The White Sox made three roster moves this morning, all of which are minor in nature, but one of which has implications for the way the team will manage a position for the foreseeable future.
The White Sox placed Jimmy Lambert on the 15-day injured list with right ankle inflammation after his abrupt exit during his batter on Sunday, replacing him with Declan Cronin, which merits a shrug for a White Sox bullpen that's as amorphous as it is anonymous.
But the White Sox also concluded Seby Zavala's rehab stint by designating him for assignment, and there are some repercussions with that move.
Zavala, who was out of options, made the decision pretty easy, given that he hit .155/.207/.304 with 68 strikeouts over 176 plate appearances. He just turned 30 last week, whereas Korey Lee is 25 and Carlos Pérez turns 27 next week, so there's more reason to buy into potential upside elsewhere. Zavala can opt for free agency this time around because he's been previously outrighted off the 40-man roster.
Defense is the one reason I thought Zavala might hang around. He ranked 11th in catcher framing runs according to Statcast, and while Yasmani Grandal hung close with him there, Zavala also finished seventh in catcher blocking runs, whereas the more porous Grandal rated as average.
I could've seen a temporary arrangement where Zavala returned to the roster as the veteran caddy for Lee -- or at least the more experienced once -- because nobody involved with the White Sox appears particularly invested in winning ballgames over the remainder of the season.
But Lee has started his White Sox career 1-for-22, whereas Grandal is pretty much the only White Sox showing any semblance of pitch recognition. He has a 13.2 percent walk rate since the start of August, and Andrew Benintendi is next with 7.5. The average walk rate over this period? 8.3 percent.
Grifol downplayed Lee's offensive struggles before the game where Grifol benched Lee for a lack of hustle:
“When I look at a catcher and a catcher’s development, I don’t even think about his hitting,” Pedro Grifol said. “I really don’t. Obviously there’s an offensive side where you have to do some things offensively. But there’s so much I ask catchers to do that he has to work on and develop. Hitting has become secondary for me.”
... but saddling Lee with another Lee-quality hitter wouldn't seem to do anybody any favors. (Also, add Lee's hitting to the list of things Grifol doesn't even think about.)
If Grifol is committed to playing Lee over the last few weeks, perhaps it's easier to do so with a catcher whose situation will be neatly resolved after the end of the season, whereas Zavala would have a job he'd be playing for as well. Lee says Grandal has been valuable to work with ...
Grandal, who is coming to the end of his four-year, $73 million deal with the White Sox, is mentoring Lee, who was acquired from Houston at the Trade Deadline for reliever Kendall Graveman.
“It’s been a game changer,” said Lee, who is 1-for-19 since joining the White Sox. “I’ve learned every single day, talking with Pedro, talking with Yas about game calling and setups.
“We are feeling good about it. I give all the credit to him for helping me and doing this for me. You don’t see that a lot in older players. I’m very fortunate to have him work with me.”
... and maybe he is, although Lee would also say the same things if Grandal were a cold, indifferent presence due to his own lack of standing. The White Sox have been losing two out of three games since the start of July, so it's hard to understand how the product would look any different if he were paired with Pérez instead.
The good news is that none of this seems to matter, because nothing seems to matter. Come Sept. 29, Grandal will join Zavala on the way out, leaving Lee and Pérez on the 40-man roster with Adam Hackenberg as an immediate third-catcher option and Edgar Quero waiting in the wings. If simpler accounting was all the White Sox intended with this maneuver, they've finally accomplished something this month.
