Cubs Rumors: Is Sandy Leon on the team’s radar as a backup catcher?

Cubs Rumors: Stagnant offseason could be forgiven with a small move

It’s crowded behind the plate in Boston.  Last year, they had Leon, Christian Vazquez and Blake Swihart all on the active roster and sharing playing time.  With the 2019 season less than a week away, reports indicate that the defending World Series champions are discussing possible trades to rid themselves of one of them with Leon appearing to be the odd-man out.

While not high on the Cub fan’s list of rumored sources (see Exhibit KB), ESPN’s Buster Olney reported earlier this week that the Red Sox are indeed taking offers for the 30-year-old Leon and, needless to say, I took heed.

It piqued my interest because the move makes so much sense for the Cubs.  If you’re aware of what Sandy Leon silently contributes to ball clubs from behind the curtain, you would be intrigued about his hypothetical presence at Wrigley too.

Despite the Cubs unwillingness to spend money this past offseason, many thought the team would at least add a viable backup option behind the plate to complement Willson Contreras.  It was very apparent that the 26-year-old All-Star simply ran out of steam and disappeared in the second half of last season, presumingly due to being fatigued and overused.  Virtually all of his offensive numbers took a big dip in 2018 as a result of the heavy workload.

Surprisingly enough, the front office didn’t sign any new faces to counteract this issue.  Even with many notable names that could fill a backup role, such as Jonathan Lucroy, Martin Maldonado, and Kurt Suzuki, Theo & Co. failed to do so.  Instead, they opted to fill the role from within.

At the start of Spring Training, the team announced that Victor Caratini would remain the secondary option, at least for the foreseeable future.  Caratini has proved capable and reliable in the role.  In 2018, he threw out 28 percent of would-be-base stealers and even served as Cole Hamels‘ personal catcher after the former World Series MVP was acquired on July 27.

Along with contributing to Hamels’ second-half surge with Chicago, Caratini can also moonlight at first base, adding that much more versatility to the Cubs roster. While he can adequately handle the role, there is perhaps nobody better in the game today at playcalling behind the plate in a reserve capacity than Sandy Leon.

Cubs Rumors: Leon has the endorsement of some big-name arms

Now, Leon won’t light up the scoreboard or set the world on fire with his bat, by any means.  He batted well below the Mendoza Line last season (.177), however, has made it a point this offseason to work on his offense.  He has been working with Red Sox assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett to compact his movements, cutting down the height of his leg kick and making all-around adjustments to use the ground to generate more power.

The true beauty and brilliance of his game lie on the defensive side of the ball with his innate ability to elevate the performances of his battery mates.  There is nothing Machiavellian to his methods in approaching how he handles his pitchers.  It’s just simple trust.

After Boston’s ace Chris Sale allowed only one hit and complied eleven strikeouts against the rival New York Yankees on June 30, he gushed about Leon’s playing calling, admitting that he just follows his catcher’s lead, never shaking off any of the Venezulian’s pitch suggestions.

The lanky left-handed fireballer continues to laud his teammate:

“I trust him implicitly.  I love working with the guy.”

Other Red Sox pitchers also champion Leon’s work behind the plate.  Rick Porcello, the 2016 American League Cy Young winner, has the utmost respect for Leon.  When Porcello’s 2017 season resulted in the polar opposite of his Cy Young campaign (his ERA jumped from 3.15 to 4.65 and led the league with 17 losses), Leon worked with the 29-year-old righty, helping him bounce back in 2018, improving to a 17-7 record.

Porcello says of his battery mate:

“No disrespect to any other catcher that I’ve thrown to, but Sandy Leon is the best catcher I’ve ever thrown to.  His game calling, he’s prepared for every pitcher, starter or bullpen.  He’s kind of the heartbeat of our pitching staff.  We rely on him a lot and he’s always on point, always knows what pitches to throw.  Gives guys different looks.  He’s as good as it gets as a game-caller and a catcher.”

Porcello made it a priority to give a celebratory hug to Leon before anybody else after Boston’s Game 5 victory over Los Angeles to capture the World Series title.

Cubs Rumors: Leon continues his wizardry behind the dish to this day

Following the theme of turning the tide of pitchers, offsetting their struggles, David Price perhaps benefited the most from throwing to Leon over other catchers on the roster.  When Price’s ERA bloated up to 4.89, Red Sox manager Alex Cora inserted Leon into the lineup to help get the 2012 American League Cy Young winner back on track.

He accomplished just that as Price posted a minuscule 1.50 ERA in his last seven starts.

In fact, the entirety of Boston’s pitching staff benefited the most when Leon was behind the plate.  The team had a 3.38 ERA with Leon calling the pitches, as compared to 3.84 with Vasquez and 5.32 with Swihart.

He ranked 18th in the league in catcher’s ERA and 13th overall in total defensive chances in just 89 games played.  His 8.8 percent on good pitches called balls was 4.7 percent better than the MLB median, 1.02 bonus strikes called per game (1.6 strikes better than the MLB median), and only his allowed stolen bases allowed was the second fewest among catchers with at least 500 innings caught.

Cubs Rumors: Could the Cubs carry three backstops again this year?

Now take those endorsements and picture what he could bring to the Cubs pitching staff.

From one-to-five, the Cubs already have a staunch starting rotation on paper and, with Leon working with them, they are capable of maximizing their potential, observing mechanical flags, providing them notes with his meticulously studied player reports, and, perhaps most of all, motivating them.

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Leon is set to make $2.4M this year if he makes the Red Sox opening day roster.  With Boston trying to shave off some money, probably due to Chris Sale’s extension on Friday and a plethora of free agents on the horizon in the years to come.

This should be a no-brainer move for the Chicago Cubs.  While not a flashy transaction, move like this can really be a difference maker.  Bringing a player with his resume with handling pitchers really rounds out so many facets of the game for the better.

Contreras especially would benefit from his hypothetical acquisition.  It would allow him to take allotted days off and help him further develop from his tutorage in framing and overall handling of a pitching staff.  He is an elite catcher defensively and a wizard at framing pitches.  The latter of which the Cubs desperately need to improve at as they had four pitchers rank in the bottom eleven in pitch-framing in last year.

The team may not be too keen on carrying three catchers on their active 25-man roster but, like the World Champion Red Sox of last season and the 2016 Cubs did during their 2016 championship run, adding more depth to compensate inevitable fatigue and injuries is always a wise move and can result in gold.

Like David Ross, who was once himself the Cubs third rostered catcher, Leon is an ultimate team player, unselfish and only concerned about his team and making his teammates better.

It’s time for the Cubs to just spend a little of that money that they were oh-so unwilling to part with this offseason because, while they’ll pay a small price now for a guy like Leon and what he can silently morph this team into, the move may turn out to be priceless.