The Rockies have signed catcher Michael McKenry to a minor league deal with a Spring Training invitation, tweets Troy Renck of the Denver Post. McKenry will earn $750K if he makes the MLB roster.
The 28-year-old McKenry opened some eyes with his 2012 season, when he hit .233/.320/.442 with 12 home runs in 275 plate appearances for the Pirates. With strong defense, McKenry notched a robust 1.7 fWAR in that limited action. Last year, however, McKenry only earned 122 trips to the plate for the Bucs and saw his triple-slash slip to .217/.262/.348. The Oliver projection system likes McKenry to put up 2.1 fWAR if he were trusted as a starter.
The signing offers additional flexibility to a Rockies club whose young, slugging backstop — Wilin Rosario — has had his issues behind the dish. Colorado had dabbled in the higher-priced free agent backstop market earlier in the offseason, reportedly pursuing Brian McCann and Carlos Ruiz, but apparently decided against a major addition after seeing its top choices sign elsewhere.
