The White Sox have agreed to terms with free agent catcher James McCann on a deal pending a physcial, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. Jon Heyman of FanCred reports that McCann will receive $2.5 million in what will be a one-year deal.
McCann was originally drafted out of Dos Pueblos High School by the White Sox in the 31st round of the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft. However, he decided to attend the University of Akansas before being drafted by the Tigers in 2011. Since then, he has remained with the organization and played at the Major League level with Detroit for the past 5 seasons. In 2018, the 28-year-old hit .220 with 8 home runs, 39 RBI, a .267 OBP, .314 SLG, and .581 OPS in a total of 118 games (457 at-bats). Career-wise, McCann has never been strong offensively, owning a .240 overall average.
After the White Sox traded catcher Omar Narvaez to Seattle in return for Alex Colome, it was expected that the organization would look to add some depth behind the plate. With both Seby Zavala and Zack Collins still developing in the minors, the signing of McCann allows the Sox to have two catchers with Major League experience on the 40-man roster. While McCann is not great defensively by any means and may be worse than Narvaez, he is someone who can serve as the back-up to Welington Castillo until either Zavala or Collins are promoted later in the season.
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