The free agent market this winter has been hot in some ways, but there are still plenty of interesting names at most positions. One area that moved fairly quickly was the market, with many top names no longer in the market.
It wasn't a great course to begin with, but the best free agent backstops this winter were Danny Jansen, Carson Kelly And Kyle Higashioka. All three signed about a month ago. Gary Sanchez, Travis d'Arnaud, Jacob Stallings And Austin Hedges were also imprisoned.
For teams still looking for help behind the plate, their options are now more limited. Former All-Star Game MVP Elias Diaz is still out there, although he's coming off a season in which his issues were so pronounced that he was released by the Rockies and finished the year as Higashioka's backup in San Diego. Christian Bethancourt had some good results with the Cubs last year but was still completely inconsistent, perhaps because he's been so inconsistent in recent years. James McCann had a passable offense at times, but his work behind the plate wasn't particularly appreciated.
A fascinating type that is still available is Yasmani Grandal. His numbers were poor in 2022 and 2023, but in some ways there was an uptick last year. The Pirates left a lot of time behind the plate Joey Bartwho had a nice breakout season and was a former top overall pick Henry Davis. But Grandal was quiet in the mix next to those guys, managing to play in 72 games and get to the plate 243 times, while also sitting behind the plate for 560 1/3 innings.
Offensively he showed a crowning performance. His 18.9% strikeout rate was his best aside from his part-time stint over a decade ago before he established himself as a top player. His 9.9% walk rate was slightly below some of his previous work, but still above league average. He also hit nine home runs in this limited role. His batting line of .228/.304/.400 resulted in a wRC+ of 95, which is below average overall but above average for a catcher.
Grandal has been a solid defender throughout his career, particularly in the frame area, and that continued last year. Among guys with at least 550 innings caught in 2024, Grandal ranked seventh in FanGraphs' rankings for framing. The six guys ahead of him on this list each had over 700 innings under their belt. Patrick Bailey was the only backstop that was clearly ahead in terms of tariffs. Statcast had Grandal at No. 11 in its frame rankings. Of the 10 guys in front of him, only Hedges caught fewer throws than Grandal.
The strong frame contributed to an overall solid defensive profile. Combined with a decent year at the helm, he actually provided some sneaky value, depending on which win number over replacement players you trust the most. Baseball Reference gave him just 0.6 WAR for the year, but FanGraphs had him at 1.4 and Baseball Prospectus had him at 1.8. This is probably because these outlets have different weights for catcher defense or specifically for the frame.
Grandal hasn't drawn any attention this offseason. He wasn't tagged at MLBTR since early May, when he came off the injured list after starting the season on the IL because of plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
He won't help sell season tickets, but for clubs still wanting upgrades he may be the best choice. It shouldn't cost much either. A year ago he was only paid $2.5 million plus incentives by the Bucs. Maybe his solid season can give him a leg up, but he's also now 36 and still out of contract, which doesn't give him much room to negotiate. Even if he deserves a raise, it certainly won't be huge.
Returning to Pittsburgh is probably not an option. Bart certainly deserves some run after his strong season while the club still has Davis. There are also Endy Rodriguezwho appeared to be developing into the club's future catcher in 2023, but then recovered from surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament and the flexor tendon in his throwing arm in 2024. Jason Delay is also on the 40-man squad.
Teams like the Red Sox, Nationals, Padres, Phillies, Atlanta, Blue Jays, Mariners and others could arguably use some improvement in their catching depth. Some of these clubs have strong starting options, but most clubs these days avoid relying too heavily on a catcher. Cal Raleigh led the league with 125 starts last year, meaning every team had a backup/secondary catcher in the starting lineup at least 37 times, often far more often.
There's obviously some risk in signing a 36-year-old catcher, but he arguably has decent potential depending on how you value his frame. While he struggled offensively in 2022 and 2023, BR valued him well below replacement level, but FG had him just below that while BP gave him 2.3 WAR for that two-year period.
