Chicago White Sox: Jonathan Lucroy is a strange signing

The Chicago White Sox knew that the only thing about their 2020 team that was a lock to take a hit going into 2021 was their catching depth. Yasmani Grandal is one of the two best catchers in the league but James McCann is a top ten guy and they had both. Well, McCann went off to play for the New York Mets and he deserves the big deal that he signed. Now, the White Sox needs to figure out his replacement, and the Jonathan Lucroy signing makes that search even more interesting.

The Chicago White Sox signing of Jonathan Lucroy is pretty strange.

The White Sox have guys like Zack Collins, Yermin Mercedes, and Seby Zavala. They are all still guys who are young and could be good enough to be true backups to Yasmani Grandal. They also could all not be what we thought they were and put more stress on Grandal. That is probably why the White Sox signed Lucroy but it still feels a bit strange because of how clogged it is now.

Robert Murray of FanSided reported the deal and then Jon Heyman of MLB Network called it a “minors deal”. Chances are that if Lucroy is awesome in Spring Training, he could make the team as the backup catcher. One good thing he could bring is the experience as there was a point where he was one of the best catchers in the world.

Lucroy started his career with the Milwaukee Brewers where he would play for parts of seven seasons. Since then, he has made stops with the Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Angels, Chicago Cubs, and the Boston Red Sox. Now, he hopes to come to the South Side where he can resurrect his career on a good team.

Lucroy didn’t play for the Boston Red Sox in the shortened 2020 season so he is going to be fresh coming into this Spring Training with the White Sox. This isn’t a needle-moving move as if the White Sox are bringing in the old Lucroy but although it may be strange, it could be a move that helps them with their depth for this year.