Chicago Cubs could make noise by pursuing this veteran catcher

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While the Chicago Cubs seek to make some major shakeups, there are free agents that could low key look good in Cubbie Blue even if it requires some shuffling.

While the free agent class going into the 2020 season is not what you’d call loaded, there are still very solid names on the market outside of the two huge names in Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon. One of them includes veteran catcher Yasmani Grandal, who could be of interest to the Chicago Cubs.

Grandal will be 31 in 2020 and will enter his ninth year in the majors. He spent 2019 with the Milwaukee Brewers when he signed a one-year deal with them after the Mets offered him a four-year deal last offseason. This past summer was voted to his second All-Star Game and hit a home run off Max Scherzer in the Wild Card game.

Why bring up Grandal? He is going to be arguably the most sought-after catcher in baseball this winter. After coming off one of his best years in the majors, he will likely be seeking a multi-year offer and not picking up the $16 million 2020 mutual option with the Brewers. Grandal is a much bigger need for a lot of teams outside the Cubs, however, he still could be on Theo Esptein’s radar for a number of reasons.

Chicago Cubs: Looking at Grandal’s numbers

As mentioned before the veteran backstop had a particularly strong 2019 as he posted a .246/.380/.468 slash with 28 homers, .848 OPS , 121 wRC+ and a 5.2 fWAR in 153 games.

Grandal, a career .241/.348/.446 hitter, has averaged a 5.0 fWAR the past five seasons and has hit 20 or more homers the past four seasons. He also sports a career 64 Defensive Runs Saved and 134.1 Catcher Framing Runs Above Average.

This guy is the complete package as a catcher. Do not let some really bad errors a few postseasons ago fool you, the guy can really play. His skill at pitch framing can also be understood looking at metrics provided by Baseball Prospectus which includes the CSAA stat which helps account for additional strikes given to the pitcher. His CSAA was eighth-highest in baseball last year while being second-highest in Framing Chances.

Outside the pitch framing and catching, the guy has an incredibly productive bat. Career 141 homers and 118 wRC+ in 879 games as a catcher is nothing to take lightly. His walk rate one the season usually is around the low to mid-teens as he has a good eye at the plate. He drew over 100 of them last season.

It may also be worth noting he has played 497 innings at first base on top of his 6,271 innings behind the dish. We saw Craig Counsell utilize him a number of times at first in 2019. Averaging roughly 132 games the past seasons, Grandal is a work horse.

Chicago Cubs: How he would potentially fit the Cubs

There are a lot of holes on the Cubs roster currently, and ironically catcher is not one of those areas with holes. Both Willson Contreras and Victor Caratini had very good seasons in 2019 and showed improvements in several areas of their game. Contreras found his power stroke again and Caratini turned into a very solid hitter himself.

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So how would Grandal potentially fit? Would the Cubs want to get into a bidding war to plug a hole that is not there? One could speculate either Contreras or Caratini being traded and bringing in Grandal in their spot. If the Cubs are serious about shakeups and getting big returns in trades from current-core pieces, surely Contreras (as everyone) is on the table.

A hypothetical trade-Contreras/sign-Grandal move offers both benefits and risks. There is no doubt how valuable Contreras is to this team, knowing he is also younger than Grandal who as we said earlier will seek a payday.

It is easier said than done to do this. However the potential of a move like that can also bring in a really smart catcher who is clearly a superior pitch framer to Contreras. Both will bring a power bat that can produce runs.

There are a number of other factors that would go into this that makes a seemingly simple idea be really complicated. Theo has to be absolutely sure they can land what they want in a trade and secure Grandal for this to be a possibility or even worth it.

Next. Cubs can learn from the Washington Nationals. dark

Unless the unlikely happens where the mutual option is agreed upon between him and the Brewers, Yasmani Grandal will be a hot commodity. Some teams like the Cincinnati Reds or Chicago White Sox seems like perfect fits for the veteran backstop but there will be plenty of others wanting him as well.

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