A's Sign Yohel Pozo to Minor League Deal
A day after trading away Sean Murphy, the Oakland Athletics signed another catcher.
Alden González of ESPN is reporting that Yohel Pozo is now with the A's on a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.
Some may remember Pozo as a member of the Texas Rangers in 2021, when he went 9-for-23 against the A's in two series, including a three-run homer off of Sergio Romo in his big league debut.
The now 25-year-old backstop ended up hitting .284 that season with a .313 OBP in 77 plate appearances that included ten strikeouts and three walks. Five of his 21 hits went for extra bases.
Pozo swings it from the right side, and the reports on his defense aren't sterling, but he makes a ton of contact when he steps into the box. He has never struck out more than 13% of the time at any stop in the pros. He has also not walked consistently, posting a walk rate of 4.1% in Triple-A last season in 65 games. The previous season he walked just 2.2% in 77 Triple-A games.
Offensively, he's a league average bat for a catcher (90 OPS+ overall), and there is some value in that.
Manny Piña was acquired to be the backup to Shea Langeliers in the Sean Murphy deal, but he played in just five games in 2022 due to a wrist injury, so there may be a time when the A's need to call upon a catcher in the minor leagues, and Pozo is the only one with big league experience.
Kyle McCann had a nice bounce back season in 2022, batting .238 with a .342 on-base and 20 home runs in Double-A, but he has only played seven games in Las Vegas.
The same goes for 1B/C Tyler Soderstrom, the A's top prospect. The 21-year-old lefty bat started the season off in Lansing before moving up to Midland for a little over a month, then finishing the season in Triple-A for nine games. In 134 games between the three levels, Soderstrom hit 29 homers and drove in 105 runs. His bat is special, and the A's won't want to rush him to the big leagues.
McCann, Pozo, and Soderstrom are not on the 40-man roster at this time. Jonah Bride is technically the third rostered catcher in an emergency situation.
If there is an injury to Piña or Langeliers, Pozo could be the first name called, and his offensive profile is pretty interesting. He has been compared to Willians Astudillo, but the former Twins catcher struck out even less, topping 6% just once, and also walked a little less.
At the very least, the A's have a backstop backup plan.