In a recent post, I looked at some potential landing spots for Willson Contreras, should the Cubs decide to move him. A few commenters expressed surprise that the Marlins weren’t on the list. While it’s true that Miami could use a new backstop, and has been rumored to have interest in Contreras in the past, my logic for leaving them off the list was that I expect they will target a catcher with more control than Contreras, who would be a pure rental. While it’s possible they could trade for Contreras and then sign him to an extension, that wouldn’t be cheap, especially for a club that has been stripping payroll down in recent years. It seems more likely that they will target a catcher that matches their current core.
With Jazz Chisholm Jr., Bryan De La Cruz, Jesus Sanchez, Sandy Alcantara, Trevor Rogers, Pablo Lopez, Elieser Hernandez, Jesus Luzardo and others, the club has a solid core of players that are between the ages of 23 and 27, and all come with at least three years of control. They also have five prospects on both the MLB Pipeline and FanGraphs Top 100, as well as six on Baseball America’s list. The club has everything in place to open a competitive window soon, but after going 67-95 in 2021, it’s probably too soon to be going after a win-now piece like Contreras.
In the first few months of 2021, most of Miami’s playing time behind the plate went to Jorge Alfaro, Sandy Leon and Chad Wallach. With none of those three locking down the job, the club acquired a couple of catchers at the trade deadline, trading Adam Duvall to Atlanta for Alex Jackson as well as sending John Curtiss to Milwaukee for Payton Henry. Down the stretch, Jackson was given 30 starts as a catcher and Henry got five, but neither did enough to secure the position. Nick Fortes played better than both of them, but in a small sample of just 14 games that doesn’t align with his minor league track record. The position still seems to be wide open with the club looking for outside upgrades, as manager Don Mattingly admitted when discussing the situation a few weeks ago. But since there’s a weak free agent class and the Marlins have about a dozen viable starting pitchers, there should be plenty of avenues for trade discussions this winter. Let’s dig into some options.
Blue Jays: The Canadian birds are loaded with young, cheap, controllable catchers, with varying degrees of appeal. Danny Jansen is entering his age-27 season, which will be his first of three arbitration years. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz recently projected his salary will be a modest $1.5MM. He dealt with various injuries in 2021 and only got into 70 games, but hit 11 home runs in that time and slashed .223/299/.473, producing a wRC of 105 and 1.4 fWAR. Reese McGuire got a lot of playing time when Jansen was hurt, getting into 78 games and hitting .253/.310/.343, for a wRC+ of 78 and 1.3 fWAR. He’ll turn 27 in March, has just over two years of service time and is therefore one season away from arbitration and four away from free agency. Alejandro Kirk also spent some time on the IL and only got into 60 games. He hit .242/.328/.436 for a wRC+ of 106 and 0.7 fWAR. He’ll turn 23 in November and has five years of team control remaining. On top of those three MLB-ready options, the club also has one of the best catching prospects in the majors in Gabriel Moreno. Baseball America lists him as the 8th overall prospect and the second-highest catcher, behind only Adley Rutschman. MLB Pipeline and FanGraphs both have him as the 32nd overall prospect. Though he hasn’t reached the big leagues yet, he finished 2021 at Triple-A and will be appearing in this year’s Arizona Fall League. With the Blue Jays losing Robbie Ray and Steven Matz to free agency, they could perhaps part with one of these catchers in exchange for one of the dozen or so starting pitchers that the Marlins have to offer.
Atlanta: Travis d’Arnaud recently signed an extension, agreeing to stay in Atlanta through at least 2023, with a club option for 2024. With d’Arnaud seemingly lined up to be the go-to catcher for the next few years, that could put a squeeze on some of the other options in the organization. William Contreras is still a few months away from his 24th birthday but has gotten into 56 big-league games already. In that time, he’s hit .225/.308/.405, for a wRC+ of 89. He has six years of team control remaining. Waiver claim Chadwick Tromp is on hand as a depth option. And then there’s Shea Langeliers, the club’s best catching prospect. Baseball America ranks him the 68th best overall prospect in baseball, MLB Pipeline has him 69th, and FanGraphs ranks him 52nd. He played most of this season at Double-A and even got into five Triple-A games. Despite already trading Alex Jackson to Miami a few months ago, they might be able to do line up on another deal.
Tigers: Eric Haase had a breakout campaign in 2021, his age-28 season. In 98 games, he bopped 22 homers and produced an overall line of .231/.286/.429, wRC+ of 100 and 1.0 fWAR. He has five years of team control remaining. Jake Rogers was enjoying a nice breakout before an injury shut him down, eventually leading to Tommy John surgery, which will keep him out for at least part of the 2022 campaign. In 38 games in 2021 before the injury, he hit .239/.306/.496, wRC+ of 115 and 1.0 fWAR. He also has five years of team control remaining. The club also has Dustin Garneau and Grayson Greiner on hand, who both made decent contributions in their limited action in 2021. There’s also the Dillon Dingler factor, as the prospect finished the season at Double-A. FanGraphs lists him as the 73rd-best prospect in baseball. Given all these competent options, they could subtract someone and still feel good about their situation behind the plate. Perhaps Miami would be willing to take on Rogers and give Alex Jackson a chance to prove himself until Rogers is healthy. Although they’ve been in rebuild mode for a few years, it seems like the Tigers will attempt to return to contention in 2022. They have lots of intriguing young arms but lost Wily Peralta to free agency and may not get anything from Spencer Turnbull or Matthew Boyd next year because of injuries. One of those Miami arms would make a great fit in Detroit.
Padres: The Friars have a couple of adequate catchers in the majors, Victor Caratini and Austin Nola. Caratini had a down year in 2021 but still has passable numbers of the past few campaigns. From 2019 to 2021, his overall line is .244/.327/.368, wRC+ of 86. 2022 will be his second of three arbitration years, with MLBTR projecting a salary of $2.1MM for the 28-year-old. Nola, on the other hand, is still a year away from arbitration and has four years of team control remaining. In 183 games over the past three seasons, his slash line is .271/.345/.435, for a wRC+ of 114 and 4.2 fWAR. And the picture gets crowded when we consider Luis Campusano. He’s ranked as the 32nd prospect in baseball by Baseball America, 37th by MLB Pipeline and 15th by FanGraphs. The 23-year-old has already had a cup of coffee at the majors, getting into 12 games for San Diego. Since they are running franchise-record payrolls of late, trading a catcher could be a way to upgrade their roster without breaking the bank.
Twins: Even with a terrible showing in the shortened 2020 campaign, Mitch Garver is still on a solid four-year run for the Twins. From 2018-2021, his line is .259/.344/.501, wRC+ of 125 and 6.3 fWAR. He has two seasons of team control remaining and is projected by MLBTR to earn $3.1MM in arbitration next year. Ryan Jeffers had a solid debut in 2020, but took a bit of a step backward in 2021. However, he’s still only 24 years old and comes with five years of control. His overall slash line between 2020 and 2021 is .221/.285/.407, producing a wRC+ of 88 and 1.1 fWAR in 111 games. They also have Ben Rortvedt on hand, who made his debut in 2021. He didn’t show much with the bat, but it was a small sample size of 39 games, and he has much better offensive numbers in the minors. He just turned 24 and has six years of team control remaining. He’s also left-handed, with Garver and Jeffers both being righties. 2021 was an awful campaign for the Twins but all indicators suggest they’re hoping to immediately return to competing in 2022. The rotation lost Jose Berrios to trade, Michael Pineda to free agency and Kenta Maeda to injury, leaving plenty of room for a new acquisition.
Pirates: Pittsburgh hopes that its catcher of the future is Henry Davis, which is why they selected him first overall in the 2021 MLB draft. Baseball America ranks him as the 44th best prospect in baseball, MLB Pipeline 22nd and FanGraphs 27th. He’s likely still a few years away from reaching the big leagues, but the Pirates aren’t expected to compete in the interim. They could easily subtract someone like Jacob Stallings and sign a cheap veteran to take his place. Stallings turns 32 in December and has three years of club control remaining. As a Super Two player, he’s already gone through arbitration once, making $1.3MM in 2021. MLBTR projects he will double that to $2.6MM for 2022. He generally hits just below league average but adds value with his excellent defense. For instance, his 2021 slash line was .246/.335/.369, for a wRC+ of 95. But because of his defensive contributions, he was worth 2.6 fWAR on the year, which was double his previous best. One of the worst teams in baseball this season, the Pirates will be looking to stockpile as much young talent as they can in order to return to contention.
White Sox: Yasmani Grandal is entrenched as the primary catcher for the Pale Hose as he still has two years left on his contract. Yermin Mercedes had a tantalizing showing with the bat at the start of the season, but got squeezed out of playing time and eventually optioned down to the minors. Even when Grandal was on the injured list, the playing time went primarily to Seby Zavala and Zack Collins. In 68 games at the big-league level this year, Mercedes hit .271/.328/.404, for a wRC+ of 102. In 59 Triple-A games, the production was similar, as he slashed .275/.318/.464, wRC+ of 106. There was some scuttlebutt that Mercedes was unhappy with the organization, and he even briefly retired in July, only to quickly return. Perhaps a change of scenery would be beneficial to all parties. Mercedes will turn 29 in February but has six years of team control remaining. The White Sox have a solid rotation but will be losing Carlos Rodon to free agency.
Diamondbacks: Similar to the Pirates, the Diamondbacks are coming off a terrible year and probably considering any veteran-for-prospect arrangement they can find. Carson Kelly is coming off his first of four arbitration seasons as a Super Two player, just like the aforementioned Jacob Stallings. However, Kelly is much younger, as he just turned 27 in July. He made $1.7MM in 2021 and is projected by MLBTR to make $3MM in 2022, with two years of team control after that. Over his three seasons in the desert, he’s hit .239/.333/.435, for a wRC+ of 99 and 3.8 fWAR.
Mariners: The Mariners have a bit of a crowd behind the plate. Tom Murphy is the most experienced of the bunch, as he has just over four years’ service time. Luis Torrens had a nice season in 2021, his age-25 campaign. He hit 15 homers and slashed .243/.299/.431 for a wRC+ of 101. He has four years of team control remaining. Cal Raleigh made his MLB debut in 2021. Although he didn’t hit much, he’s only 24 years old and has a better offensive track record in the minors. He’ll turn 25 in November and has six years of team control remaining. They also have Jose Godoy on hand as a depth option. The rotation will be without Tyler Anderson next year, as he heads to free agency. There’s also the giant unanswered question of Yusei Kikuchi, who had a great first half but slumped bad enough in the second half to lose his rotation spot. With famously trade-happy president like Jerry Dipoto, perhaps a catching-for-pitching swap could be discussed here.
Giants: Not so long ago, it didn’t seem there was any chance of the Giants picking up their $22MM club option on Buster Posey for 2022. But then 2021 happened. After sitting out the 2020 season, Posey showed didn’t show any rust. In fact, it seemed to rejuvenate him. His slash line on the season was .304/.390/.499, producing a wRC+ of 140, his highest such mark since 2014. Now it seems almost impossible for the club to turn that option down. That means that prospect Joey Bart is blocked for another year. He’s already seen his name floated in trade rumors before, and there was even a false report that he was part of the Kris Bryant trade. But he’s still in the Giants organization for now. Baseball America ranks him the 39th best prospect in baseball, MLB Pipeline 16th and FanGraphs 55th. He’s already gotten a cup of coffee at the majors and comes with six years of club control. He turns 25 years old in December.
JT Realmu…Oh, wait.
Thought it then. Think it now. They should have paid him whatever he wanted to come back last offseason.
He declined an really good offer once the Marlins were sold so…..
How good though?
I don’t think the Braves should trade Contreras or Langeliers. We already traded Alex Jackson to the Marlins for a couple months of Adam Duvall. Keep Contreras and Shea as the split catchers of the future. You have to have at least 2 catchers. You might as well make both of them good catchers since you don’t have to pay them much anyway. Instead of splitting up the playing time 80/20 just split it 60/40 or even 50/50. Catchers get worn down so quickly it would be really nice to have 2 good catchers who are both really fresh because they only play half the games. Outside of Tromp the Braves really shouldn’t be trading any of the other catchers mentioned at least until one of Contreras or Shea is proven ready to take over the starting spot. Even when that happens the guy I would prefer to trade would be d’Arnaud. He’s more expensive and he’s older. It won’t hurt our future as much to trade him as it might the other 2. The Braves could also probably get a decent return on d’Arnaud. He’s a solid proven catcher on a very good contract. He doesn’t make anything close to what James McCann does and he’s way better. In this market with no catchers available a contract like that is worth a lot. The Braves should still keep him though until that spot is filled. The deal that makes the most sense for the Marlins to me is with the Giants. Trade from some of that young pitching depth to get Joey Bart. Maybe trade Sixto Sanchez and another good young starting pitcher. Sanchez could be great but his injuries are very worrisome. I’m sure the Giants know that too which is why the Marlins would have to kick in another solid pitching prospect. Bart looks like he could be good for awhile but the Giants are loaded at catcher so they don’t need him as much. You can never have enough pitching though so I think a trade like that would help both teams.
Pirates are overrated.
Theyre not trading Stallings
They would be silly not to if the offer is right. They traded Frazier and others, what makes you think they won’t trade Stallings?
I would gladly trade stalling for the best package
That’s actually an accomplishment for a team with 100 loses.
What’s the point of holding onto Stallings? He’s going to be 32 by next season. How many more productive seasons do you think he’s going to have? Stallings will be something like 35 years old by the next competitive Pirates team and I think that’s wildly optimistic.
By then Davis should be ready and Stallings would be a good mentor
Then they could reacquire him…since his value at that point will be lower.
They don’t keep Stallings around for his wildly impressive offensive numbers. He doesn’t make much, and he works well with the pitiful roster of pitchers he’s handed. A guy making $2.5-$3M with limited upside is perfect for the Pirates.
They can take James McCann if they want
They would gladly take McCann, but based on last year, Mets would have to cover eighty percent of salary. Mets are better off keeping Lindor and McCann the money is already frittered away and focus on other needs, a starting pitcher either Stroman or a replacement, an outfielder Conforto on short deal or a replacement and a GM, manager and farm system. That ought to do it initially.
Then who catches for the Mets? Nido is even worse. Have you seen the state of catching these days? McCann isn’t that bad of an option.
Nido is a top 5 defender. The Astros (and kinda the Red Sox this year) are in the ALCS with a defense only catcher. If there’s one spot where you can I overlook bad hitting it’s definitely behind the plate.
Nido is not a top 5 defender. He’s good, let’s not get carried away. He’s fine as a back up. His bat is way too weak as a starter. His WAR total is indicative of his low value. In any case, McCann is BETTER than Nido, so…
I didn’t see this, but Nido is a top 5 defender in my eyes. WAR is accumulative so players with less time are going to have lower WAR. Nido caught 12 of 21 and has 10 DRS. He has the highest defensive value/innings for all catchers. Also top 10 in framing per baseball savant. He’s an absolute stud but he can’t hit his weight.
Why not give Alfaro another chance? He has a .990 career fielding percentage at catcher.
Agreed. He was injured for a lot of the year and never really got on track. Plus he has sneaky speed
Agree, but they need a second catcher to pair with him.
Jose Molina is available…
Fielding percentage? Were you in a coma since the 1980s and just wake up?
Alfaro is trash, he’s like Gary Sanchez but worse. Past balls are a problem and something interesting all SP have better numbers when he doesn’t start.
Jesus Luzardo is in fact between the age of 23 and 27 with 3+ years of team control. He is not however, good at baseball
More importantly, he’s not good at video games.
He’s been good at baseball ever year of his life until this one. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt.
He is a lottery ticket that was worth a flyer, we often place too much bale on draft order over results for age compared to competition.
What about MJ Melendez from the Royals?
The Royals have Sal Perez for quite a bit longer.
Perez will likely start seeing more time as a DH sooner rather than later. Melendez probably isn’t going anywhere. Cam Gallagher or Meibrys Viloria maybe could be had
I wouldn’t be surprised if they make a trade for Mitch Garver. He could provide a nice bat in their lineup. I don’t think they’re ready to contend next year but I can see them improving overall.
Yermin again
Not a catcher
that’s kinda part of why – and part of why CHW would be willing to move him.
But it doesn’t answer the question. If the article was about looking for the Marlin’s future DH, then he would be relevant.
May want to revisit that statement…he was a top notch defensive catcher who lost field time to CWS #1 pick Zach Collins. Mercedes is still a better defensive catcher than you average back up and he can hit. This is a perfect buy low control trade to fill a void for a couple of years.
“I once knew a girl named Mercedes. She looked like a Buick…”
So they decided to give Adam Duvall away for a mediocre catcher who wasn’t a part of their future
Yes, he was a rental but they should have gone for talent at the wrong position over no talent at a needed position.
if he their next after all -star break . than no he not rental.. just cause offence their dont mean he cant catch . better than your guy Jorge Alfaro .
Alex Jackson save the marlins five wins ..over Jorge Alfaro .
offence Jackson only cost marlins 1 lost. this is going by mlb numbers
Why were the Braves even mentioned? It’s been made clear that AA is willing to skimp out a bit at the catcher position. Injury-prone d’Arnaud was just signed to an extension and they’re willing to roll with Wilson’s brother and whatever other catcher they can scrape up.
The theory is that the Braves might trade the lesser Contreras and since they had already traded one trashy catcher for Duvall, maybe they could twice catch lightning in a bottle.
Duvall is better than “lightning in a bottle”. Braves should have resigned him last off-season
Duvall is the reason lightning in a bottle exists. He’s incredibly productive in spurts followed by languishing, which is what he is doing now. Glad to have in CF despite his baserunning issues. How many of Scherzer’s K’s tonight will Duvall provide? My guess: 2 and a fly out to shallow LC.
Duvall isn’t that good.
f you was following . you know the braves try …. Duvall wanted more from from braves.. and decided to teach them a lesson. with two games 7 rbi and two games 4 rbi
Danny Jansen for Sandy Alcantara sounds fair to me. Maybe we’ll have to throw in our 15th round pick as well.
Trading draft picks is not permitted in baseball
He’s being very sarcastic
Also not a very fair trade
Edit: I now sense the sarcasm
The Marlins will ask for a haul for Alcantara.
The Marlins would ask for a haul for Alcantara.
true but you have to worry christen y. deal or j.t. deal.
sound like yo got confidence in new gm of marlins.
@jdgoat as long as the Marlins pay for Sandys salary over the next 5 years as well as send Trevor Rogers along to Toronto for Jansen then I’d easily do this trade.
None of us are looking for a Marlins anything.
Speak for yourself
The article makes it seem as though it’s a forgone conclusion that these teams will lose all their impending free agents. I’m not sure that’s going to be true. Maybe the author knows something I don’t.
Jeter, Brian Cashman on line one.
Knowing Cashman he’d trade Higashioka
Higgy needs to go too.
Could see the jays and Marlins lining up in a trade swapping a catcher and an outfielder for a SP.
Jansen and Gurriel for Pablo Lopez and Max Meyer. Who says no?
Marlins couldn’t hang up faster…
Jansen probably has some trade value but not much.
If the jays are actually going to get a return it’s going to need to be a Kirk package. (Or Moreno, but don’t think they will)
Detroit – Garneau and Greiner for Rogers and Lopez. Shall I prepare the trade paperwork?
Absolutely not. Rodgers and Lopez are legit No 2/3 starters and can get way more in a deal.
@barneyfifehelegend as long as the Marlins pick up Detroit’s international pool & draft tab for the next 5 years AND send Sixto & Meyers along with Rogers and Lopez for dynamic and unstoppable duo of Garneau and Greiner then it’s a deal.
Tucker Barnhart may be on the Marlin’s radar. That is if Tucker’s option isn’t picked up by the Reds. He’s likely to receive a lot of interest from the Marlins along with other organizations. He’s had a decent career and won’t cost any prospects.
Marlins can have Sanchez for a couple of used Baseballs.
I agree. I’m surprised he wasn’t mentioned here. He’s one of the more likely options
The Cardinals can trade you Andrew Knitzer for some pitching!! Since we have Ivan Herrea who looks to be the heir to Yadi!!
Terry Steinbach
Mike Heath
Does it matter??? They’ll be bottom feeders next year again. But just another team (Nats) will be sitting with them.
Marlins have good enough pitching to leave Knats in dust. Knats should trade Soto to Rays for all ten guys on their top ten prospect list.
your point is mute rays are smarter than that
The writer only once mentioned defense, yet that is the most important attribute of any catcher. Offense is a plus but handling of the staff, blocking & framing, arm strength and leadership are first and foremost for catchers.
Is Mike Redmond still in the organization?
I think the Yankees would matchup up well dealing Sanchez for pitching
They can have Roberto Perez, either if Cleveland declines his option or if they exercise it and trade him (although I doubt anyone is trading for him at $7 million).
He’s still a really good defender with a great walk rate and some power, but he has absolutely no contact skills and he’s struggled to stay healthy.
I don’t think SD can really move Nola yet until he stays healthy for a while without really sacrificing on the return.
He missed like 100 games this year, and the sample size on him in the big leagues is so small. If they can get a full year out of him where he produces at the same level he has in the past, then I think he has real value and it probably makes sense to flip him and make room for Campusano. I think they should wait and see for now before moving any catchers though otherwise they could end up in a bad spot.
Time for Marlins to trade Brinson while they can still get something in return for him.
Three team trade idea: Willson C to the Blue Jays for both McGwire and Jansen and one of the Jays minor league prospect SS/3B. Then either one of those two now ex-Jay catchers to the Marlins for a guy like Monte Harrison and a Dominican lottery ticket.
Jays get the win now rental player and a path for Kirk, Marlins and Cubs get the mediocre catchers with known floors, Cubs get a couple of acceptable prospects (Harrison can sit in Iowa until Ortega finally flames out or Hoerner gets hurt yet again).
Sanchez might be a fit as well. Yanks would love to cut him free.
Jay’s have catching and prospects Marlins have pitching.
Marlins are one owner, one city, 20 players and a few coaches away from winning it all.
Gabriel Moreno for Sixto Sanchez straight up would be insane. Would be bigger than the Gallen/Chisholm swap
That’s not going to happen. Marlins will not trade Alcantara, Sixto, Cabrera or Rodgers. Future WS rotation right there…
Now, I could see a Max Meyer plus more, for Moreno swap. Maybe Meyer and a lottery ticket such as Connor Scott or Kameron Misner for Moreno.
That wouldn’t be bad either
Sixto, no hey wont team be taking change if report are true . he has a shoulder injure .. that worry lots of people .
Cabrera is trade bait if Max Meyer is .. you dont trade both without taking on return like Jesús Luzardo …
only real option if this team and fanbase is get some to take a change on Sixto, …
Mitch Garver or Jacob Stallings please. Would also be okay with Tucker Barnhart. Yeah it would be nice to get a controllable young catcher but at this point, we need a vet who is proven and has a track record of success.
Hey who mention above about the Nat’s will continue to share last place with the Marlins. I will bet you all the tea in China that the Nat’s will be in the playoffs within 2 years.
The Nat’s have several catchers young that could be traded only if Marlins will give up one of their starting pitchers.
Like everyone else I like to play fantasy baseball, I put this trade into Baseball Trade Values and it was very even
Joey Bart, Heliot Ramos and Wil Wilson for
Max Myer, Dax Fulton and Eury Perez,
Giants need more upper level arms, can part with some offensive talent
I think you forgot Luciano coming to Miami as well.
there is no way that happens, I assume that the giants will fill at least spots 2-4 in the rotation with free angency and in the last draft there were something like 2 picks that were not pitchers. spot 5+ in the rotation will be whoever shows in spring training, likely hjelle, long or other arms already in the system
The Marlins are way too high on Eury Perez and he won’t go anywhere. You’d be surprised who they would trade before him .
With Moreno getting close and three platoon options in Toronto already, Danny Jansen seems like a guy that is most likely to move this offseason. After his injury plagued season, even with three years of Arb, he’s still not going to cost a team a tonne of prospect or big league capital to get. Would be a good pickup for the Marlins.
Always trade catching prospects. They seem valuable and yet never, ever pan out.
I would love to see Stalllings catching the Marlins staff. I got a similar feeling watching him behind the plate than I get watching Yadier Molina at work.. Elite defence would be so good. His batting figures are plenty good enough for someone that exceptional behind the plate.
Bring in Stallings with Fortes and Henry as backups.
Jeff Mathis, obviously.
If the Marlins cannot sign Alcantara to an extension, Gabriel Moreno for Alcantara plus others on both sides could certainly happen. At this point, the Marlins will not let a player the caliber of Alcantara leave for only a draft pick just as the team is starting to get good. If Sandy won’t re-sign, he’s as good as gone for as much as Miami can rake in for him. A catcher who has the potential to be a middle of the order bat is a good place to start.
Gabriel Moreno is not worth “Alcantara plus others.” Toronto would be the ones to give up more, not Miami
A catcher who has the potential to be a middle of the order bat is a good place to start. that all good . if he can catch and improve the pitching …
weather have Charles Johnson type of player first. .
if you are looking for that type of hitter look at 2b ,ss, 3b (Anderson `rf ) ,cf