With the Chicago White Sox still looking to add young players to their roster for their rebuild, they should take a chance on former top prospect Diego Cartaya.
The Chicago White Sox are scouring the free agent and trade markets to find young players to bring in to see if they can turn them around and help them speed up their rebuild. The Los Angeles Dodgers just recently designated for assignment former top prospect Diego Cartaya after they signed Korean superstar Hyeseong Kim to a three-year deal
Diego Cartaya
The now 23-year-old Cartaya was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela back in July of 2018. Once making it as high as being in the top twenty of MLB.com top 100 prospects Cartaya has struggled during his time down in the minor leagues. In 2024 for the Los Angeles Dodger Cartaya spent time at both Double and Triple-A last season in which he played in 95 games, collecting 76 hits, 16 doubles, 11 HRs, 52 RBI, with a slash line of .221/.323/.363 for an OPS of .686.
With the Los Angeles Dodgers currently having Will Smith as their starting catcher who they signed to a ten-year $140 million extension with the Dodgers making him a permanent fixture and having catcher Austin Barnes who has been with the Los Angeles Dodger for a decade now will be Smith’s backup until he retires. The Dodgers also have prospect catcher/outfielder Daulton Rushing getting ready to knock on the door to join the Major League club. With those factors being in place and Cartaya not showing any offensive promise the option was simple to move on from him.
Why should the Chicago White Sox take a chance on Cartaya?
The White Sox have a lot of depth when it comes to catching having both Korey Lee and newly acquired veteran Matt Thaiss on their major league roster. They also have catching prospects Kyle Teel, who they acquired in the Garrett Crochet deal, and Edgar Quero both of whom figure to be ready to be given a chance at the big-league level. With that being said I don’t think the White Sox should acquire Cartaya as a catcher, but I believe they should look to acquire him and convert him into a first basemen.
Adding him to the roster as a first basemen would add a ton of flexibility for new manager Will Venable with Andrew Vaughn being the only true first basemen on the roster. Projected to be a solid defensive catcher by MLB.com and proving that with his play, making the adjustment to first base should figure to be a smooth transition for Cartaya.
Current backup catcher Matt Thaiss has done just that with adding the ability to play both first and third base to give him more versatility for teams so he can expand his chances of playing. With Cartaya just primarily being a catcher and a designated hitter, and one of his biggest knocks being his approach at the plate, adding to his defense could only help Cartaya until his bat comes along.
Adding Diego Cartaya can only prove to be a plus for the Chicago White Sox
Adding Cartaya could only benefit the Chicago White Sox with them being able to buy low on him and have the upside be great for them. If Cartaya can just change his approach at the plate and be more discipled and not chase as much as he does, he could figure to be a solid everyday catcher in the big leagues. With his level of defense having his bat come along is key for Cartaya to find success and break into the Major Leagues. Still being twenty-three and still having an option to the minor leagues available teams certainly will be taking a chance on Cartaya and one of those teams should be the Chicago White Sox.
Chicago White Sox: a look into the future at the catching position
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