The Chicago Cubs have made a trade to strengthen their depth at catcher by acquiring William Simoneit from the Philadelphia Phillies. Simoneit has been assigned to the Cubs’ Double-A affiliate in West Tennessee, filling in for Moises Ballesteros who was promoted to Triple-A this week. In exchange for Simoneit, the Cubs will send cash considerations to the Phillies.
Simoneit has played in 20 games between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the Phillies’ organization this season. He has hit two home runs, driven in eight runs, and drawn seven walks in 77 plate appearances. His season slash line is .145/.286/.306.
Ballesteros is the top-ranked catcher in the Cubs’ system and is their No. 6 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline. He has had a productive season so far with West Tennessee, hitting nine home runs and collecting 43 RBI’s in 56 games. Ballesteros currently has a slash line of .299/.372/.495 in 223 plate appearances for the Smokies.
The Cubs are confident that Simoneit will be able to fill in seamlessly for Ballesteros while he makes his Triple-A debut with the Iowa Cubs as they take on the Indianapolis Indians on Tuesday.
