Seven-time All-Star Brian McCann is no longer the Yankees’ starting catcher, having lost the role this season to a sensational rookie, but the 32-year-old wants to continue his career in the Bronx.
“I hope I’m back,” McCann told Chad Jennings of the Lohud Yankees Blog. “I’m not sure how it’s all going to play out, but the future is extremely bright here. … I love it here. I love everything about it. Bright future. And I hope I’m a part of it.”
If the Yankees shop McCann in the offseason, he’ll have the main say in whether he stays with the club because he has a full no-trade clause. While McCann is signed through 2018 on the five-year, $85MM contract he inked with the Yankees in November 2013, questions about his future abound in the wake of Gary Sanchez’s emergence behind the plate. The Yankees gauged leaguewide trade interest in McCann before the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline, but no deal came to fruition. New York had discussions with the Braves, with whom he starred from 2005-13, though Atlanta wasn’t open to taking on McCann’s remaining $34MM. As of Sept. 1, the Braves were only willing to pay half of that figure, per FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman. For now, the Yankees seem content to keep McCann.
“I’m hoping to use (McCann) in a lot of different ways,” manager Joe Girardi said. “Getting his bat into the lineup, his ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark, having him catch. This is a guy that takes a lot of pride in that. Understands how to work young pitchers, old pitchers. He understands that. So, this is a guy that’s in our plans. He might move around and do different things, but we want his bat.”
McCann has brought plenty to the table as a hitter and defender throughout his career. However, despite Girardi’s compliments, he hasn’t quite lived up to offensive expectations in New York. McCann’s power has remained mostly intact, as he has swatted between 20 and 26 home runs in each of his three seasons with the Yankees and combined for a .183 ISO, but his overall output (.235/.313/.418 in 1,565 plate appearances) has fallen short of where it was in Atlanta. During his nine-year stint with the Braves, McCann batted .277/.350/.473 with 177 homers and a .196 ISO in 4,354 PAs.
McCann’s roughly league-average offensive production as a Yankee has been more than fine for a catcher, but it won’t be ideal for someone whose primary position going forward could be designated hitter, where McCann appeared in 30 games in 2016. As Jennings notes, though, the Yankees aren’t exactly overflowing with proven major leaguers at DH and first base, another spot McCann could spend time if he remains with the team. Greg Bird and Tyler Austin, two promising youngsters, are the leading in-house candidates to take over for the retired Mark Teixeira at first. Bird was terrific in 2015 over a 178-PA sample, but he missed all of this season with a torn labrum, while Austin hit a respectable .241/.300/.458 with five long balls in 90 trips to the plate as a rookie.
Of course, McCann also provides value as a defender, though he won’t be able to show off his prowess as a backstop as much with Sanchez having taken over behind the plate. Among 114 major league catchers, McCann ranked first in blocking and ninth in framing this season, according to Baseball Prospectus. On the downside, he only threw out 14-of-47 runners who attempted to steal. The big-armed Sanchez went a much better 13-for-32 while grading well as a framer. More impressively, he slashed .299/.376/.657 in 229 PAs and belted 20 homers in just 53 games. Along the way, Sanchez made a believer of McCann.
“Gary is the starting catcher here. He’s going to be that for a long, long time,” McCann told Jennings.
Asking any Yankee fans: Is he still an effective catcher defensively?
Yes, he is. Not as effective as he used to be but still a solid catcher in my opinion.
Trying to determine if he is a better option than Gattis. Would like to see Astros make an attempt here depending on the price.
From a defensive standpoint he’s much better than Gattis. Not very close in that regard. I’m not privy to Gattis’ offensive stats but last I checked in he was posting below league average numbers. As the article states, McCann has been roughly league average.
Gattis hit .240-.250 and had 32 HR, but his numbers as a catcher were much better than as a DH, something about being more involved in the game as a C than a DH kept his focus. If McCann is still good defensively I wouldn’t mind going that route.
Gattis hit .295/.345/.647 with 19 HR in 190 AB’s as a C. It’s really not all that different than what Sanchez has put up at C. .295/.395/..682 with 14 HR in 132 AB’s.. Far from below league average
obp and slg ARE that different between these two
Except Gattis hit his HRs in a ballpark where the left field seats are 250 away. Maybe.
Houston can keep him. Yanks don’t need another catcher, with Romine as a very capable backup to Sanchez and the rapidly improving Higashioka in Triple A.
He’s better at receiving than Sanchez. Blocks pitches good and is good at framing. His defense will be missed next year at catcher. Sanchez just has a good arm. Grades below average pitch framing, blocking and receiving. Mccann is also the undisputed sheriff of the diamond. Enforces baseball’s unwritten rules.
Try watching a Yankees game sometime and use your own eyes to evaluate a player, rather than rely on what you read from those who have no clue. Sanchez is a fine receiver, has an excellent rapore with the pitchers and possesses a cannon for an arm. Blocking pitches and other intangibles will improve with experience. Right now, he’s played one third of a season.
By the way: being the “undisputed sherif of the diamond” is meaningless. As much so as those unwritten rules, which change by the day, sometimes hourly.
So his blocking and other intangibles will improve…. meaning they are not that good. Gotcha. I said he had a good arm. He grades below average in pitch framing. This something that you can find online. Maybe venture out of pinstripealley and do some research.
trade to Braves for a pitcher please!!!
No, Atlanta shouldn’t do anything to acquire McCann.
With the current league wide lack of available quality catchers I’m afraid the price for McCann is only going to go up. As much as I like the kid, I don’t want the Braves to over pay to get him. BMac is in a decline and I’d rather the Braves not go that route unless they get an unexpectedly good deal (which isn’t likely to happen).
Trade Him !
I see the comments above about trading trading McCann. He’s worth more to the Yankees at this point than getting some low level prospects the Braves were offering at the trade deadline. It makes no sense to trade him, eat a portion of his salary and what go into the 2017 season with Romine as the teams back up. They can always look to trade him at the 2017 trade deadline if it comes to that.
Now if the Nationals want to give up something of value and take on more of McCann’s salary than the Braves were willing to do since Ramos is out for the 2017 that’s a different story assuming McCann would waive his NTC.
I don’t know why anyone wants to trade him, this is a team that will need to grow a lot the next two years, they should be in contention but they’re nowhere near World Series contention. He should get a boost in stats with the rest he gets just DH-ing, having McCann, Girardi and Pena around are three great guys for Sanchez to leaen from, and he’s good with the pitching staff. Not to mention he’s just a good teammate. He seems not the least bit upset that Sanchez took his job. The DH options on the market are all too old, and will be really bad contracts in a few years, and I think the Yankees know that. They can improve from trades, but as far as free agents go, they shouldn’t look at anybody besides Turner at 3b, and Melancon or Chapman (Jansen would cost a draft pick). Just keep developing the youth, they played pretty well with them (that horrible road trip was mostly cause no bullpen and they’ll address that.)
You are correct. Mac’s value is far beyond the playing field. The player they should try to trade is Ell’s and if not him I hate it but Gardy. Mac and Gardy bring the right veteran presence but Mac can get reps at DH, 1st and behind the dish. We have a bunch of outfielders who we could pencil in. My call is Ells and cash, Romine, and Ref cause that poor kid is never getting a shot for some kind of pitching.
McCann and cash to the Braves for Mike Soroka.
Kemp for McCann
No
I’m glad you’re not a member of the Braves front office. That’s a terrible trade.
Terrible for the Yankees
Dream on. Braves are stuck with Kemp.
He does work as a 1B/DH as well, and that might save some of the wear and tear from playing catcher, so his bat might come back around. However the catching market is a desperate one so his trade value is probably still pretty high, and gets even higher if the Yankees throw in money. I’d definitely float him in trades, the Yankees need more SP depth for sure and for the rest of the holes they have (1B/DH/OF) they could trade or sign. If they get a better player than available then trade him, but if its Matt Kemp as the trade return ceiling then don’t bother.
They need to see what they have in Judge, Austin (if Bird wins the first base job which is likely), Frazier will probably get here sometime next year, I think bringing in someone like Cespedes or someone just isn’t that good a move for the future, they’d just block their prospects again. And they’re still stuck with Gardner and Ellsbury, ugh. I know Yankees fans are impatient and should go all out and try to win it all every year, but they really need to just see what pans out from their system and fill in holes as they go. If they’re seriously in it and they need to make a move at the deadline, that would be fine. But I see no guys that won’t become bad contracts in a few years (Bautista, Trumbo, Holliday) they played good with the youth and I just want to see them try to develop a good core from within. And a lot of starter prospects that need a chance too (Mitchell, Cessa, Severino, Green, Justus Sheffield eventually) can’t keep blocking all these people.
What are the chances that the Yankees would deal either Gardner or Jacoby in the offseason? It seems like they don’t need both, but there is a large chunk of change attached to both and Ellsbury has a contract that doesn’t seem to end. The A’s seem like a decent destination, but I don’t think they would want the payroll issue.
On a separate issue, do you think they’ll buyout CC for 5 million?
I’d be shocked if they didn’t trade Gardner, they have Austin, Judge and probably Frazier at some point. And Aaron Hicks (who they love unfortunately) but as much as I love Gardner, his decline is fast and his speed is just useless cause he’s the most tentative base stealer ever. If Hicks wasn’t here I’d like him to stay as a 4th outfielder but they’re convinced Hicks is the next Bradley Jr. Ugh.
If I’m not mistaken the Yankees have attempted to tried to deal Gardner the last couple of off seasons with no acceptable offer. Gardner’s performance the last couple of seasons has not helped his value either.
Gardner is still a 3.4 WAR player. That’s a full fledged starter on almost any team in the league. My knowleged of the dollar value to WAR is limited but I’m sure there are others on this site who can help me out. Gardner is actually being underpaid based on his WAR so I believe he is extrememly tradable.
Should trade Gardner but they won’t, would love to trade Elsbury but can’t, Judge is a probably a stiff, Hicks is awful. Given the lack of catching talent, McCann has value but the Yankees will need to eat part of the contract.
And CC isn’t going anywhere, can still pitch.
Agreed. Pitching is so scarce right now, they could even trade CC. If he can eat innings at around a 4 ERA, what’s the problem ?
If you adjust for the HR jump in the AL, McCanns HR production has declined this year. Also, his home-away numbers these 3 years show his production owes a lot to YS3 short porch. I would be very wary about his production being sustained elsewhere. Also, this year he showed some issues in blocking balls and his framing value has declined.
I don’t see he has the bat for DH, although he is a valuable backup C and insurance against Gary sanchez injury. Also, Gary Sanchez batted 222 his last 31 games, so he may have some issues adjusting to league adjustments in 2017
They should keep him. They can’t get sufficient value for him, especially since they would have to pay down his contract. He’s still a decent player, and at a difficult position, Yes, they overpaid to get him, and in hindsight, it set off a series of mistakes, but he’s a quality major league catcher and Sanchez is not catching 130 games next year.
I would see what you can get for Mcann. He’s not a DH. Have better bats in minors for next year and a very sustainable catcher in Romine. They need pitching so I would try to package Mcann in and try not to give up the prospects for pitching. If no deals are appealing keep him and find someone looking for a catcher before trade deadline. I like him but he’s a 32 yr old catcher who’s catching days are limited. He can’t run at all. Would rather stick to youth movement. I believe the AAA team won their league championship without Sanchez,Judge, Cessa, Green, Mitchell, Austin, Bird, and Torreyes. That should tell Yankee fans there are still more good things coming.