All before New Years, the offseason catcher market has filtered most of the available backstops to most of the teams with a glaring hole. Yan Gomes, Mike Zunino, and Omar Narvaez were all traded. Kurt Suzuki, Robinson Chirinos, and Wilson Ramos among others have all signed with teams. Although there are smaller fish out there, along with possible (although increasingly unlikely) trade candidates in JT Realmuto and Francisco Cervelli, one big name remains: Yasmani Grandal.
The switch-hitter was traded to the Dodgers prior to the 2015 season and has established himself as one of the better catchers in the majors. Regardless to whether or not you think his performance is propped up to PEDs that he was suspended for in the minor leagues or if you are concerned about his struggles in this year’s postseason or if you are worried about the fact that he declined a qualifying offer, Grandal is in line for a big payday. Jon Heyman recently reported that Grandal is believed to have a 4-year deal somewhere. Although he will not match the massive $159 million deal that Buster Posey signed, Grandal will likely be signing a long-term deal.
The 30-year-old is projected by Steamer to be worth 3.5 WAR over 128 games, the 3rd highest among catcher projections. Baseball Prospectus, which values catcher framing much more, has valued him at over 4.5 wins above replacement in each of the last 4 seasons. Grandal had a down season at receiving but was still worth over 15 runs above average, which is an elite level. In terms of controlling the running game, Grandal caught an average amount of attempted base stealers in 2018. He is also a very good hitter, he had a 125 wRC+ in 2018 and has been above average from both sides of the plate in his career. Overall, Grandal represents one of the better defensive and offensive catchers in the MLB. The possible All-Star is well deserving of a lot of free agent interest.
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