There’s only two weeks left in the regular season, and half the league is all but officially out of postseason contention at this point. All 30 teams are assuredly looking ahead to the offseason to some extent, and that’s all the more true for the clubs that are merely playing out the string. Identifying free agent targets is a big part of that offseason prep work, so it’s worth taking an early look at the players who’ll be available on the open market.
Over the coming weeks, MLBTR will go around the diamond to preview the free agent class. We’ll begin today with the backstops, a group that seemed rather deep entering the 2022 season but has since seen most of its membership struggle through subpar years.
Top of the Class
- Willson Contreras (31*)
Contreras is the unquestioned top player on this year’s catching class. He’s one of the game’s preeminent offensive backstops, eclipsing 20 home runs in each of the past three full seasons. Contreras hits a lot of ground-balls and has a fair bit of swing-and-miss to his game, but his exit velocities and hard contact rates are consistently well above average. That’s also true of his bottom-line results. Through 462 plate appearances, Contreras carries a .246/.351/.471 line that shatters the .229/.297/.370 mark compiled by catchers around the league. He’s tailed off a bit in the second half after an All-Star first few months, but he has a multi-year track record as one of the better hitting catchers in the game.
The concerns with Contreras lie on the other side of the ball. He owns a solid arm, but public pitch framing metrics have never been enamored with his work. Reports leading up to the trade deadline suggested some teams were wary of adding him midseason, questioning his ability to adapt to and manage a new pitching staff on the fly. That’s perhaps not as concerning for teams considering a free agent pursuit — Contreras would have part of the offseason and Spring Training to connect with his pitchers — but there was ostensibly enough worry about his game-calling acumen that no team met the Cubs lofty asking price this summer. How much one should read into Contreras not being traded is tough to tell, but it will have a tangible effect on his free agent market. He’s now eligible for the qualifying offer, which he’ll surely receive and reject. Any signing team will have to surrender a draft choice to bring him aboard, which wouldn’t have been the case if he were moved midseason, since players traded midseason are ineligible for a QO.
Regulars
- Christian Vázquez (32)
A longtime member of the Red Sox, Vázquez was dealt to the Astros midseason. He’s assumed more of a 1b/backup role there behind Martín Maldonado, but he was a regular in Boston and will likely be viewed as such by any team that signs him this offseason. Vázquez is a solid two-way catcher, an above-average defender who’s generally competent with the bat. He’s rated as a high-end pitch framer throughout his career, although his numbers have been roughly average the past two years. He’s typically solid at cutting down opposing base-stealers, and he’s drawn strong reviews for his game management and leadership in a clubhouse. Vázquez isn’t an impact hitter, but he puts the ball in play and consistently runs strong batting averages. His .275/.318/.396 line is about average overall but clearly above-average for a catcher, and he’s capable of holding his own at the bottom third of a lineup. Vázquez may not have a standout skill, but he’s a well-rounded player who’d be an upgrade for a fair number of teams.
- Omar Narváez (31)
Narváez has had an atypical career. He’s had individual seasons as a well above-average hitter, a quality left-handed bat with excellent plate discipline and strong contact skills. He earned a reputation as a bat-first player during his early days with the White Sox and Mariners, both because of his productivity at the dish and his dismal pitch framing marks behind it. Since being traded to Milwaukee heading into the 2020 season, Narváez has flipped the script. He’s rated as a dramatically better receiver — one of the sport’s best, in fact — but been a below-average hitter in two of three years. That includes 2022, where he’s stumbled to a .214/.301/.324 line with just four homers in 269 plate appearances. Narváez has shown the ability to be one of the league’s better catchers on both sides of the ball, just never at the same time.
- Austin Hedges (30)
Hedges has never hit, but he’s been a primary catcher in San Diego and Cleveland for the past half-decade based on his excellent glove. He’s an outstanding pitch framer who’s thrown out an above-average 30% of attempted basestealers for his career. The Guardians are among the league’s best teams at preventing runs, and they’ve trusted Hedges with guiding their talented pitching staffs for two-plus seasons. Among regulars, Hedges may be the least productive offensive player in MLB though. He’s hit below .180 for four straight years, not topping a .255 on-base percentage or a .315 slugging mark in any of those seasons. There’ll probably be teams willing to live with the lack of output at the plate because of Hedges’ defensive reputation, but he makes plenty of outs at the bottom of a lineup.
- Gary Sánchez (30)
Acquired from the Yankees to serve a hybrid catcher/DH role in Minnesota, Sánchez has gotten a fair bit of defensive work due to a Ryan Jeffers thumb fracture. He has an excellent arm but has been much maligned for his work as a receiver. Sánchez’s pitch framing metrics this season are a hair above-average, but he’s struggled in that regard in prior years and consistently has trouble blocking balls in the dirt. While he’s been alright for Minnesota defensively, he hasn’t lived up to his reputation as a bat-first player. He’s hitting .213/.279/.382 over 420 plate appearances, connecting on 14 home runs but struggling to reach base for a third consecutive season. Sánchez’s early-career days as an impact bat in the Bronx are now well in the rearview mirror, but he still offers more pop than most catchers.
- Tucker Barnhart (32)
The Tigers acquired Barnhart from the Reds at the start of last winter, believing they’d solidified a position of need with a respected veteran. Unfortunately for both Barnhart and Detroit, he’s posted the worst season of his career. Over 277 trips to the plate, he has only one homer and a .209/.274/.256 slash. Barnhart has always been a below-average hitter, but this year’s on-base and slugging marks are easily career lows. He’s a good defender who’s highly regarded for his ability to handle a pitching staff, a broadly similar player to Hedges but two years older and with a more solid than elite pitch framing track record.
- Mike Zunino (32)
Zunino has shown high-end potential at his best. Consistently excellent defense gives him a high floor, but he’s also shown more offensive upside than most of the glove-first players on the market. That includes a 2021 campaign in which he blasted 33 home runs and slugged .559. Even with a strikeout rate in excess of 35%, Zunino was a quality hitter and very valuable all-around player. Had he replicated his 2021 production, he’d likely have been the #2 catcher on the market this winter, but his 2022 campaign was a disaster. He hit .148/.195/.304 in only 36 games before being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome that required season-ending surgery. He’s expected to be ready for Spring Training, but it’s tough to know what to make of a player coming off that kind of platform year.
- Roberto Pérez (34)
Pérez’s story isn’t too dissimilar from Zunino’s. A career-long regular, he was set to reprise that role in 2022 but had the year mostly wiped out by injury. In his case, it was a left hamstring strain that necessitated surgery. He played in just 21 games, his first season with the Pirates after a career spent in Cleveland. Pérez is a Gold Glove caliber defender at his best, but he’s typically been a well below-average hitter. He did connect on 24 homers in 2019, but he has a .171/.269/.295 mark in parts of three seasons since then.
Backups/Depth
- Robinson Chirinos (39)
Chirinos opened the season as Baltimore’s starting catcher, but he lost the job when Adley Rutschman was called up midseason. He struggled badly early on, and he carries only a .178/.266/.278 line over 204 plate appearances on the year. He’s consistently rated as a below-average receiving catcher.
- Kevin Plawecki (31)
Designated for assignment by the Red Sox last week, Plawecki finished his time in Boston with a disappointing .217/.287/.287 showing across 175 plate appearances. He’d hit well in limited action as Vázquez’s backup from 2020-21, but he’s been a below-average offensive player for the bulk of his career. He’s had a very tough time throwing out attempted basestealers, but he’s a capable receiver.
- Curt Casali (34)
A career-long #2 catcher, Casali brings a decent right-handed power bat to the bench. He strikes out a lot but offers a solid blend of plate discipline and power. Casali lost a chunk of this season to an oblique strain and has a .211/.310/.331 line between the Giants and Mariners. He’s typically slightly below-average at both controlling the run game and pitch framing.
- Kurt Suzuki (39)
Suzuki has 15 years of big league experience, including a good run as a regular. A productive bat-first catcher in his prime, he’s struggled for two straight seasons with the Angels. He carries a .179/.263/.299 line over 152 trips to the plate this year.
- Austin Romine (34)
Romine has split the 2022 campaign between three teams, suiting up with the Angels, Cardinals and Reds. He’s been a depth option at all three spots, and he owns just a .181/.211/.295 mark over 111 plate appearances. Romine was a productive backup for the Yankees early in his career, but he’s settled into journeyman status while struggling offensively since leaving New York.
- Sandy León (34)
Another glove-first journeyman, León had a very good 2016 season with the Red Sox but has otherwise been a well below-average hitter. He’s not hit above .200 or slugged north of .300 in any of the past five seasons. León has spent most of 2022 in Triple-A, but he’s appeared in 32 big league games with the Guardians and Twins.
- Jason Castro (35)
Castro was a solid regular for a while with the Astros and Twins, compensating for high strikeout totals with excellent walk rates and pitch framing marks. He had a productive 2021 season as a backup after returning to Houston on a free agent deal, but this year has been a disaster. Castro hit .115/.205/.179 over 34 games and eventually underwent season-ending surgery on his left knee. He told reporters in Spring Training he’d consider retirement after this season (link via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). It remains to be seen how the disappointing trajectory of his 2022 campaign plays into that decision.
- Stephen Vogt (38)
The well-regarded Vogt returned to Oakland, where he’d been a productive fan favorite in the middle of the last decade, for the 2022 campaign. He’s bounced between catcher, first base and designated hitter but owns just a .168/.251/.315 line over 171 plate appearances. It’s his third consecutive well below-average season.
Note: Yadier Molina is playing on a one-year contract with the Cardinals and will technically qualify for free agency at season’s end. He’s already declared 2022 will be his final season, so he’s been excluded from this list in anticipation of his retirement.
* Listed ages are the player’s age for the 2023 season. All stats through play September 18.
I was pretty surprised when I saw Hedges career OPS+ is like 10 points higher than Jeff Mathis’. It’s like 58 vs 48, but without checking I would have guessed Mathis was the better hitter.
Watch the Dbacks try to sign Hedges away from Cleveland, to work with all those young arms.
I never guess Mathis is the better hitter.
Would you have guessed Hedge’s tenure with Cleveland is actually sub-Mathis level?
Ha ha. No.
As a die hard Angels fan and longtime ticket holder who watched Mathis go 0 for 4 while Napoli sat the bench more times than I’d care to remember, I routinely use Mathis as the baseline of offensive suck.
I actually once wrote an article comparing Mathis to Bob Uecker. Mathis made Uecker look alright with the bat.
Maybe find that file for when Hedges signs his contract. A quick search and replace, and you’re in business.
Bill Bergen is among the greatest defending catchers of all time but he is the nadir of offensive futility.
Excellent idea
Contreras is a great hitter, Vazquez could be a solid regular but many of these options seem like depth on the decline. A team with prospects like Cleveland would be better off going after Sean Murphy. Dalton Varsho might be available but I don’t know if many teams would consider him at catcher
I think Varsho would cost an arm and leg. Pre arb until 2024, plays quality CF and passable defense as a C.
I doubt teams would pay the Dbacks asking price because it isn’t worth it to the receiving team. They pay a premium for a Pre-arb multi-positional player to plug him in at the position he is weakest at. Might as well use fewer resources to get Murphy or just spend the money and save the prospects.
Yeah. I was casting a wide net to include all options. I don’t care about the catching market because my team has our catchers. My point is there’s not much out there at the high end talent level.
Same boat as a Braves fan. But, I think you were right about teams asking the DBacks. I could see teams trying to buy low on Carson Kelly. If the DBacks roll with someone like Hedges for their young arms, someone like Kelly who has injury questions could become of interest to other teams. AZ outfielders could push Kelly further to the periphery of the DH shuffle and they could be looking to get something while there’s still some left.
Freddie – I completely agree. Just looking at the way Vazquez is hyped in the above article is comical. Pitchers don’t like throwing to him, notably Sale and Eovaldi. They don’t like how he calls a game. Catcher ERA supports that fact, despite it not even being mentioned in the article. He also led the league in Passed Balls last year, a testament to his lack of catching skills, and it’s not like he was catching a knuckleballer all season..
The Red Sox wouldn’t have been trying to dump Vazquez prior to this season if they were happy with his catching, but that’s exactly what they tried to do when they came so close to acquiring Stallings.
I’d like to see the Orioles make an inquiry about Kelly’s availability. Os are looking for a back up to Rutschman. Does not look expensive. Carson seems to play just below starter capabilities. Drafted as a 3rd baseman, I can see him backing up Mountcastle at 1b as well and maybe in the DH role from time to time? An arbitration guy, would the Dbacks consider this?
My prediction is that Cleveland resigns Hedges to be their backup catcher and tutor for their catching prospect, Bo Naylor, who is having a strong minor league season between AA and AAA. Cleveland talked to Oakland at the deadline, but Oakland wanted prospects that Cleveland just would not consider moving.
st. louis will drop the ball on andrew knizner. some team will get a good catcher, with a high baseball IQ.
Who do you see the Cardinals going after?
In this catcher’s market, they might as well roll the dice on Herrera and Knizner, at least for the beginning of next season.
?? He isn’t a free agent until 2026.
so much for smart teams! the are able to sign a player off of another team!
key point was st. louis dropping ball.
How are they going to drop the ball? He’s under contract for a few more seasons and likely not being traded. It’s not like he’s the type of player they should be locking down with a long-term extension, so I’m confused by this statement.
he’ll get traded
I feel like most of the regulars should be in the backup category. I don’t know what’s weaker, Catcher or Center Field?
Contreras, Vazquez, Navarez, and Zunino are the only catchers I’d want starting on my team here.
I’d want just Contreras or Vazquez. Navarez is an inconsistent platoon player and Zunino is coming off TOS.
Zunino is always going to be last. Alphabetically.
True for catchers but his former battery mate on the Mariners is truly last alphabetically, Tony Zych.
the term, backup catcher, should be banned.
What if we used assistant to the catcher
Or understudy.
Why? Second on the depth chart is always called a backup. Backup quarterback, backup kicker, backup goalkeeper, etc.
no one is really a backup. on any given day, a starter can go down.
“Backup” implies that they don’t get much playing time unless the starter gets injured. That’s not true for most backup catchers.
rarely is any other position player called a backup. only the catcher.
I think that is generally because nearly every other “back up” plays multiple positions where the back up catcher generally can only play catcher.
Example being, Christopher Morel wouldn’t be called a back up shortstop because he plays all three outfield positions, second and third as well as short.
Then also, in the rare occasion you carry two guys that can only play one position they generally are there as platoon partners so there is a more appropriate term.
You can platoon catchers but generally you have one primary and one back up/personal catcher.
I hear backup middle infielder all the time.
Understudy?
Should we call them backup backstops or backstop backups?
it’s a term the press must remove from their vocabulary. teams don’t use the term.
Gibberish.
SBs are going to skyrocket next year with the limitation on pickoff attempts and the larger bases. All teams will run more, although certain ones will totally try and exploit it. The Rays will. So, that means we could be on the cusp of the return of the strong-armed catcher, with arm strength and pop times becoming more valuable than perhaps pitch framing.
With robot umps, yeah it will 100% be more
Important than pitch framing. However, I think we will start to see pitch-calling more heavily scrutinized. Catchers making the correct calls in quicker times would be what I would focus on. And that would probably be something we as fans don’t see when hearing about contracts. A guys pregame prep and situational intelligence.
The way the technology is progressing, we’re probably at least a decade away from robot umps, and that’s only if MLB and the various unions even agree to make such a controversial switch.
Robot umpire technology already exists. What additional tech needs to be developed?
Also, what union issues? Umpires will still be in the same exact positions, just with less work. Umps will still be behind home plate to call time, balks, check swings, and other random BS. Players aren’t fighting robot umpires.
It’s nowhere near accurate enough to be used at this point.
Many owners and players are indeed against ever using it, and the umpire’s union will especially fight against it, as less work means significant pay cuts, not to mention the respect they’d lose by having a significant portion of their jobs taken away from them.
I don’t believe many owners and players are against it. I also don’t believe that the tech is nowhere accurate enough. It’s more accurate than umpires and has been for years.
Less work doesn’t mean pay cuts when youre a union member. You can’t just lower their salary. That’s why unions exist and contracts are negotiated regularly. And their jobs aren’t going away.
What respect? It’s a job. Did groundskeepers lose respect when larger lawn mowers were invented? Did accountants decry computers because their abacus skills would go unnoticed?
I’ve believe plenty of owners and players are against it in the same manner as many fans including myself are against it.
Read any report, and they’ll say the technology isn’t ready. It doesn’t accurately read several pitches per game.
They’ll obviously be forced to renegotiate the umpire’s contracts with such a major change. Less pay for less work certainly should be one of the issues involved, if they can even manage to get the change to go through at all.
Every job has respect. Groundskeepers and accountants merely incorporate new technology into their jobs, but this is something that fully replaces part of their job and isn’t actually needed in the first place.
I think you’re right, especially considering the automatic strike zone is likely looming. Athleticism is going to be valued with more starting catchers being the ones who can block and throw.
I am so glad the tigers didn’t extend Barnhart like they were talking about in the beginning of the year. He has been absolute atrocious and his defensive stats have declined as well.
Agreed. I see Rogers as being cheaper, and likely better offensively. Unsure of how much the Detroit pitching staff improvement may have been helped by his game calling. If Rogers is not recovered from his injury, Dingler should not be too far behind. Garneau could be brought back for depth.
Austin Hedges is the new Jeff Mathis. Can’t hit to save his life, but will probably end up playing 15+ seasons because teams keep bringing him back for his phenominal defense.
He’s Mathis 2.0. He won’t have to focus on framing (even though he’s great at it) and has the benefit of the universal DH so his bat is less of an issue.
He’s not an extreme GB or pull hitter, but a bit more than most. The limited shift might help a little bit, and when you’re talking about Hedges, that could mean a 60 OPS+ to 70. Which is pretty big for him.
I think in the right home stadium and with the right line up around him, Gary Sanchez could be useful as a DH or outfielder…and recapture some more pop in his bat… get back to the 20-30 HR range.
Despite making $9M this season, I don’t really see him making much more money on the open market, even in a best case scenario, at this point.
Maybe 2 years/$20M guaranteed but with $2.5M as a buyout on a $13.5M club option.
Maybe 3 years/$27.5M guaranteed with a $2M buyout on an $11M option or something.
I would be genuinely surprised, but not shocked, if he barely gets 1 year/$5M or something… but I would bet someone will think they can fix him and get him through his peak years for a modest price that’s still very fair for his actual production and not his early career potential.
Really wondering what happened to Gary. He went from All-Star Silver Slugger to barely passible offense, even for a catcher. It wasn’t a slow and steady decline for him. He hit a brick wall.
Wasn’t one of the knocks on Sanchez coming up through the minors was his work ethic and his attitude? I recall there being scouting reports that he had the tools to be an above average catcher, but he didn’t put in the work to improve and basically let his talent carry him.
Looks like it caught up to him.
His pitch recognition and plate discipline are the big issues as a hitter. Basically, the league figured him out after his first season+. Now, pitchers throw a lot of outside breaking balls and he usually bites.
Unless he gets a mistake, he’s an out.
Even 1 yr at $5MM is an over valuation of what Sanchez provides. He is not a Catcher. He provides no defensive value. That makes him an offensive player with no position. As to his offense, he doesn’t hit for average or take a walk. What team will be willing to pay for that? Good thing for him C is a very thin position. $2-3MM to be backup C and bench bat. No multi year contract in his future.
Coming off 3 straight below average offensive years—I’d be shocked if he gets more than 1/5.
He doesn’t have a defensive position and at this point isn’t really hitting.
One thing he does have defensively is a strong arm and with the new rules it might be his saving grace behind the dish
Except he has trouble catching the ball, which is kind of a prerequisite.
Lots of options and many varying degrees of bad. If the guy is good defensively, he’s a terrible hitter. If he can hit, he’s horrible defensively. It really is a “pick your poison” position
Except Vazquez seems to fit a two-way player, for a catcher anyway. His offense doesn’t jump off the page, but even average offense at that position with his defense is a huge win – unless he’s not what he’s purported to be in that area. You saw him far more than I have – what are your thoughts on him RSox?
Rumors say that a lot of the Sox pitchers didn’t like throwing to Vazquez. Chris sale used to prefer Sandy Leon. Eovaldi and hill wrre using Plawecki to better results. I think its mostly a comfort thing but Vazquez seemed to not be a favorite
There is a pretty significant difference in Sale’s and Eovaldi’s OPSa when throwing to Vazquez. I’m okay with him, but he is nothing special.
The exchange of trading away expiring Vazquez and bringing on up to three years of Reese McGuire looks very wise, after reading this article.
Plawecki?
I believe Vazquez could replace 2 catcher on the 40 man of both the Twins and Angels. Although I’m not familiar with the young pitchers for either team I think he’d be a great fit for both teams
Halos were actually hoping any 1 of the 3 Molina bros were still available..
Haha those were good times. What year was that that the Angels rostered all 3? 2002? That was the year I first heard of Yadier and loved him ever since
Never happened. Yadier was drafted by the cardinals. Only Jose and bengie were angels.
Yes sir 2002! Yadi didn’t get to play with them on the Halos but they were always talking him up as “the baby brother waiting in the wings.” Hard to believe Yadi was drafted in 2000 at only 18. He is 40 now haha Good times indeed friend…
23rd season playing professional ball for Yadi. Wowzers.
Yadi and Wainwright should be buried 60 feet 6 inches apart when the time comes. 😉
C-Vaz is much more than a backup, he’d start for more than half the teams in the league right now, not even counting the pitch framing ability his overall game is that good comparing the mediocre lot catching has been in the game the past 10+ years.
Agree also with the poster complaining of pitch framers because umpires stay on the job too long.. Blame Richie Phillips for that and the league itself for allowing another union to get too strong. This time, awful employees, Go no further than Hernandez, Buckner pretty much cannot be fired from their jobs and to make it worse? Bring in some sort of automated K-Zone and those same, longest serving ones would remain and probable better and younger ones demoted to AAA.
The umpire is still going to be employed behind home plate with or without the tech.
Umpires are needed for plays at the plate, check swings (which they really can’t see if they are tracking a fastball), to watch the pitch clock
Lots of things.
But technology should be used to eliminate the Hernandez changing strike zone. Or the Bucknor “I don’t like this guy” ball over the heart of the plate.
Angels have 3 stud catcher in he minors. One will be coming up next year.
“He’s an outstanding pitch framer.”
MLB needs robot umps if for no other reason than to eliminate the most useless “skill” any sport has ever known.
Wow, you moved your glove so slightly so as to fool the 60 year old umpire whose union won’t let them get fired no matter how many calls they blow? How entertaining for the fans.
Good thing this fraud you got rewarded for punished the far more impressive skill of laying off a pitch slightly outside the zone, huh?
“Pitch framers” should work at Jiffy Lube and MLB should have catchers who can HIT and throw.
McGuire has first dibs on the Jiffy Lube job. Sorry
Although not any job at a dollar tree
All starters should pitch like Jacob Degrom. But somewhere along the line reality sets in and not everyone has the skill set to do so.
Framing is the mlb version of flopping in the nba/mls
A great flop is a thing of beauty. Northwood University had a gal who did it every other game.
sheeeeeeesh these guys are terrible
Hoping the Angels find any team dumb enough to take Stassi. Maybe Stassi for Moustakas. The Reds get a lower pay roll. Stassi would probably rack in that band box. Then find a sucker to flip him, to at the trade deadline. Bring in a catcher who can hit, above 200. Use Thaiss as the backup
stassi is one of the worst pitch calling catcher i have seen in almost 60 years.
The Reds would take that trade in a heartbeat. The Angels would be better off just releasing Stassi if that’s the alternative.
Send Stassi to East Germany. 😉
A’s will probably start up Sean Murphy trade talks again this off-season
I’m not so sure Willie would reject the QO. It’s about 3x what he made this year and would give him another year to work out a multi-year deal. I know that he really wants to stay a Cub, he’s got his whole extended family in Chicago now, something it took him years to accomplish when you consider the Venezuelan roadblocks.
He keeps himself in peak condition, works hard, and Cubs may be able to sign him for 3/50 or 4/60. He values family far more than the $$$$$
Even with a QO attached, why would he have any trouble securing a large multi-year deal in this otherwise terrible market for catchers?
If he valued remaining with the Cubs that much, he’d have already signed an extension with them.
I’m not sure Contreras would decline the Qualifying Offer either, largely due to the fact his market isn’t going to that robust.
I think at some point he had grander about signing a contract similar to JT Realmuto but I think Contreras’ is going to be somewhere around 4 years in the 60-70 million range….
Contreras isn’t a great hitter who can catch nor is he a great catcher who can hit… Contreras is a good hitter, “great for a catcher” who is a below average catcher in regards to learning/handling a pitching staff and his defense was poor this year as well. He’s also injured regularly.
It boils down to the length of contract is not going to be what people expect and neither is the aav.
I imagine, from the Cubs point of view, that they really want Gomes mentoring Amaya, and they will value glove work and intangibles over offense
drasco036;
I’ve posted that I’m not impressed with Jed Hoyer because he hasn’t understood pitching and how to develop it.
You posted that recently he’s spent a lot of money on hardware and software to work with the Cubs pitchers, and is committed to making a big impact in developing them.
I watched some Cubs games and can see many of their pitchers improving quite a bit. They’re well schooled, smart, poised, select their pitches well and have good control. They’re young and will get better.
They will be the Cubs future starting next year. And you’re also right about Gomes both bringing along young pitchers as well as mentoring some young catchers.
I really don’t know where Contreras fits. But I can tell you that a quality catcher that can work with a pitching staff is a lot more valuable than a guy that hits 10-12 more HR’s a year or gets on base (hit/walk, etc.) 3 or 4 more times a week.
Baseball won’t be the same after Yadier retires
Yadier Molina and Ted Simmons make my greatest all-time Cardinals team.
Fact… rule changes taking place in 2023.
Vasquez would be great here. Could catch a few games a week and play first against lefties to spell Walsh.
Not that he would be my first choice but I predict that Gary Sanchez will be the first one off the board.
The cardinals and Molina will work out another one year contract so they can keep milking the last year bit. It’s all but signed at this point
Isn’t the whole pitch framing metric simply a commentary on how much the robo-umps are needed to call an actual strike zone correctly? By saying that a catcher is good at pitch framing, you’re essentially determining how good they are at fooling an umpire into calling a ball a strike. I would think baseball would like to get rid of that mantra.
What they need is a catcher who can influence the umpire with mind control. 😉
Umpires tended to give calls to Johnny Bench, Andy Etchebarren and Rick Dempsey. Also, Buck Martinez had a good reputation. Mostly I remember Bob Boone and Jim Sundberg being able to work an umpire.
I’d be concerned giving Vazquez anything more than a two-year deal. Some fans are probably overrating both his offense and defense. His career hitting line, as well as his overall hitting for 2022, are Fenway enhanced. He could easily be a .245/.290/.350 hitter at this stage, and his pitch-framing numbers have been on the decline. How much do you want to pay for that and for how long?
If they finally go with a computerized strike zone in the majors, it’ll be interesting to see if some catchers’ defense improves when they only have to focus on catching the ball and not on making pitches look good to the umpire.
Austin Hedges and Tucker Barnhart are my favorites of this list. Best options and will improve any team.
Eui Ji Yang is the best foreign league option since his contract with the NC Dinos of the KBO runs out after this season. He has a .307 .390 .505 slash line for his career, hit 20 or more home runs every year since 2018. He has a fantastic ability to make contact as he has drawn more walks than strikeouts since 2016. This year’s .880 ops might not look amazing at first glance but he was infected with COVID at the beginning of the season and affected his play when he first returned. He could be a fantastic one year deal at about $5 million with a club option for a second year
How good is he on defense?
From what I have heard and read he is at least good defender who is excellent at calling games behind the plate
What about Luke maile? Is he a free agent at the end of the season?
See this is the kind of original content I come to MLBTR for. These long-form pieces on the free agent market aren’t anywhere else.