The White Sox traded catcher Chuckie Robinson to the Angels in exchange for cash, the teams announced Wednesday. The Halos designated righty Davis Daniel for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Presumably, the trade of Robinson is the White Sox’ corresponding move to open 40-man roster space for righty Bryse Wilson, who reportedly agreed to a one-year deal there earlier this afternoon. Both teams have full 40-man rosters.
Robinson, 30, has played in two big league seasons, logging 25 games with the ’22 Reds and 26 games with the ChiSox this past season. He’s struggled mightily at the plate, hitting a combined .132/.170/.194 in a small sample of 135 MLB plate appearances. He’s graded out well defensively, though, with good marks for his framing and quality caught-stealing rates. Robinson nabbed nine of the 31 opponents who tried to swipe a base against him in 2024 (29%).
Although Robinson hasn’t hit in his minimal action at the big league level, he’s a .272/.330/.423 hitter in three Triple-A seasons. He also still has a pair of minor league options remaining. He’ll be no higher than third on the organization’s catching depth chart behind Logan O’Hoppe and Travis d’Arnaud, but he’ll give them a more flexible third catcher than they had with the out-of-options Matt Thaiss (who has coincidentally made his way to the White Sox after first being traded from the Angels to the Cubs).
The 27-year-old Daniel will lose his spot on the Angels’ 40-man roster as a result of today’s swap. He’s seen major league time with the Halos in each of the past two seasons but been tagged for an ugly 5.06 ERA in 42 2/3 innings. Daniel has a below-average 19.9% strikeout rate and a solid 8.1% walk rate during that time but has averaged a tepid 92.1 mph on his four-seamer while posting poor whiff rates.
Daniel’s 2024 struggles extended to his Triple-A work (5.43 ERA), but he posted solid numbers there in 2022 (4.49 ERA, 102 1/3 innings) and was sharp in the minors and in the Arizona Fall League as recently as 2023. He also has a minor league option remaining. That could prompt another club to take a look, but if not, Daniels can be outrighted to Triple-A and retained as non-roster depth. The Angels will have a week to trade him or attempt to run him through outright waivers.