White Sox urged to make complicated move with former top prospect

The Chicago White Sox have been one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season, as they are firmly in contention in the AL Central after having been MLB doormats the past several years.

A whole lot has been going right for the White Sox, at least in terms of players showing improvement. However, if there is one player who has not been following that trend, it’s catcher Edgar Quero.

Quero was tabbed as Chicago’s starting backstop entering the campaign as a result of Kyle Teel suffering a hamstring injury during the World Baseball Classic. Considering Quero was a former top prospect and showed some promise last season, there was hope for him.

Unfortunately, Quero has not delivered, owning a .154/.253/.167 slash line with no home runs and six RBI over 93 plate appearances thus far. His defense also has not been great, and he lays claim to a negative-0.5 WAR at FanGraphs.

So, what should Chicago do with Quero? Noah Phalen of Southside Showdown feels there is only one solution: a demotion.

Chicago White Sox urged to demote Edgar Quero

Drew Romo — another top White Sox prospect — was recently called up and has certainly produced more than Quero, having already homered three times in seven games.

It seems pretty clear that Romo should be the starting catcher for now, which could lead to Quero being sent down to Triple-A … if it’s feasible.

“Any move involving Quero’s demotion to Charlotte would be difficult at the moment,” Phalen wrote. “Kyle Teel has yet to begin a rehab stint as he recovers from his hamstring injury, and the White Sox have no other catchers on the 40-man roster. The team could theoretically add Korey Lee or Josh Breaux to the big league roster, but it would require opening a spot on the 40-man.”

While Phalen clearly acknowledges how awkward such a demotion might be, he isn’t sure Chicago can continue moving forward with Quero on the major-league squad.

“The smoothest course of action would be to wait until Teel’s return to give Quero a break, but the longer it takes, the more the team is being negatively impacted by Quero’s poor play,” Phalen wrote. “At this point, the White Sox just can’t afford to maintain the status quo.”

The White Sox could just give Romo the vast majority of the starts and play Quero sparingly, but even then, it’s almost like giving up an out in the lineup, and again, Quero’s defense has not been up to par, either.

Last year, Quero slashed a respectable .268/.333/.356 across 403 trips to the dish, so perhaps there is hope for a turnaround, but at this point, it seems like the 23-year-old has lost all of his confidence.

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