Unowned
Yermin Mercedes, C
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Scouting report
The effervescent Mercedes' long, circuitous path to the big leagues culminated in just one 2020 plate appearance, but he remains in the White Sox mix to play a situational, bat-only bench or part-time role in the immediate future. I wrote last year that Mercedes is built such that he looks ripped and fat at the same time, and if you've been watching him catch for Licey in the Dominican Winter League, you can see he's begun to trend toward the latter. It doesn't matter all that much though because, anticipated rule changes or not, he can't catch, nor can he really play first base. Instead, his is a DH-only profile with serious strength, bat speed, and hand-eye coordination that might enable him to play a valuable situational role if he can overcome a propensity to chase. It's not as if the Yermínator lacks any kind of approach. With two strikes, he ditches his huge leg kick and focuses on putting the ball in play with just his hands and wrists, and he often still hits the ball hard like this because he's so strong. Perhaps he'll have some trade value once baseball moves to a universal designated hitter but I tend to think Mercedes' epicurean sensibilities at the plate would undermine his ability to play every day. Instead, I think if he's deployed in situations where the opposing pitcher can't pitch around him and has to throw strikes, he'll be a very, very dangerous late-game hitter. How the org decides to prioritize his opportunities versus Adolfo's, Zack Collins' and others might be up to the new manager. (Alternate site, MLB (barely), LIDOM)