This winter’s free agent market has been sizzling in some methods however there are nonetheless loads of intriguing names on the market for many positions. One space that moved pretty rapidly was the catching market, with most of the prime names off the board.
It wasn’t an incredible class to start with however the prime free agent backstops this winter have been Danny Jansen, Carson Kelly and Kyle Higashioka. All three of them signed a couple of month in the past. Gary Sánchez, Travis d’Arnaud, Jacob Stallings and Austin Hedges have additionally been locked up.
For groups nonetheless searching for assist behind the plate, their choices are actually extra restricted. Former All-Star Sport MVP Elias Díaz remains to be on the market, although he’s coming off a season by which his struggles have been pronounced sufficient that he was launched by the Rockies, ending out the yr as Higashioka’s backup in San Diego. Christian Bethancourt had some good outcomes with the Cubs final yr however was nonetheless outrighted, maybe on account of how inconsistent he’s been in recent times. James McCann has had satisfactory offense at occasions however his work behind the plate hasn’t been nicely regarded.
One intriguing man nonetheless out there is Yasmani Grandal. His numbers have been tough in 2022 and 2023 however there are some methods by which final yr was a bounceback. The Pirates gave a number of time behind the plate to Joey Bart, who engineered a pleasant breakout season, in addition to former prime total decide Henry Davis. However Grandal was considerably quietly within the combine subsequent to these guys and managed to get into 72 video games and step to the plate 243 occasions, in addition to crouching behind the dish for 560 1/3 innings.
Offensively, he had a cromulent efficiency. His 18.9% strikeout fee was his greatest aside from his part-time work over a decade in the past, earlier than he was established as a giant leaguer. His 9.9% stroll fee was a bit under a few of his earlier work however nonetheless above league common. He additionally popped 9 dwelling runs in that restricted function. His .228/.304/.400 batting line translated to a 95 wRC+, under common total however above par for a catcher.
Grandal has been a strong defender in his profession, significantly within the framing division, and that continued final yr. Amongst guys with at the very least 550 innings caught in 2024, Grandal ranked seventh on the FanGraphs leaderboard for framing. The six guys forward of him on that record every had greater than 700 innings behind the plate. Patrick Bailey was the one backstop considerably forward of the pack on a fee foundation. Statcast had Grandal eleventh on their framing leaderboard. Of the ten guys forward of him, solely Hedges caught fewer pitches than Grandal.
The robust framing contributed to a strong total defensive profile. When mixed with a good yr on the plate, he truly offered some sneaky worth, relying on which measure of wins above substitute you belief most. Baseball Reference solely gave him 0.6 WAR on the yr however FanGraphs had him at 1.4 and Baseball Prospectus at 1.8. That’s probably on account of these retailers having completely different weights for catcher protection or framing particularly.
Grandal hasn’t gotten any consideration this offseason. He hasn’t been tagged at MLBTR since early Could, when he was activated from the injured record, having began the season on the IL on account of plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
He isn’t going to assist promote season tickets, however for golf equipment who nonetheless need upgrades behind the plate, maybe he’s the perfect guess. He isn’t prone to price a lot both. He solely bought $2.5MM plus incentives from the Bucs a yr in the past. Maybe his strong season can get him a bump, however he’s additionally now 36 years outdated and nonetheless unsigned, which doesn’t give him a number of negotiating leverage. Even when he does earn a increase, it certainly received’t be huge.
Going again to Pittsburgh might be not an possibility. Bart certainly earned himself some run after his robust season, whereas the membership nonetheless has Davis. There’s additionally Endy Rodríguez, who appeared to be rising because the membership’s catcher of the long run in 2023, however then spent 2024 recovering from surgical procedure on his ulnar collateral ligament and flexor tendon in his throwing arm. Jason Delay is on the 40-man roster as nicely.
Groups just like the Purple Sox, Nationals, Padres, Phillies, Atlanta, Blue Jays, Mariners and others may arguably do with enhancing their catching depth. A few of these golf equipment have robust beginning choices however most golf equipment keep away from leaning on one catcher an excessive amount of nowadays. Cal Raleigh led the league with 125 begins final yr, that means each staff had a backup/secondary catcher within the beginning lineup at the very least 37 occasions, typically much more.
There’s clearly some danger with signing a 36-year-old catcher however he arguably has a good flooring, relying on how one values his framing. Whereas he struggled offensively in 2022 and 2023, BR thought-about him to be nicely under substitute degree, however FG had him simply barely under, whereas BP gave him 2.3 WAR for that two-year interval.
