The Pirates need a catcher.
And I mean, they really need a catcher.
In August, they released pending free agent Francisco Cervelli. In October, they outrighted Steven Baron, a journeyman backup, off the roster. He later elected free agency over a minor league assignment. And on Monday, they non-tendered Elias Diaz. Diaz was once considered the catcher of the future, but a disastrous 2019 ended that dream. It was another move where Ben Cherington let go of a low upside player.
That leaves just Jacob Stallings on the roster. Stallings is, by all accounts, a terrific defensive catcher and a very good backup. If it came to it, he could probably even do pretty well splitting time 50-50 with someone else. But there's the problem: There is nobody else to share the load. The Pirates do not have a real catching prospect anywhere close to the majors, meaning they will need to bring in someone from outside the organization.
The winter meetings are next week, so there is a good chance we will hear the Pirates connected to some catchers on either the free agent or trade market soon. These are 10 players who could fit the bill.
FREE AGENTS
This is the easiest way to fill the gap, at least in the short term. While the top two free agent catchers, Yasmani Grandal and Travis d'Arnaud, have already signed, there are still some good veterans available. Everyone on this list should be looking for a one or two year deal at an affordable rate and could bring something to the Pirates.
Alex Avila: When the Diamondbacks signed Avila to a two year deal in 2017, they were getting a catcher who hit enough to make up for his sub-par glove. Now Avila is regarded as a good glove and a light hitter. That's baseball for you.
Avila had an embarrassingly low .184 batting average with the Diamondbacks, but he still had a .324 OBP because of a terrific walk rate. He finally learned to frame pitches in his time in the desert, making him a much better receiver. All told, every aspect of his game grades out as fairly average.
Avila is not going to be anyone's first choice this winter, but he could be had for a couple million and will produce roughly 1.5 WAR in a semi-starter's role. While that is hardly exciting, it is reliable.
Jason Castro: For my money, Castro was the second best free agent catcher available this winter, behind Grandal.
He has been bit by the injury bug the last two years, but he was reliable with both the bat and the glove in his 75 games played in 2019. He has been one of the best pitch framers for years now, and while he struggled blocking pitches and controlling the running game last year, you have to wonder how much of that was due to him working himself back from a 2018 knee injury. He brings a little pop, a good glove and a solid reputation for being able to work with his pitching staff. The injuries make him a risky pickup, but he has definite upside.
Castro has been with the Twins the past three seasons, so new manager Derek Shelton knows what he can bring to the table.
Robinson Chirinos: I hesitated to put Chirinos on the list because I think he is a free agency time bomb. I caved and included him because he is considered by many to be the most desirable catcher remaining on the market, but I see too many red flags to take him seriously.
Yes, he finished with 2.3 WAR, had a 113 wRC+ and was the second best catcher at blocking balls in the dirt, but he is 35 and his peripherals were pretty unimpressive. There is not one metric where Baseball Savant ranked him in even the 50th percentile, meaning he was below average in every advanced stat. xwOBA (.316), xBA (.216), hard hit percentage (37%)... the list goes on and on.
And now might not exactly be a great time to invest in Astros hitters. He had a .915 OPS at home last year and a .673 on the road. Of course most hitters do better at home, but considering the ongoing sign stealing investigation against the Astros, that split needs to be taken very seriously.
Russell Martin: How perfect would this reunion be? Martin is not ready to retire yet, presumably because he wants a ring. If that is the case, it would be a tough sell to convince him to come to Pittsburgh in 2020, but perhaps the appeal of regular playing time and returning to a city where is universally beloved could sway him.
There's still some good baseball left in Martin's bones. Last year he was worth 1.2 fWAR over 249 PAs, roughly half the workload of a major league starter, meaning he is still an above average player. A lot of that value comes from his glove. He can't block balls in the dirt as well as he used to, but he is still one of the very best pitch framers in baseball and his arm can keep runners honest. His bat has lost its power, but his good command of the zone helps him draw a lot of walks and get on base at a decent rate.
The only way the Pirates have any hope of being relevant in 2020 is if their starting rotation takes a hard 180 and returns back to their 2018 form, if not better. A Martin-Stallings battery duo would help make that a little more plausible.
Austin Romine: When in doubt, acquire a Yankees catcher. Romine could follow in the footsteps of Martin, Cervelli and Chris Stewart as backstops who came to Pittsburgh from New York.
Romine has been a reliable backup for years, but he could be destined for better things. He certainly does better when he gets the opportunity to play more. Romine made only 29 starts in the Yankees first 90 games and struggled at the plate, posting a .560 OPS. That changed in the second half of the season when injuries opened up some playing time and he found himself in the lineup about every other day. He had a .914 OPS after the All-Star break with a .384 wOBA and .364 xwOBA. Looking at his month to month results, it's easy to see the extra playing time helped him get a better feel for offspeed and breaking pitches, as he struck them much better:
Romine is a slightly below average pitch framer, but he makes up for it with some good blocking skills and being able to control the running game decently well. He is 31, so this might be his only chance to prove he is a major league starter. Pittsburgh could be a good fit for him, like it was for Cervelli.
PROSPECTS
In a perfect world, the Pirates would trade for a major league ready backstop who has the potential to be their catcher of the future. That's a lot easier said than done. There is a shortage of good catching prospects across the league right now, and basically all of the top young backstops are being hoarded.
To acquire a young catcher, the trade partner needs to A. Have enough catching depth that they can afford to sell some, and B. Actually hope to compete in 2020. If the Pirates want this catcher to replace Diaz, they also need him to C. Be major league ready. Those prerequisites whittle this list down to just a couple of names.
Alex Jackson, Braves: The Braves already had Tyler Flowers and added d'Arnaud, so they have two good, but injury prone catchers in the majors. That could make Jackson too valuable to trade, even if they have another catcher, William Contreras, on the 40-man.
But if the Braves do decide to field offers on him, they will certainly draw interest. Jackson has some of the best raw power in all of the minor leagues, clubbing 28 home runs in Triple-A. That pop did come at the cost of a lot of strikeouts, but he was still an above average bat.
Right now, the expectation is Jackson will be an average defender and a slightly below average bat at the major league level. Best case scenario, he is a defensively competent Ryan Doumit.
Reese McGuire, Blue Jays: Just how flexible are the finances at the moment?
The Pirates gave away McGuire to unload Francisco Liriano's contract in 2016, and while he has not become a superstar, he looks like a good-gloved major league backup. He's hit well in his limited major league time so far, but that is very likely just because of a small sample size. While he does not look like a future All-Star, he could be someone who could hold down the fort for a couple years while the Pirates are rebuilding.
The Blue Jays are looking for starting pitching and might be willing to trade a catcher to get it done. While a player like Trevor Williams, Chris Archer or Joe Musgrove could fit that bill, they are worth much more than just McGuire. Perhaps Cherington could swing a deal to get a handful of prospects he and new assistant GM Steve Sanders liked in their time with the Blue Jays.
Seby Zavala, White Sox: The White Sox currently have five catchers on their 40-man roster, including Grandal and 2019 All-Star James McCann. They obviously could afford to spare a backstop or two, especially if they are looking to make a run in 2020.
2019 was supposed to be a breakout season for the 26 year old, and while he did hit 20 home runs in Triple-A, his strikeout total skyrocketed and he finished with a sub-.300 OBP. Still, the White Sox felt comfortable enough to call him up for a couple cups of coffee in 2019.
Zavala has worked hard to become viable with the glove and might be able to tap into his raw power if he puts some muscle on. Right now, it looks like he has high floor, low ceiling potential.
TRADE CANDIDATES
This is a tricky tightrope to walk. There are benefits to acquiring an older catcher, but it also comes at the cost of a prospect or two. The Pirates could part with some lower level talent, but they need to keep their high-end guys. That immediately takes someone like Omar Narvaez off the board. Yes, he has three years of team control remaining, which would normally make him a good target for a small market club, but that will also make him desirable to other teams and raise his trade value.
Still, the Pirates need to keep all of their options open, and there are a couple backups who are looking for their shot.
Austin Barnes, Dodgers: The Dodgers and Barnes struck a one year, $1.1 million deal at the 11th hour Monday instead of non-tendering him. There is no question the starting catcher job belongs to Will Smith, and Keibert Ruiz is a good guy to have on-deck in case there is an injury. So if the Dodgers and Martin decide to reunite for 2020, Barnes should be available.
Barnes' best season came in 2017, when he was worth 3.5 WAR in roughly half a season's worth of playing time. However, his bat has taken a nosedive since then, and he has only accumulated 1.8 WAR over 480 plate appearances.
Still, that is a fairly average total given his limited playing time. He is without a doubt one of the game's best defensive catchers, and if he can fix his strikeout problem, he could be a respectable hitter as well.
Barnes is affordable, has the highest ceiling out of everyone on this list and arguably the highest floor. The Dodgers would most likely want major league talent in return for him, not a prospect.
Kyle Higashioka, Yankees: There is a chance Romine stays in New York. If that happens, the Yankees will have to find a new home for Higashioka, who is out of minor league options.
Higashioka has a good glove and some raw power that finally translated into game situations last season, going deep 20 times in 270 PAs in Triple-A. There are concerns of if his arm is strong enough to control the running game and if he is durable enough to handle a major workload. He will be turning 30 in April, so you get the feeling 2020 is going to be an important year for him to prove himself, either with the Yankees or another club.
All WAR totals are from FanGraphs. Graphic courtesy of Baseball Savant. Prospect information courtesy of FanGraphs prospect board.
MORE MOUND VISIT
Nov. 30: How Shelton can build culture
Nov. 27: What is Marte's trade value?
Nov. 22: Examining Cherington's first foray
Nov. 16: Cherington's analytical muddle
