The Chicago baseball trade everyone was looking forward to this offseason is now official. That’s right, the Cubs have traded backup catcher Matt Thaiss to the White Sox for some cash. No idea how much money actually exchanged hands, but Thaiss’ Cubs career comes to an end before it ever began.
Thaiss was DFA’d by the Los Angeles Angels back in November and the Cubs picked him up soon after by also sending money out West. Following the free-agent signing of Carson Kelly, the Cubs have now shipped Thaiss to the other side of town.
The #WhiteSox have acquired catcher Matt Thaiss from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for cash considerations.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) December 18, 2024
Interestingly enough, it seems like the Cubs were the middle man here because the White Sox ended up trading one of their backup catchers, Chuckie Robinson, to the Angels on Wednesday.
The Chicago White Sox have traded catcher Chuckie Robinson to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for cash considerations.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) December 18, 2024
Thaiss, 29, has 245 MLB games under his belt all coming with the Angels. He debuted in 2019, and since then has posted a career 83 wRC+.
In 2024, Thaiss appeared in 57 games and slashed .204/.323/.299, recording an 83 wRC+ which matched his career mark. He’s a patient hitter, recording a walk rate of 12.6% throughout his career, including a 15.1 BB% in 2024, but that also comes with a career 29.3 K%. Thaiss hit 9 home runs in 307 plate appearances during the 2023 season, the best offensive output of his career.
It was an odd move by the Cubs, but as we first thought Thaiss was mainly an emergency option at catcher for the Cubs. Maybe Jed Hoyer did Chris Getz a favor by keeping Thaiss around only to later send him to the White Sox this offseason.
Thaiss avoided arbitration with the Cubs in November, agreeing to a one-year contract for 2025. The catcher can earn up to $1 million while he’s up in the majors and $400k when he’s in the minor leagues. Thaiss is under team control through the 2027 season.
