It was an exciting day for Chicago White Sox fans on Thursday in more ways that one.
The organization announced a long-term investment agreement that will eventually lead to Jerry Reinsdorf selling the team, Tim Elko hit a walk-off single against the rival Tigers, and Colson Montgomery blasted two home runs in Charlotte all in the same day.
There was also some immediately impactful White Sox news when top prospect Kyle Teel was scratched from the lineup in Triple-A and called up to the Major Leagues.
Teel, a 23-year-old catcher acquired from the Boston Red Sox in the Garrett Crochet trade, has been red hot over the last month. Since April 19th, Teel is batting .344 with a .982 OPS. He has eight (8) home runs and 30 RBIs this season in 183 at-bats.
There's a reason why Teel is the No. 2 prospect in the White Sox organization, the No. 26 prospect in all of baseball, and one of the top minor league catchers in the sport.
The news of Teel being called up gives White Sox fans a ton of excitement. This is another top prospect with future All-Star potential that will give fans a reason to watch the games on a nightly basis. Teel is easily in the same group as Chase Meidroth, Edgar Quero, Miguel Vargas, and even Tim Elko as players who might be part of Chicago's next "core."
The news also points to the White Sox making a trade at the upcoming trade deadline that was significantly more unlikely before Teel joined the team. I think the White Sox are getting ready to trade Korey Lee.
The White Sox will trade Korey Lee
Korey Lee has only played in 14 games for the White Sox this year thanks to a stint on the Injured List with a left ankle sprain. In those 14 games, the 26-year-old catcher in batting .250/.300/.357 with a .657 OPS.
Lee hasn't looked bad at the plate, but he needs his power to come along like it did in 2024 for him to have any real offensive value.
Lee has a lot of things going for him from a tools standpoint. He's way more atheltic than your average catcher. He runs well on the base paths and has an elite pop time when throwing runners out. In 2024, Lee was in the 97th percentile in catcher pop time and 82nd percentile in caught stealing above average.
He's a good defensive catcher with big power, but an alarming swing-and-miss rate in his offensive profile. Still, there is room for more development. Even at his worst, Lee's tools make him an exciting backup catcher for a big league contender.
Given the fact that Lee is under club control through the 2029 season, I think there's an argument for the White Sox to keep him around and continue developing him. But with Teel getting promoted so early in the season, I think Chicago is going to look for a Korey Lee buyer in the next few months. It feels like overkill to have three catchers on this roster, even if Lee and Teel are capable of playing first base.
Lee is a power bat off the bench that can generate instant offense and a sound defensive replacement behind the dish. There's a ton of value in that to a contending team and he comes with 4.5 years of control. I just think the White Sox have more interest in exploring Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero right now.
Trading Lee could net the White Sox an interesting return of prospects, even though none of them will be elite at this stage.