash foul. K twelve dot com slash foul.
Speaker 4: Now, before Teal arrived, White Sox, as you mentioned before,
Speaker 4: had Eggar Carro gave them runway that didn't work. He
Speaker 4: ended up getting demoted to Charlotte. Drew Romo is still
Speaker 4: struggling at the plate. The advanced metrics do not like
Speaker 4: the combination of Drew Romo and Eggar Carrow, both offensively
Speaker 4: and defensively. With the trade deadline coming up and the
Speaker 4: uncertainty when Kyle Teal If Kyle Teal returns to season Eric,
Speaker 4: do the White Sox have to acquire another catcher before
Speaker 4: the deadline.
Speaker 2: I say this with all due respect to two guys
Speaker 2: who are now like back up kinds of guys that
Speaker 2: I was. You think one of those two guys can
Speaker 2: step up and play. You look at the numbers and
Speaker 2: you go, they're never really going to hit. They haven't had,
Speaker 2: you know, had large enough sample size, whether in TRIPAA
Speaker 2: or in the big leagues that there's some deficiencies there hitting.
Speaker 2: So what are you looking for? You're looking for a
Speaker 2: guy who can control the pitching staff who really needs it,
Speaker 2: because your pitching staff is not Like, you're not rolling
Speaker 2: out cy young winners. Maybe future side with young winners.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm not saying that they can't, but you're
Speaker 2: not rolling out guys that are doing it on their own.
Speaker 2: You need to be able to have guys that can
Speaker 2: execute game plans and defensively be back there and do
Speaker 2: the things that acquire value, that give them value. And
Speaker 2: I look at a guy like, who are they going
Speaker 2: to trade for? Well, they're not going in for the
Speaker 2: Hunter Goodman's, the Shey, Langaliers, the even We talked to
Speaker 2: somebody on with fishal on first, one of our other
Speaker 2: shows in the Foul Territory Network, and I said, what
Speaker 2: about a Liam Hicks. A Liam Hicks would be an
Speaker 2: upgrade offensively awesome, but are the White Sox willing to
Speaker 2: make that big of a move. No, the White Sox
Speaker 2: are willing to make a move to find somebody that
Speaker 2: can give them value, I think defensively, but also gives
Speaker 2: them a lot of you know, more of a veteran
Speaker 2: presence behind a dish. And when that happens, fans are
Speaker 2: gonna look at it and go, why do we need
Speaker 2: a guy that's hitting won this or one that like
Speaker 2: I get it, I played. I was that guy. Like
Speaker 2: teams traded for me and they were like, why on
Speaker 2: earth do we trade for this guy? He's a career
Speaker 2: two ZHO nine hitter, Like he stinks. I added value
Speaker 2: with the mint. I added value, veteran presidence, all that stuff,
Speaker 2: and that kind of stuff helps your team win. So
Speaker 2: the name when you asked me to come up with
Speaker 2: somebody and AJR talking about it, Jonaheim. There's Jonaheim at
Speaker 2: right now. Jonaheim is not gonna cost you very much.
Speaker 2: I get it. He's not say Langeliers, He's not you
Speaker 2: know whatever. You could say, well we want the best
Speaker 2: catcher in the game, Well it's not gonna happen. Okay,
Speaker 2: Like that's just that's pumped the brakes. But a Jonaheim
Speaker 2: adds that defensive metric. He's won a World Series. He
Speaker 2: adds that offense, and you know what, He's not a
Speaker 2: starting guy, but he has started. So can the White
Speaker 2: Sox go and get that? Because to me, Teal's not
Speaker 2: back this year. I make this move saying Teal's not back.
Speaker 2: I'm not a doctor. He could come back at six
Speaker 2: weeks and be one hundred percent fine, then you know
Speaker 2: what you got. Then you got Kyle Teel and a
Speaker 2: World Series winning catcher. Whatever you think of Jonaheim right now,
Speaker 2: I know he adds value and it's gonna be more
Speaker 2: value than what they're getting consistently from a Drew Romo
Speaker 2: or a Edgar Carroll or the smattering of other aerickrats
Speaker 2: minor league. You know, backup catchers that you're gonna get.
Speaker 4: Now, my last question to Eric, as someone that's been
Speaker 4: traded and been that guy, if the White Sox do
Speaker 4: trade for like a Jonah Haeim or anyone to help
Speaker 4: on the catching situation, because that extra layer of not
Speaker 4: being very familiar with White Sox pitchers, what is that
Speaker 4: transition period like when they join the new team.
Speaker 2: I love that you asked that because I love talking
Speaker 2: about this. It's not that tough like Everyone's like, Oh,
Speaker 2: it's gonna be so tough, from front offices to fans
Speaker 2: to even sometimes some other catchers, And I'm like, it's
Speaker 2: not that tough. I did it. I wish I knew
Speaker 2: how many times I didn't, but I did it way
Speaker 2: too many times. I got traded over to the Royals.
Speaker 2: Did I catch a lot? No? I didn't, but I
Speaker 2: was there, And the process is exactly the same as
Speaker 2: when I got traded over to the Yankees in twenty seventeen,
Speaker 2: over to the Brewers in twenty eighteen, or the or
Speaker 2: the Rays in twenty nineteen. All playoff teams, all games
Speaker 2: matter when you're catching in playoff situations, and you know
Speaker 2: what you do if you're a catcher, you put the
Speaker 2: effort in to learn the guys. You learn the guys.
Speaker 2: You know what I get traded over to. I get
Speaker 2: traded over to the Rays, and the first day I'm there,
Speaker 2: I show up in Yankee Stadium and I got to
Speaker 2: catch Blake Snell. I watched Blake Snell. I don't know
Speaker 2: jack about Blake Snell as far as like catching him
Speaker 2: in a game, facing him, I do, But I'm like,
Speaker 2: you know what, today I have to have a crash
Speaker 2: course in catching Blake Snell and we're gonna go from there.
Speaker 2: You learn it on the fly. It's not that crazy
Speaker 2: if you put the effort out there, if you go whatever,
Speaker 2: you know, I'll just catch what hey, just throw me
Speaker 2: what you got. Sorry, those days are gone. Like like,
Speaker 2: I don't care who you are, if you're if you're
Speaker 2: Noah Schultz to Shane Smith to Davis Martin, I don't
Speaker 2: care where you're at. Triple A, big leagues like they
Speaker 2: want to be cared about, cared for known, And if
Speaker 2: you don't put that effort in as a catcher who
Speaker 2: just showed up, you're not going to get the most
Speaker 2: out of them. And this is a playoff team, not
Speaker 2: even just playoff contending team. The White Socks are a
Speaker 2: playoff team. And without that catching position, without these pictures
Speaker 2: that you have, because you're not going out and getting
Speaker 2: some dudes, you know, they might get Gosman. I think
Speaker 2: that would be a tremendous fit if they would get Gosman.
Speaker 2: But he can do is, he can do his own thing.
Speaker 2: But the catching position just means you got to care
Speaker 2: about the dudes on the mound and fans whoever they
Speaker 2: get pump the brakes. The dudes will hit. If a
Speaker 2: backup catcher gets brought in and he gets to play
Speaker 2: on a consistent basis, they end up hitting. Even crappy
Speaker 2: hitters like me end up hitting the more you play
Speaker 2: because it's consistent. The value is behind the dish and
Speaker 2: that's why I love you.
Speaker 1: Know.
Speaker 2: If they were to go get a Jonaheim type of.
Speaker 4: Player, well, I appreciate your insight.
Speaker 2: Eric.
Speaker 4: Again, you can see Eric daily Monday through Friday on
Speaker 4: YouTube dot com slash Foul Territories. They live stream from
Speaker 4: twelve to two pm covering all things Major League Baseball
Speaker 4: and with the White Sox being good. That's why we're
Speaker 4: part of the fil Territory Network and they'll be talking
Speaker 4: more about this crazy race in the American League Central.
Speaker 4: But Eric, thank you so much for joining the Sox
Speaker 4: Machine podcast.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Jeff.
Speaker 4: Shop the twenty twenty six All Start collection now at
Speaker 4: the new look File Territory shop dot com. The drop
Speaker 4: features every All Star, including Munatako Murakami, Miguel Vargas, and
Speaker 4: Tristan Peters. Keep an eye out for more officially licensed
Speaker 4: gear throughout the rest of the season and playoffs at
Speaker 4: File Territory Shop dot com.
Speaker 5: Howard, I'm so glad I saved your number.
Speaker 2: My husband fell at a construction site.
Speaker 1: Of his en a condition, and I'm very sorry to
Speaker 1: hear that. I just want to let you know I'm
Speaker 1: here to help. Yeah, tell me more about it. Work
Speaker 1: injuries not only affect the victim, but also everyone around them.
Speaker 1: INK Launch, Chicago based here to advocate on your behalf
Speaker 1: with over one hundred attorneys and staff. If you or
Speaker 1: somebody you know has questions about a work injury called
Speaker 1: three one two six million injury law made personal, that's
Speaker 1: taking law now.
Speaker 4: Continuing the conversation on the impact on the Chicago White
Speaker 4: Sox with Kyle Teal's injury, joining me a Sox Machines
Speaker 4: beat reporter James Vegan and managing editor Jim Margulus and
Speaker 4: hello gents, we just got to hear from Eric Kratz
Speaker 4: about the White Sox situation and Kyle Teal missing six
Speaker 4: to twelve weeks. Now that timeline may have changed, James
Speaker 4: as Scott Murkin, white Sox beat reporter for MLB dot Com,
Speaker 4: tweeted after having a conversation with Kyle Teal, that it
Speaker 4: might be five to eight weeks.
Speaker 7: We'll see.
Speaker 4: But you also wrote an excellent column about how the
Speaker 4: White Sox still view Kyle Teal in the long term,
Speaker 4: and I guess with three injuries in the lower half
Speaker 4: this year, their view as far as Kyle Teal being
Speaker 4: their future catcher long term hasn't changed, right, man.
Speaker 7: I haven't talked to them a ton about it. I
Speaker 7: just think it's in terms of what you've invested into
Speaker 7: this prospect, what you believe and state repeatedly in kind
Speaker 7: of different specific ways that are hard to fake about
Speaker 7: what you believe. The ceiling is doesn't make this sound
Speaker 7: like something you can really replicate in an easy way,
Speaker 7: like you.
Speaker 2: Didn't get Kyle Teal for cheap.
Speaker 7: You can certainly say they did well in the gair
Speaker 7: crochet trade, but you can't say like this is like
Speaker 7: something that you easily replicate via This is not the
Speaker 7: Milwaukee Brewers finding a number four starter level of like, well,
Speaker 7: we'll you do this on that deep all the time
Speaker 7: and it's repeatable our method like both Teal and Carrow
Speaker 7: Caro like obviously they took advantage of like the Angels
Speaker 7: in a desperate situation, but like and they were rental
Speaker 7: trades but they were they were they were solid assets
Speaker 7: that they sent to them at least in terms of
Speaker 7: rentals at the time.
Speaker 2: Like these were not.
Speaker 7: They haven't shown anything like they've obviously shown an ability
Speaker 7: to acquire catching and you know, get it up to
Speaker 7: the majors, like while still trending towards the top hundred,
Speaker 7: you know performance in the minors. They haven't shown they
Speaker 7: can easily get this in a way. And you know,
Speaker 7: people talking about like Shae langeliars like that's something that
Speaker 7: basically is going to cost like probably not the crochet trade,
Speaker 7: but you're talking like you're talking about like fixing the
Speaker 7: catching position from like your own crochet trade from the
Speaker 7: other side and giving up that level of value. Like
Speaker 7: that's when you're talking about a deadline that honors the
Speaker 7: twenty twenty six team but also doesn't compromise you for
Speaker 7: the future. This would be example of leaning towards present face.
Speaker 7: So like, I don't see how based on what they
Speaker 7: felt that this is how they've talked about this guy
Speaker 7: throughout that this is the sort of hurdle that you
Speaker 7: know makes you pivot in a big way. Is it
Speaker 7: concerning Is it like this new thing that certainly needs
Speaker 7: to be managed, and like his off season training needs
Speaker 7: to be all about like finding out like why what
Speaker 7: do we can do to even help you or prevent this?
Speaker 7: As much as these all, like a lot of them
Speaker 7: seem like freak injuries, you know, on an individual basis, Yes,
Speaker 7: that's like clearly the big project of the off season
Speaker 7: for him. I have no doubt that everything we're gonna be,
Speaker 7: like talking as Kyle Teal about like next spring is
Speaker 7: going to be like, oh, what I did this offseason,
Speaker 7: you know, to try to address this, or what I
Speaker 7: did to recover from this, So now I feel like
Speaker 7: I'm not compromised, but there's any risk of like something
Speaker 7: propping up again, obviously that's going to like rule the day.
Speaker 7: But as far as like what they put in to
Speaker 7: get here, what they've talked about it all up to
Speaker 7: this point, I don't think is like a, you know,
Speaker 7: I can't stay healthy. I think we're out on this one.
Speaker 7: I would almost say.
Speaker 5: Like.
Speaker 7: Just because like he's been on the field, I would
Speaker 7: argue like probably Caro's had like a worse year for
Speaker 7: a stock than Teal has. Like sure, certainly injuries as
Speaker 7: they pile up over time, become their own issue. But
Speaker 7: like in terms of like the opening anecdote, the story
Speaker 7: I use, like his bats being we being way up,
Speaker 7: you know, his framing scores were like weren't quite like
Speaker 7: this is a star, this is what he's doing, but
Speaker 7: like a shadow striker, Like there was positive notes to
Speaker 7: it as far as like him realizing what they thought
Speaker 7: he was going to be to some degree at least
Speaker 7: in terms of like obviously he didn't get like surface
Speaker 7: level results really going in some big way, and is
Speaker 7: that that's like someone's still kind of finding their timing.
Speaker 7: But I think he's more closer or he's seeing more
Speaker 7: flashes of like, hey, this is what we want this
Speaker 7: to be than even like you know, Caro's swing just
Speaker 7: looking like, you know, he's just not on time for
Speaker 7: fastballs in the way that he even was last year,
Speaker 7: let alone what he was working to aspire to be
Speaker 7: yet and you have to figure out why that is.
Speaker 7: And that's like kind of a bigger question of what
Speaker 7: you do to do, uh, you know, turn that around.
Speaker 7: So that's more of what I'm saying as far as
Speaker 7: like they kind of have to still be in on
Speaker 7: Kyle Teal just from like from what they've already put in,
Speaker 7: and how reasonable is to really find like a high
Speaker 7: caliber replacement. All their language about it is like catching
Speaker 7: his gold.
Speaker 2: This is so, this is so valuable.
Speaker 7: It's because it's hard to acquire and because like if
Speaker 7: you want to, like now get a new franchise catcher
Speaker 7: the deadline, As you know, many of our readers are
Speaker 7: kind of like scoping out, like, Hey, I don't know
Speaker 7: what your pitching ambitions were, but like turn them down
Speaker 7: three notches because you now have the because you're going
Speaker 7: to go shop in the expensive aisle for this extremely
Speaker 7: rare and hard to find commodity.
Speaker 4: And I guess you could have done that in the
Speaker 4: draft with von Lackey if you drafted based on need.
Speaker 4: But when the White Slacks at the draft, Kyle Tee
Speaker 4: was healthy.
Speaker 7: Uh, And the only idea that the college catcher you
Speaker 7: pick in July is going to be solving your immediate
Speaker 7: ageor league need for a playoff raise. You could pick
Speaker 7: a part of that ideal, and like, if you find
Speaker 7: the one, everyone thinks you're a gene forever, but you'll
Speaker 7: probably not a safe thing right.
Speaker 4: The whole preventing these injuries though, to your point, James,
Speaker 4: they are freakish, like maybe you can stretch a little
Speaker 4: bit more and take it easier in the spring so
Speaker 4: you don't pull a hamstring, but twisting your knee on
Speaker 4: a swing display at the plate. Even though Eric made
Speaker 4: a good point that there are certain techniques that Kyle
Speaker 4: Teal could work on to prevent hurting himself when he
Speaker 4: has these types of situations and staying on his toes
Speaker 4: and not twisting and contorting his body when he's on
Speaker 4: his knees. There's some things that Kyle Teele could work on,
Speaker 4: but it is three separate lower half injuries, and I'm
Speaker 4: not exactly sure and how he can prevent these moving forward.
Speaker 4: I guess my concern, James is we've been through this
Speaker 4: rodeo before, Luis Robert Yowan, Makatta, Eloy Hemenez. Like this
Speaker 4: is my concern right now is I'm really hoping for
Speaker 4: Kyle Teal's sake he doesn't have all this bad injury
Speaker 4: luck like very recent Harold did White Sox prospects went through.
Speaker 7: It takes a toll, like if you keep getting this,
Speaker 7: like if your legs keep taking drama, like there's a
Speaker 7: there's a residue of that, there's a longer term compromise
Speaker 7: to what's happening structurally, if you keep it, like you
Speaker 7: don't want these to keep happening, not just from like
Speaker 7: a you know, a single like, Oh, he's out for
Speaker 7: this long and then we get him back he's one
Speaker 7: hundred percent, but like, if you keep having these like
Speaker 7: issues can file like it becomes harder and harder to maintain. Yeah,
Speaker 7: that's that's definitely concern. I think it's true with any player,
Speaker 7: and obviously being burned and like really like seeing like
Speaker 7: the last years of like Eloy Amenez with the White
Speaker 7: Sox where it was like so much to just him
Speaker 7: having to like it, just like seeing him like trying
Speaker 7: to get into a rhythm offensively, trying to like get
Speaker 7: into his legs and swings we could lift the ball
Speaker 7: and like being this paintaking process to get him upright
Speaker 7: and right. When he like sent it gets going again,
Speaker 7: something crops up and he gets taken down to zero,
Speaker 7: and like seeing how the frustration mounted for him. Like
Speaker 7: that's definitely like something that I can understand being everyone's minds.
Speaker 7: When you see somebody like go through repeated stuff over
Speaker 7: the course of the year, I know it's certainly on mine.
Speaker 7: I just don't think like what like taking them all
Speaker 7: in the vacuum. It's like, you know, doing high level
Speaker 7: international competition in March in an early part of your
Speaker 7: ramp up, and then it's you know, hooking your cleat
Speaker 7: on and he switches the plastic cleats after, and then
Speaker 7: it's like, you know, maybe as you you know, reference
Speaker 7: in the conversation you have with air krats, like is
Speaker 7: it a technique thing that he fixes? And then like
Speaker 7: theoretically you can look at all of them like, hey,
Speaker 7: there's something we've done that can make these go away
Speaker 7: in the future or less likely in the future that
Speaker 7: you hope latches on. But yeah, it's certainly worriesome. It's
Speaker 7: certainly something like for somebody whose career is so built
Speaker 7: around you know, his legs being strong, being indominal, being durable,
Speaker 7: Like it's a concern. I just don't think it's quite
Speaker 7: like one, you know, past the point of like no return,
Speaker 7: or like this is just happening and for reasons that
Speaker 7: you know, we wouldn't happen to anyone else, or that
Speaker 7: this is like kind of becomes brings this guy back
Speaker 7: down to like not an exceptional prospect or not like
Speaker 7: a you know, a pretty good, like franchise.
Speaker 2: Level catcher.
Speaker 7: It's a project to work into as as Sitan and
Speaker 7: the piece like Adlie Ruschman, Hunter Goodman and Shaye Langeliers,
Speaker 7: none of them were as good in the majors at
Speaker 7: age twenty three as Kyle Teel was. Like this guy
Speaker 7: has been pretty precocious and he's still pretty early on
Speaker 7: in his career for a position that has a lot
Speaker 7: of weird it's famous for twist and turns. Developmentally, you
Speaker 7: don't want to be a year with just getting hurt
Speaker 7: in a way that like compounds it in some way.
Speaker 7: But it's certainly not oh Man, like this is project
Speaker 7: has just taken all on so much water. Let's abandoned.
Speaker 7: Like for most parts, he's kind of ahead of the
Speaker 7: game as far as like catching prospects go or young
Speaker 7: catchers who established themselves, Like it can take a while,
Speaker 7: it takes weird turns. It can also take a return
Speaker 7: where he's not catching anymore and like he's you know,
Speaker 7: Wilskon Trere's in the back half of his career where
Speaker 7: it's just like kind of a bat and people don't
Speaker 7: even remember him catching half the time. I don't know,
Speaker 7: like it can be weird, but I don't. I just
Speaker 7: don't think it's, like, you know, this is the end
Speaker 7: sort of a thing for a twenty four year old
Speaker 7: catcher who's you know, hit really well in the majors
Speaker 7: for long stretches and definitely annihilate a triple A offensively
Speaker 7: whenever he's been exposed to it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm with you, James. I don't think this is
Speaker 4: going to be the end of Kyle Teal's tenure as catcher.
Speaker 4: I'm just wanting to punge the nearest wooden object, Jim,
Speaker 4: to make sure he doesn't follow in line of Luis Robert,
Speaker 4: you on m Conn and Eloy Hammanez, it's just been
Speaker 4: a bad.
Speaker 7: You can have commonredable baseball injuries.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no kidding, right, just no kidding, all right, So, Jim,
Speaker 4: I asked Eric Kratz this question. With Kyle Teal's injury,
Speaker 4: should the White Sox make a trade for a catcher?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 8: Uh, you had me. Let's try to come up with
Speaker 8: three names. And now that we're on the foul Terrantory Network,
Speaker 8: I was going to say a J. Persinski, a J Persinski,
Speaker 8: A J. Persinsky just to see if he would arrive
Speaker 8: like the candy Man. But yeah, I think there are
Speaker 8: enough options available on the trade market. Be they you know,
Speaker 8: super solutions, be they rentals, be they just kind of
Speaker 8: guys with a strength to where they should find somebody,
Speaker 8: because you know Caro and you know Romo. They got
Speaker 8: by with them well enough the first time. But I
Speaker 8: think it serves as a cautionary tale of just can
Speaker 8: you try pressing your luck again and seeing if you
Speaker 8: can get the exact same results as a team with
Speaker 8: the exact same results from the catching tandem, it seems unlikely,
Speaker 8: kind of like we saw the White Sox running out
Speaker 8: of gas a little bit with Murakami outs and finishing
Speaker 8: slightly below five hundred. It does feel like they would
Speaker 8: be just trying to win a very near bet once
Speaker 8: again with the catchers they have on hand.
Speaker 5: Todd father, are you hitting some games this summer? What's
Speaker 5: the deal?
Speaker 2: Of course?
Speaker 6: And it's real simple, Scotty Braun. You know how it is.
Speaker 6: You go to seat Geek and you can find any
Speaker 6: deal you want in any section you want, even if
Speaker 6: the game sold out. Go to seat Geek and you'll
Speaker 6: find something that you love affordable for your family that
Speaker 6: you can enjoy anywhere, anytime, at any ballpark and stadium
Speaker 6: you want enjoy it. It's the best opportunity to go
Speaker 6: see a beautiful game of.
Speaker 5: Baseball, and that's the thing that you can be so
Speaker 5: last minute. Sea Geek is the official ticket marketplace of
Speaker 5: Major League Baseball. They have you covered for all of
Speaker 5: your baseball ticket needs the entire summer. They also have
Speaker 5: over seventy thousand events on sea Geek that includes concerts, festivals,
Speaker 5: all kinds of sporting events.
Speaker 2: So go check it out.
Speaker 5: Right now, FTFAM. The code is Territory ten for ten
Speaker 5: percent off your next set of MLB tickets at sea Geek.
Speaker 5: That's ten percent off with promo code Territory one zero.
Speaker 5: Make sure you click the link in the description to
Speaker 5: download the app, and then the code automatically is added
Speaker 5: to your account so you can use it later.
Speaker 4: Let's take a look at some options for the White
Speaker 4: Sox then before the deadline, Jim, and let's start with
Speaker 4: Eric's recommendation as far as Jonaheim and Jonaheim this season
Speaker 4: for the podcast listeners, offensively not terrible. For catchers, He's
Speaker 4: got nine homers thirty one RBIs his way to run.
Speaker 4: His credit plus is ninety one. He's slugging four to
Speaker 4: twenty nine. He's already played for two teams this season.
Speaker 4: He checked on Jonaheim Jim. Would that be a good
Speaker 4: target for the White Sox.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think he's probably the one who checks off
Speaker 8: the most boxes in terms of shouldn't cost a ton.
Speaker 8: I mean, the A's got him for cash from the Braves.
Speaker 8: I don't think the White Sox could get him for cash,
Speaker 8: given that he's playing a whole lot better now. But
Speaker 8: he's then, I guess, you know, through the transaction cycle
Speaker 8: a few times after peaking with the Rangers, and seems
Speaker 8: like he's picked himself up up pretty well in time.
Speaker 8: This really well to have a market for a contender,
Speaker 8: but there's the possibility of it bottoming out again. Like
Speaker 8: he's not somebody who has a strength in any reliable regard.
Speaker 8: Like he's an okay framer, kind of okay in terms
Speaker 8: of defensively switch hitter sometimes as a matter because he
Speaker 8: isn't effective from either side, but in this current form
Speaker 8: he hits left. He's pretty well, which is a skill
Speaker 8: that this White Sox lineup can use. So I think
Speaker 8: based on where the A's are, and that him's a
Speaker 8: free agent after the season. You know, they're looking to
Speaker 8: get something for him. The White Sox aren't looking to
Speaker 8: commit beyond the year, you know, assuming that they're still
Speaker 8: into what Kyle Teal is offering. So on those grounds,
Speaker 8: a matchup works pretty well. Just the case where you know,
Speaker 8: the other teams could be saying the same thing. They're
Speaker 8: looking him short up their catchers, and so that could
Speaker 8: make the market a little bit more heated than maybe
Speaker 8: Heim's previous transaction costs would lead you to believe.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a that's a good point, Jim, so you
Speaker 4: recommend it too. Let's start with the defensive specialist over
Speaker 4: in San Diego, Freddy for mean and offensively, he's right
Speaker 4: there with Drew Roman Egar Carro with the fifty two
Speaker 4: wit to run runs creative, plus he's batting one fifty
Speaker 4: nine as OVP and slugging are below three hundred. You
Speaker 4: wouldn't trade for him, Jim, because of offense. I'm thinking
Speaker 4: you are making the suggestion because he would greatly help
Speaker 4: defensively behind home plate.
Speaker 8: Yeah, this is the Cleveland Guardians plan of rolling with
Speaker 8: Austin hedges. Although you know We talked about hedges before
Speaker 8: and how you start hitting but hedges and then doubling
Speaker 8: down on that with Patrick Bailey, just going for a
Speaker 8: defense and know how behind the plate.
Speaker 2: For Mean is a a.
Speaker 8: Above average framer and he's got a great arm, like
Speaker 8: great at killing the running game.
Speaker 2: Was a valuable back up for the Royals.
Speaker 8: The Padres acquired him last year into trade and plugged
Speaker 8: him in and he helped the Padres you get to
Speaker 8: the postseason. He played pretty well in the postseason, so
Speaker 8: they rolled into this year as with him as the
Speaker 8: most time starter, we're seeing Luis Campusano come in and
Speaker 8: earn some playing time. He's a younger option, definitely offers
Speaker 8: more at the plates for me, and has had a
Speaker 8: couple of head related issues, which I guess would be
Speaker 8: the flag here when it comes to acquiring him, as
Speaker 8: he had a concussion and then he had a head contusion.
Speaker 8: So he's been on the injured list a couple of
Speaker 8: times over the last month or so with foul ball issues.
Speaker 8: And so with the catcher, he can't downplay that and
Speaker 8: say like, oh, just bad luck. That's kind of thing
Speaker 8: that can accumulate, so I have to be very careful
Speaker 8: about that due due diligence. But if the Padres are
Speaker 8: looking to reshape the roster for Mina is thirty one,
Speaker 8: not hitting, not somebody plan around necessarily a catcher like
Speaker 8: that into his early thirties, and the Padres might have
Speaker 8: enough options behind the plates as they reshape the roster
Speaker 8: looking at the rest of the season, and it's the
Speaker 8: next season to where they're fine letting for men go.
Speaker 8: And last year the Padres got him for a couple
Speaker 8: of up and down arms Stephen Colek and Ryan Burgett,
Speaker 8: and they're you know, continue to be up and down.
Speaker 8: We've seen colec you know, the White Sox hit him
Speaker 8: pretty well, although Colek also has a shutout this year,
Speaker 8: but now he's on the injury list for the rest
Speaker 8: of the year. But the White Sox have those up
Speaker 8: and down arms. If the transaction costs anything similar for
Speaker 8: me is making more than he was making last year
Speaker 8: because he's are of eligible, but not so much like
Speaker 8: he's making two million, you have not really a cost.
Speaker 8: I think that alters trade calculus too much. But if
Speaker 8: that's what it costs last year to acquire him, and
Speaker 8: he's you know, again not really hitting, and more of
Speaker 8: a defensive specialist with some injury concerns. Maybe then that
Speaker 8: might be a guy whose price is more acceptable.
Speaker 4: And then finally, in the most po popular recommendation on
Speaker 4: social media and the comments section at socks Machine, and
Speaker 4: that is Tyler Stevenson. Stevenson right now way to runs
Speaker 4: great a plus ninety two. He's slugging three ninety one,
Speaker 4: respectable batting average at two forty four, and he's getting
Speaker 4: on base at a three twenty one clip. He has
Speaker 4: eight home runs in twenty seven RBIs this year, and
Speaker 4: his war is zero point three. Would this be your
Speaker 4: top target gym for the White Sox before the deadline
Speaker 4: if they want to help out the catching situation, I would.
Speaker 8: Say a top target I think, you know, for me,
Speaker 8: if he's healthy, I think offers a strength the White
Speaker 8: Sox could use, so I think I'd be right there
Speaker 8: with him, kind of going back and forth. Stevenson is
Speaker 8: kind of the polar opposite in that he's very watchable
Speaker 8: at to play and I think the most reliable hitter
Speaker 8: of the three we're discussing. He is going to be
Speaker 8: a free agent at the end of the year, so
Speaker 8: he's a rental and not like a rental on the
Speaker 8: scale of Ryan Jeffers. I don't know if the Twins
Speaker 8: are looking to trade Ryan Jeffers, because they're in the
Speaker 8: race as much as anybody, I think in that wild
Speaker 8: card race below five hundred, and you know, he provides
Speaker 8: a very valuable bet for a catcher. But if they
Speaker 8: wanted to see what they could get and roll with
Speaker 8: Victor Keratini as their primary catcher, they could maybe justify
Speaker 8: doing that, and I think the price would be probably
Speaker 8: be too high for the White Sox, you know, kind
Speaker 8: of that super solution. But I think Stevenson is rental
Speaker 8: offers the most reliable bats, watchable at the plates in
Speaker 8: a way that White Sox catchers haven't been watchable. But
Speaker 8: the defense is pretty bad. Like he in terms of
Speaker 8: where Stackast has him, he's towards the bottom in terms
Speaker 8: of run value as a catcher, So you are trading
Speaker 8: off work behind the plate for what he does at it.
Speaker 8: And based on what the White Sox have seen and
Speaker 8: who they can balance them with, that might be something
Speaker 8: worth considering still, but I think you kind of have
Speaker 8: him and for me representing the ends of the spectrum
Speaker 8: in terms of do you want offense. Do you want
Speaker 8: a bat that you don't mind coming to the plate
Speaker 8: with a runner on second and third and you know
Speaker 8: the game on the line, or would you rather have
Speaker 8: that kind of veteran catching presence the White Sox haven't
Speaker 8: had for a couple of years that can really nail
Speaker 8: down the position they had recent McGuire for a little bit,
Speaker 8: I guess that would be the most comparable example, But
Speaker 8: for most of the time over the last couple of years,
Speaker 8: it has been really young catchers. So if you want
Speaker 8: that veteran catch and throw guy behind the plate for
Speaker 8: mean would check those boxes.
Speaker 4: I guess we can go around the horn. Are we
Speaker 4: expecting the White Sox before the deadline to trade for
Speaker 4: a catcher?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 4: Or no, James, I'll start with you.
Speaker 7: I would expect them to acquire a catcher in some fashion, Okay,
Speaker 7: if it's like some sort of waiver claim free agency,
Speaker 7: like stop gap backup level dude, and it's not a trade,
Speaker 7: but like someone else enters the mix in some way,
Speaker 7: like I want to claim that too, but inciting that
Speaker 7: I want to like kind of state my expectations for
Speaker 7: it to be more on the mild side rather than
Speaker 7: like multiple years of control new one a like option
Speaker 7: necessarily that would like surprise me, if only because like
Speaker 7: those are bigger trades unless they're less likely to happen,
Speaker 7: unless you find you always are smarter by saying it's
Speaker 7: unlikely saying it's gonna happen, and I like to, you know,
Speaker 7: be smart and be extremely risk averse about my reputation.
Speaker 4: So the target clearance aisle, which I guess all three
Speaker 4: of these catches that we talked about, could be that.
Speaker 4: But I can understand your point of the White Sox
Speaker 4: may want to hunt on the waiver wire rather than
Speaker 4: give up any prospects to acquire a catcher via trade.
Speaker 4: James is saying yes, Jim, yes, or no White Sox
Speaker 4: add a catcher before the deadline.
Speaker 2: Yes. Uh.
Speaker 8: Kind of along the same lines of they could just
Speaker 8: try to pry somebody who's doing well in Triple A.
Speaker 8: I couldn't really identify that kind of candidate who I
Speaker 8: looked up like the teams that are rich in catching,
Speaker 8: and then I looked at uh their Triple A rosters
Speaker 8: to see if there's like a well, Cory Lee isn't
Speaker 8: quite doing this year, but just somebody who is killing
Speaker 8: it in Triple A and just is not a part
Speaker 8: of the plans and is maybe on the veteran side
Speaker 8: or has maybe been a third catcher for teams in
Speaker 8: the past, and the White Sox might be able to
Speaker 8: get him for cash consideration something like that. Didn't really
Speaker 8: see anybody fitting that description of just like currently killing it.
Speaker 8: I think like the closest is Chucky Robinson with the Dodgers,
Speaker 8: and the White Sox have had him before, and he's
Speaker 8: been up and down for the past couple of years
Speaker 8: of the Dodgers, and I mean, you know, Dodgers is
Speaker 8: another bad team to look at in terms of hu
Speaker 8: is this guy useful for this kind of just we
Speaker 8: need a catcher, We need somebody behind the plate to
Speaker 8: you have some idea what he's doing when there's an emergency.
Speaker 8: And I think he fits that bill well enough. So
Speaker 8: like that that level I think of acquisition might be
Speaker 8: possible if they look at the trades and say, like, well,
Speaker 8: we want to direct the resources to a starter, and
Speaker 8: what they're asking for catching is demanding the same players
Speaker 8: that we want to direct elsewhere, and that might be
Speaker 8: where they look for. Yeah, the clearance aisle, the you know,
Speaker 8: the wreck outside the store saying make me an offer
Speaker 8: that sort of thing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I do think that the White Sox, I'm gonna
Speaker 4: say they're going to go the trade route. I really
Speaker 4: do like the idea Joannah him. I'm fine with any
Speaker 4: of the options that you also present to Jim. We'll
Speaker 4: see what the White Sox do. But maybe they do
Speaker 4: get some good news and maybe the White Sox front
Speaker 4: office believes Kyle Thiel could return within five to eight
Speaker 4: weeks rather than the six to twelve week window. Really
Speaker 4: depends on how his rehab goes. But after watching this
Speaker 4: series against the Texas Rangers, I don't know if I
Speaker 4: really trust Eggar Carro and Drew Romo five more weeks
Speaker 4: to help the White Sox offensively and defensively stay ahead
Speaker 4: of the Cleveland Guardians. But let us know in the
Speaker 4: comments section, either on YouTube or on soxsmachine dot com
Speaker 4: what direction you want the White Sox to go with
Speaker 4: this particular situation. But that will do it for this
Speaker 4: episode of the Sox Machine Podcast. Thank you guys so
Speaker 4: much for listening. A huge shout out to Aerkrats for
Speaker 4: joining us at the beginning part of the show. Again,
Speaker 4: remember to watch filel Territory daily from twelve to two
Speaker 4: pm Central Time on YouTube dot com slash file Territory.
Speaker 4: You can subscribe to the sox Machine podcast if you
Speaker 4: want to listen to the audio version. Wherever you listen
Speaker 4: to podcasts such as Spotify and Apple Music, you could
Speaker 4: watch the show. We are now a video podcast at
Speaker 4: our YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash sox Machine.
Speaker 4: Follow us on social media. We're on all the social
Speaker 4: media platforms at sox Machine. Follow James Vegan at Jrfvegan.
Speaker 4: You can follow me at sox Machine Underscore Josh. If
Speaker 4: you like to help support us, not only can you
Speaker 4: subscribe to our YouTube channel, but also subscribe to us
Speaker 4: at soxmachine dot com. Our five dollars month plan, which
Speaker 4: is our introduction plan, is now just fifty three cents.
Speaker 4: It's the Chicago White Sox continue to win, so take
Speaker 4: advantage of that sale. So the first month of a
Speaker 4: sox Machine suscriptions just fifty three cents. After that five
Speaker 4: dollars a month that gets you to ad free version
Speaker 4: of the website unlocks the comments section as well for you.
Speaker 4: We have additional tiers of support, including our Veterans Committee,
Speaker 4: which our VC members are going to enjoy Sweet Night
Speaker 4: coming up here in August for the White Sox and
Speaker 4: Guardians series, and they're also in the group chat as well,
Speaker 4: so they're gonna be pestering us with questions soon all
Speaker 4: about the trade deadline, what we are hearing. So if
Speaker 4: you want the gossip whispers gossipers from sos Machine, we
Speaker 4: can join Soxmachine dot com and inquire of joining the
Speaker 4: Veterans Committee. The Sox Machine Podcast is a production of
Speaker 4: Soxmachine dot Com. You're for all of things Chicago White
Speaker 4: Sox Baseball and part of the Foul Territory Network. Alongside
Speaker 4: Jim Marglus and James Vegan. I'm Josh Nelson. Thanks for
Speaker 4: listening and watching.
Speaker 8: H