Dodgers To Sign Josh Thole
The Dodgers are signing veteran catcher Josh Thole to a minor league contract, according to Andersen Pickard of MLB Daily Dish.
Thole, 32, is a left-handed hitter and veteran of 8 MLB seasons. He is most notably known as R.A. Dickey’s personal catcher when he was with the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays.
His best season came in 2010 for the Mets where he hit .277/.357/.366 with a 103 wRC+ and put up a 1.3 WAR. During spring training in 2017 as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Thole suffered a torn hamstring and missed the entire season. In 2018, he was signed to a minor league deal for the Detroit Tigers and played in 21 games for their AA team.
Thole holds a career .242/.313/.306 slash line with 9 home runs, a .278 wOBA, 73 wRC+ and 0.7 wins above replacement. In 2016, his last season with time in the majors, Thole was ranked as the 18th best pitch framer by framing runs above average at 7.9.
Expect Thole to get a non-roster invite to spring training but don’t expect to see him in the majors this season. He is purely a depth signing who will bring veteran experience to help teach the younger players in the minor leagues.
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Goodbye Rocky Gale. It was inevitable that Gale would be DFA and with Thole on a minor league deal the Dodgers can DFA Gale who can then start his coaching career.
I would have thought this was just one of Andy’s small, minor league moves anyway and besides he’s simply another LHB.. No big deal in any event. Hey but soon thole can begin his coaching career as well.
Hey Socal…….thinking about this Marwin Gonzalez thing again…..With only a month to go….more and more it would seem to be a wise signing. Dodgers still need another right handed bat…..with the dearth of right handed bats now that Puig and Kemp are gone, LeMahieu signing with the Yanks, now you are stuck with Gonzalez, Pollock or trying to create a trade……..everyday I watch this thing drag out Gonzalez has become a no brainer solution to me……most importantly you get to keep Verdugo……and even though Gonzalez fell off a bit at the plate last yr. (has strange RH/LH splits too), he can play all over the diamond…………and with Dave’s platoon every single day mantra thing still going on, coupled with Gonzalez ability to switch hit, he would work VERY well in our system of multi positional guys……..and yet there are no rumors of the Dodgers being connected to him………question is why not?
The Dodgers are missing the boat on alot of free agency players,good luck this year (2019 ),I have been a Dodger fan since the 50`s and I have more instinctive knowledge than the front office , you need to step out of the box ,look around , see what is happening elsewhere,or you will be waving goodbye to your return trip, the Dodgers need help it`s there, look at what is left in free agency,don`t look to next year (2020) which in reality is a good sight great free agents coming but look to now,or go back to your former teams.thank you