The White Sox are in the market for an outfielder, as they try to vastly upgrade their production in right field in 2020. They’re reportedly interested in Nick Castellanos, Marcell Ozuna and even Japanese free agent Yoshitomo Tsutsugo.
Last offseason the White Sox attempted to address their hole in right field by engaging in trade talks with the Dodgers for Joc Pederson and they remain interested in dealing for the left-handed hitter this offseason.
There’s another outfielder available via trade and that’s Starling Marte of the Pirates. It’s mostly been speculation and it’s tough to gage exactly what Pittsburgh will do as they completely tore everything down in the front office and hired Ben Cherington to run things. But the rumors are there.
Marte, 31, has two more years of control, owed $11.5 million in 2020 and a $12.5 million club option for 2021. According to Jon Heyman the Pirates might be looking for a young catcher in a potential trade for Marte.
Immediately White Sox fans thought of Zack Collins.
With the addition of Yasmani Grandal and James McCann clearly cemented as the back up catcher for the White Sox Collins doesn’t have a clear path to make Opening Day roster in 2020. Collins, 24, made his MLB debut in 2019, but didn’t see much action, especially during his first call up in the summer.
Collins played in a total of 27 games for the White Sox, but the 2016 first round pick struggled. He only hit .186, but in his small sample size Collins showed that he has patience at the plate, walking 14 times in 102 plate appearances. However, he also struck out 39 times in his short MLB stint and has struck out nearly 27% of the time in the minors.
Collins made improvements at the plate in Triple-A in 2019, but he’s no longer regarded as a top prospect. And he’s not viewed as a good defensive catcher either.
This doesn’t mean the White Sox shouldn’t call the Pirates about Marte, but it’s going to take more than just Collins as the center piece if they want to make a trade with Pittsburgh.
