The Chicago White Sox acquired Luisangel Acuña in a trade with the New York Mets for Luis Robert Jr., but it appears that his new team may not know exactly what they have in their new player.
In an astonishing story, White Sox GM Chris Getz has repeatedly referred to Acuña as a switch-hitter this offseason. However, nobody can find any evidence that that is actually the case. He’s a right-handed batter who doesn’t appear to have ever taken a professional at-bat from the left-hand side.
And yet, there have been at least four separate occasions where Getz has commented on his prowess from both sides of the plate.
Acuña is more of a prospect at just 23 years old, who has 214 at-bats across two seasons with the Mets, with a .248 batting average and a .640 career OPS. But it’s not a great sign for his future with the White Sox when the man who traded for him has no idea how he bats.
This latest bizarre chapter in recent White Sox history drew a stunned reaction from Laurence Holmes and Matt Spiegel on Chicago radio station 670 The Score.
“Not like he got caught in a moment in one press conference and said it. This is four different times that he said it. And unless the audio is doctored, the general manager of the team doesn’t know what one of the players that he traded for does for a living,” Holmes said in disbelief. “I find that to be problematic. He’s been asked about it four separate times and doesn’t know what the guy does. That’s not a really good establisher for, ‘you’re the GM that’s turning things around for the White Sox. I don’t care if you like the guy as a pro talent or not, you should at least know his profile. You should at least know what side of the plate he hits from!”
There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to running a baseball organization. Between the main roster and all the farm teams and prospects, there’s a lot more to keep track of compared to the other major pro sports. But not knowing what side or side(s) a player bats from that was involved in a major trade and now plays for your team is incomprehensible. Maybe there’s a reason why the Chicago White Sox have lost 100 games in three straight seasons.
At least they’ve still got the Pope on their side.
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