Blue Jays Notebook: Catcher swap all about roster flexibility

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TORONTO — Swapping catchers with the Chicago White Sox on Sunday evening was about one thing for GM Ross Atkins and his Toronto Blue Jays: flexibility.

Reese McGuire, a left-handed hitting catcher and the 14th-overall pick in the 2013 draft, was out of options and, like last year, could not be sent back to Triple-A without being exposed to waivers.

Zack Collins, a left-handed hitting catcher and the 10th-overall pick in the 2016 draft, has one option remaining, giving the Jays some roster flexibility, especially down the road when rosters shrink from 28 players back to 26 on May 1.

But they’re also completely different profiles.

McGuire is a defence-first backstop and was the best receiver and catch-and-throw option the Jays had behind the plate.

On the other hand, Collins was credited with a not-so-flattering minus-18 Defensive Runs Saved mark in 73 games behind the dish last season with the White Sox.

Collins is minus-22 in his brief career, while McGuire has posted a plus-4 DRS.

Despite so-so numbers across his first 351 plate appearances, Collins was seen as a potential high-OBP power bat on his way up through the minor leagues, but he’s scuffled at the major-league level thus far.

If you go back to 2019, however, Collins did post a .282/.403/.548 slash line with 19 homers in Triple-A, showing the combination of power and patience that got the big 6-foot-3, 220-pound catcher drafted in the top 10 out of the University of Miami.

The move allows the Jays to roll with Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk behind the plate as the club awaits the arrival of top prospect Gabriel Moreno.

In an ideal world, that would happen in June or July after Moreno spends some much-needed time at Triple-A Buffalo to begin