Wish to Improve at Catcher? Too Dangerous!

The Cleveland Guardians are a reasonably tightfisted group. They spend sometimes, frugally, and intentionally. So I used to be amused when, some three weeks in the past, they jumped to re-sign backup catcher Austin Hedges to a one-year, $4 million contract. That’s roughly 4% of what the Guardians spent on participant payroll in whole this previous season — and on a backup catcher?

Now, Hedges is likely one of the league’s finest defenders, on the place the place protection is of the utmost efficiency. And by all accounts he’s the most effective clubhouse man since Spanky from The Little Rascals. However he’s the worst hitter within the league. That’s not an exaggeration; Hedges hasn’t posted a wRC+ over 50 since 2018, and in his previous two seasons he hasn’t damaged 25.

Since 2019, Hedges is hitting .171/.234/.273. Of the 364 gamers who’ve taken 1,000 or extra plate appearances over that point, Hedges is lifeless final in wRC+ by an enormous margin. Jackie Bradley Jr. is in second-to-last place with a wRC+ of 67; Hedges is at 39. (Which speaks to how far you will get in baseball when you’re an elite defender and everybody likes you.)

It’s a testomony to Hedges’ different abilities that he’s managed to be an above-replacement-level participant regardless of his offensive inadequacies. Nevertheless it’s simply not the Guardians’ type to fall over themselves to re-sign a place participant — even a backup catcher — with an offensive monitor document like this. Absolutely Cleveland may’ve discovered one other good cling with good framing numbers elsewhere in the marketplace. Proper?

Nicely, having examined the out there choices… no. Free agent catching expertise is so scarce this 12 months, bringing again Hedges for $4 million truly is smart. The Rockies additionally elected to re-sign the satan they know, Jacob Stallings, who will flip 35 subsequent month. My condolences to Stallings on having a birthday inside every week of Christmas; I can solely hope his new $2.5 million contract will enable him to purchase the happiness he absolutely misplaced in a childhood of mixed birthday-Christmas presents.

Stallings isn’t in Hedges’ class as a defender — few are — however after a profession filled with poor offense, he hit .263/.357/.453 in 281 plate appearances for Colorado. Even in Coors Discipline, that’s a 114 wRC+. Regression is likely to be on the best way (Stallings outperformed his xSLG by 69 factors, to present one related level of data), nevertheless it’s higher than what’s on the market.

The truth is, let’s take a look at what’s on the market. Stallings and Hedges are spoken for, as is Travis d’Arnaud, a 35-year-old coming off half a season of hitting .238/.302/.436 with common protection behind the plate. That makes d’Arnaud the cream of this free agent crop.

What number of free agent catchers do you assume are nonetheless on the market who produced at the very least 0.5 win in both 2023 or 2024, or are projected to take action in 2025? That’s not a excessive bar, proper? Half a win in any considered one of three seasons, considered one of which isn’t even actual but? But solely 10 gamers may meet it.

Candy Jesus.

In just a few of those instances, the offense isn’t that unhealthy. The 2 youngest gamers on the record — Kelly and Jansen — are literally intriguing. Kelly, who’s modified groups midseason two years in a row, hit .302/.388/.419 in opposition to lefties and held his personal in opposition to righties, with a wRC+ of 92. (Take platoon splits for a 313-plate look season for what they’re price.) Each Kelly and Jansen struggled after midseason trades, however Jansen slugged .487 as a part-time participant from 2021 to 2023, and doubtless represents the most effective remaining possibility for respectable offense behind the plate.

Grandal’s general numbers with Pittsburgh had been higher than I believed they’d be, and he — together with Sánchez and McCann — is an possibility for these GMs who place a premium on remembering guys who had been good just a few years in the past.

You’ll discover that none of those catchers performed a ton. None of those 10 gamers batted even 400 instances in 2024; the ten of them put collectively have solely six seasons of 400 or extra PA and solely a single season of 500 or extra PA since 2020.

I suppose that’s probably not a dealbreaker; it’s fairly widespread for groups to go together with a platoon or another sort of time share at catcher. In 2024, solely 9 catchers certified for the batting title — and right here I’m counting all plate appearances by gamers with catcher as their major place, so this consists of Salvador Perez enjoying first base and issues of that nature — and solely 16 had 400 or extra plate appearances.

Maybe catchers are going the best way of the beginning pitcher, the place the bodily and technical calls for of the place are too nice for one particular person to bear for a complete season. The fashionable catching platoon is the place participant model of the de facto seven- or eight-man beginning rotation.

Or perhaps it solely appears to be like like a vendor’s marketplace for catchers as a result of everybody who’s considering shopping for already has one.

Right here’s a listing of 21 groups that both completed over .500 in 2024 or at the moment have a projected payroll within the high half of the league for 2025, in response to RosterResource. These are the groups I’d describe as both contenders or contender-curious. I’ve included every staff’s general wRC+ and WAR totals at catcher in 2024, in addition to the present projected starter for 2025.

What stands out instantly is that the majority of those groups have completely good catchers already. It’s a mix of latest high prospects, extremely paid free agent signings, and homegrown breakout stars. A number of groups — and I’m talking largely concerning the Blue Jays and Rangers right here — are in all probability disillusioned with their manufacturing in 2024, however their incumbent starters had been excellent very just lately and should have an opportunity to bounce again.

I rely 4 groups on this record — the Tigers, Padres, Cubs, and Twins — that would stand to improve. And even that is likely to be uncharitable. Twins backstop Ryan Jeffers hit 21 dwelling runs final 12 months. Jake Rogers can’t hit a lick, however he grades out as an excellent defender, and perhaps the Tigers are relying on the Age of Dillon Dingler dawning within the spring.

Nonetheless, let’s take a look at the place the highest two free agent catchers, by projected 2025 WAR, began this previous season. Kelly was with the Tigers, and Higashioka was with the Padres. Simply run it again — that’s what everybody else is doing.