Kyle Teel ‘completely surprised’ by trade to the White Sox but ‘excited’ to get to work
Kyle Teel went from being part of the “Big 4” in the Red Sox organization, along with top prospects Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kristian Campbell, to the White Sox as part of the five-player deal for Garrett Crochet.
The 22-year-old learned of the trade on Wednesday afternoon and was shocked by the move.
“I was driving to training, and it came as a complete surprise,” Teel said on a Zoom call Friday, meeting with White Sox media. “I definitely didn’t see it coming at all. Completely, completely surprised. The emotion I felt was surprise at first, but then excited as it settled in. And ready to go.”
Teel was the Red Sox' top catching prospect in the system, splitting time between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester in 2024. The former first-rounder thought he developed a lot over his first two professional seasons.
“I would say that I developed a ton last year, especially from the defensive aspect of just catching every day,” said Teel. “Learning how to deal with pitchers and work with them to help them be their best, I think I improved a ton with game calling and that aspect of the game. As for other things like receiving, my receiving metrics exploded towards the end of the year.
“And it's just, I want to keep that rolling as we get going.”
Teel’s former Triple-A manager, Chad Tracy, was impressed with his younger catcher as he put in the work and developed as a catcher last season.
“I thought he made big improvements from the day he arrived to the day the season ended,” said Tracy while on the “To the Show We Go” Baseball Podcast.
“There were a lot of things that were just as far. A lot of the stuff with Kyle and me and Dan was just touching on preparation. The level of preparation at that level at AAA when you're now catching guys that are big league pitchers. More so, the guys you're catching expect that level of preparation because they were in the big leagues, and they prepare a certain way there. And we try to carry that down.
“So...him understanding the level of preparation it takes, the knowledge of your pitchers that you have to know them inside and out when you see him running from the bullpen, you should know right away here's how we pitch to righties with him, here's how we pitch to lefties with him, you got to know that stuff like boom, just like that. Um, what's his go-to pitch? Uh, when you're trying to kill count, when you're trying to put somebody away, right? All that stuff.”
Teel is obsessed with getting better, from learning how to get better at game calling to becoming a being a receiver behind the plate.
“My receiving metrics exploded towards the end of the year,” said Teel. “It’s just, I want to keep that rolling as we get going. I'm very obsessed with getting better. It's just ingrained in me. At the same time, when I'm at the field and everyone's like, I'm talking to coaches; I'm talking to players.
“I love talking the game as well. I love getting to know guys, personalities. So I would say it's a combination of loving the game, loving the people around me, and just making the most of my time wherever I'm at. There's so many things I love about catching.
Throwing runners out is awesome. It completely swings the momentum of the game to your team's favor. Game calling has been something I've grown to love. Just learning how to use certain tools and look at opposing hitters and receiving, I would say throwing runners out and receiving would be the top two.”
Teel has a chance to make the White Sox roster out of spring training. Chicago has Korey Lee and Chuckie Robinson on their 26-man roster, and with a strong showing in camp, could bump one of those two off the roster.
White Sox general manager Chris Getz explained the importance of the catching position in baseball and said Teel will be a big part of his team’s rebuilding process moving forward.
“When you talk about accelerating a rebuild, this was a deal that we feel like can do that,” Getz said to reporters following the trade. “… To have strength [at catcher] is really important to us. … Catching is gold right now in this game based on conversations we’ve had with other clubs.”
