Jays Trade Reese McGuire to White Sox

I guess the Blue Jays have decided not to carry three catchers. Or, well, who knows. The Jays have traded Reese McGuire to the White Sox for Zack Collins, who is also a catcher, but one that has an option left.

Zack was a first-round pick back in 2016. He played in 78 MLB games last year, hitting .210/.330/.338 with 4 home runs. He is also a left-handed hitting catcher.

Collins was #56 on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects before the 2017 season. But, by 2021, he dropped to the #29 prospect in the White Sox system. They said:

Collins’ extreme plate discipline plays like a double-edged sword. One the one hand, he sees a ton of pitches and works walks. On the other, getting deep into counts leads to strikeouts. He has a hand hitch in his swing that, when everything is right, can be counteracted with quick hands through the zone. He has plenty of raw power but needs to make more contact to get to it more often. He’s a subpar defender who has a strong throwing arm but slow-twitch mechanics that make it difficult for him to catch runners trying to steal. He could also stand to sharpen his receiving skills.

He went from their #4 to #5 to #12 to #14 to #29, so he hasn’t exactly shown why he was a #1 draft pick.

Bye Reese, I enjoyed watching you play, but I’m happy we won’t hear so many bad jokes every time your name is mentioned.

Seems like Jansen and Kirk will be our catchers to start the season.