Yankees catcher Brian McCann has cleared waivers and is now eligible for an August trade, reports FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman, who notes that there’s no word a potential deal is in the works. However, he also points out that the Braves – McCann’s previous employer – engaged in talks with the Yankees before this past Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline and like the idea of the 32-year-old returning to Atlanta to help guide a young team.
In addition to the Braves, the Rangers also showed pre-deadline interest in McCann, according to Heyman. Of course, they ultimately solved their backstop issues by acquiring Jonathan Lucroy from the Brewers. Notably, McCann has a full no-trade clause, so he has the right to veto any potential deal. For their part, the Yankees aren’t inclined to give away McCann and the $34MM remaining on the five-year, $85MM deal they signed him to before the 2014 season.
New York still regards McCann as one of the game’s most productive catchers, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, though his offensive prowess from Atlanta hasn’t quite transferred to the Bronx. Since he first donned a Yankees uniform, McCann has hit .233/.310/.421 – good for a league-average wRC+ of 100 – while slugging 64 home runs in 1,414 plate appearances. Defensively, McCann has mostly earned strong pitch-framing grades from StatCorner and Baseball Prospectus.
As a full-time member of the Braves from 2006-13, McCann piled up seven All-Star nods, slashed .277/.350/.477 with 171 homers in 4,150 PAs, and was worth 27.7 fWAR. If the Braves don’t reacquire McCann or add another starting-caliber backstop between now and next season, they could once again hand the reins to veteran Tyler Flowers. The 30-year-old acquitted himself well over the season’s first few months before suffering a broken hand in July. He’s owed just $3MM next season and his contract includes a $4MM club option for 2018.
Please Braves, don’t overpay for a “feel good reunion”. Finish this season with AJ and Recker and next year give the starting job to Tyler Flowers and keep Anthony Recker as his backup or see what is available in the offseason. Unless the Yanks eat some of BMac’s salary, stay away
I don’t think they will try to get him unless he comes for ‘free’
Agreed that Braves shouldn’t touch him. They should go after Derek Norris!
Man I so strongly agree with this, jjdunckley. Getting Francoer back on the team was one thing because he is incredibly cheap (and has actually done pretty well), but McCann is going be expensive. We need to avoid an emotional decision here.
Having said that, I’ve still got my McCann Braves jersey and would be willing to break it back out.
Are the Braves getting a new stadium after all? If so I can understand why they got Kemp and would trade for McCann. Ticket sales.
I agree Fowler is a leader big year coming soon
Yankees can keep him. He can be horrible on their team.
It sure would be neat to get McCann back. Have him and Frenchy back on the same team again. I think they were roommates for awhile
A long time ago…when they were good
I’m a big fan of McCann but unless the Yankees ate a very significant part of his salary, I just wouldn’t want him to come back to the Braves. His current salary is way too high for his likely production. There are better younger options for much less money.
Even Jason Castro might be a better option this off season as he should be a potential buy low candidate. Castro would probably be a nice partner to share time with Tyler Flowers.
The Yankees are going to have to eat nearly half his contract in order to deal him. That… or take a bad contract back in return… I don’t see the 2nd as likely.
Are you serious???
The Braves don’t have one decent viable option at catcher now or the future and please don’t tell me Flowers is! Regardless of he is owed 33 million he brings a decent bat with plus power in middle of that shit lineup plus he helps young pitchers and bridges gap until braves find an alternate solution. So yes I can see Yanks eat $10 mill at most but they will get a decent prospect back. The Braves 11th best prospect as per mlb sounds just about right.
Settle down, there are some FA Catchers available for 2017.
They don’t have a good option at catcher and they have a bad lineup…hmmm, why would a team like that trade a decent prospect and take on all but 10m of McCann’s contract? Oh right, cuz they wouldn’t.
Hmmmm because they have a young rotation and need a veteran leader as a catcher to guide them. Does that not make sense when you are trying to build a strong rotation and have no catcher? McCann is 32 and still a good defensive catcher with power. So what are you missing? So yes they would!
Wow, two non-Braves fans fighting over what the organization would or wouldn’t do.
Thank you…and flowers has earned a shot as the backup
Trade for Victor Caratino from the Cubs for a reunion he is blocked by W.Contraras and Schwaber in 2017
Late to the party but you’ve lost your damn mind.
Yankees have so much more to do. Adding Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier were good moves but should just be the start. From a non-Yankee fan respecting a good rebuild effort, dump Sabathia, Castro, Gardner, McCann, Headley and Ellsbury.
McCann to the Braves is pointless. If the Yankee’s do eat some salary, they’d want legit prospects, and that would be crazy for the Braves to consider. what possible sense would it make to bring in an expensive old man to a rebuilding team? they already did that with Kemp, unless the yankees are giving him away, that is just silly.
McCann has more value even with his age in his ability to develop and maintain pitchers. Braves have a lot of young pitching coming up the pipeline, having a veteran to lead them isn’t a bad thing.
Someone posted earlier and hit the nail on the head as to why it makes sense for Atlanta. He’s a local boy, good with pitching, still has some pop and is marketable for the new stadium.
Agreed…trying to rebuild with oldies is not the typical course
Shop him to a team in the off-season that needs catching and is a bit closer to contending. Tigers, Mets, Mariners, Phillies, Rockies, White Sox or Orioles if Weiters leaves, All make a lot more sense then Braves.
And then there were two. McCann and Sabathia are all that’s left.
Ellsbury, Gardner, and Headley.
?
Gardner is a 2.5-3 WAR player. I don’t see how you think he has a bad contract (if that is what you mean by listing those names)
2016 WAR 2.1 by Baseball Reference with a steady decline from 4.4 in 2013.
Would just think He is a tradable contract given what they have in the minors. Was not calling him an albatross contract type player.
Castro too? Worst 2B in AL
Braves, please don’t bite. If Coppy is really looking for guys like McCann and Kemp for a core we’ll be rebuilding again before you know it. Trading the prospects we’ve gained just to rid our selves from these bad contracts. McCann was good in his day with the Atlanta but like Kemp, he’s out of his prime and headed down hill. Wait for Ramos.
Kemp was more about getting something of value for Oliveria. Kemp will be nice to have in LF for a few seasons (if they keep him) until someone younger comes up. I don’t think they have many Of options for LF in the Minors and there is a weak Fa class this year.
Thank you
I am sure Kemp as a core piece was his intention. Was a good salary trade for HRs, something the team has lacked. Since McCann left, we have not had a C that can command the rotation. Yanks eat half and we don’t give up a Top 10 and we make out well.
Kemp does not offer value. He hits hrs, that’s about it.
Unless you mean entertainment value…watching him attempt to play the of does offer some of that.
Braves unloaded Oliveria’s contract w/ out having to eat it all. For about $8.5m a year they can add Kemp who can provide HR’s from the right side, something the Braves have been lacking.
Freeman has swung decent of late w/ Kemp behind him, so there’s that little bit of good news as well.
Kemp at 8.5m a year does not provide value. He is a near replacement level player right now. I can’t imagine that getting any better as he continues to age and fall apart.
For Atlanta, the RH bat has some value. It’s what they’ve been lacking in the lineup for awhile.
Is he overpaid? sure.
But there is some value to him for Atlanta.
That value increases if Choppy is able to move him to an AL team (more DH time) in the offseason or 2017.
Hector O was dead weight, at least we’ve got something back for his $. Besides, the Braves are 4-2 since Kemp came over, yes, small sample size, but it doesn’t take much to get Braves fans excited this year 🙂
Perfect assessment
All true.
Not happening, if Yanks eat half your giving up a decent prospect because it makes zero sense for Yanks to get rid of him as he can groom Sanchez and play first or DH.
Got em by the short hairs if McCann is what they want
Basically a formality, because no one is going to pick up that contract. He’s still solid, still has some value, but it’s going to depend on what his present worth is (and therefore what he ought to be paid for his projected production level) and whether he’d be willing to go. He might not want to stay on a rebuilding team.
Well both the Braves and the Yankees are rebuilding
Agreed, but even as a Braves fan, I call the Yankees rebuild a quicker success than any.
Oh yeah…good point
With Yanks covering a large percentage of salary, would a deal centered around Max Fried or Touki be fair?
No way keeping touki is better just saw him pitch at rome he was great but then bullpen blew it.
Yeah, 1 game sample sizes ftw!
Touki is the 10th best prospect in a pitching rich system followed by fried at 11 (according to MLB.com). I assume that one of them has to go if the Yankees eat a lot of McCann salary. I assume the Yankees would have to get a fringe top 10 prospect to highlight any deal for McCann.
LOL Touki for McCann haha lmfao, more like Touki for Sanchez and btw auto trade is only in video games bud.
Another delusional Braves fan all too common on these forums. Touki was acquired for nothing and is projected a 4 or 5. You probably also think Teheran is an ace worth Moncada or Benintendi..LOL
Yeah Touki whom scouts have said reminds them of a younge Bob Gibson, is projected to be a 4 or 5 smh. That salary dump of Arroyo, IMO could turn out to be worst than the Swanson/Miller trade only time will tell. Anyone who has seen Touki’s arm knows it’s special. His breaking ball and fastball with late life is devastating, his only problem is control. Something in the past month and half he has corrected and the stats have shown ace like domination. Hell his last start he threw a 1 hitter. The whole thing about the Tehran proposals that were made by braves fans, is just a classic example of supply and demand. Is Teheran worth Moncada IMO no, but in order to land Teheran the red soxes were going to have to sell key pieces of their future. The Braves had no reason to deal Julio. Just like is Andrew Miller worth Clint Frazier IMO no again, but you got to over pay to make a run especially when the market is slim.
I would say if Yankees are paying half, bring McCann back and trade Flowers. I think Recker can split duties with McCann. Paying $6M on Catcher spot this year anyway.
McCann has a no-trade clause as well, so ultimately he will decide.
Braves look like the best fit, but that would depend if McCann wants to take part in the rebuilding effort.. Seems like an ideal move on multiple levels for the Braves. He should be an asset to their young pitching staff, immediately add more leadership to the clubhouse, and would give the FO another name to add to the marketing portfolio for their new stadium.
Yanks are certainly entertaining offers for him. If there is interest, then I guess it comes down to how much they are willing to pay, which prospect the Braves are willing to surrender, and whether or not McCann wants to take his Atlanta house off the real estate market.
Paramus- I agree about leadership and his bat which better than most of what we have now. Not a lot of other options. Plus I’m sure the Braves had their chance to trade for Lucroy but did not want to pay the prospect price.
I heard McCann still lives in the Atlanta area too…
His house is for sale
Good call on the house on the market… I agree there are other options out there. But if Yanks are paying near half what he is getting paid, a 11-20 prospect is worth it. McCann is Top 6 in most offensive categories and at that price cost a lot less than the available catchers after the season. I would pay McCann $8.5M to bridge the gap to a Herbert or Schwarz at age 32 over $15M for 29-30 year old Ramos or Weiters.
Jeez…shaking my head
Agree NYY would have to eat about half his salary. Anything more than that wouldn’t make sense IMO. His stats show he is league average but handles pitchers very well.
Can’t quite comprehend the McCann to ATL comments. Nostalgia has no place in a rebuild.
If McCann hadn’t of played for ATL previously, no one would be talking about ATL as a destination. And the fact that he has played there previously, presents no real value going forward.
Let it go, people. Those McCann jerseys will have to stay in the closet.
Also, right before this all broke out, McCann put his ATL house on the market. I wish I had $2mm, it’s a sweet pad…
Nostalgia has nothing to do with this situation. McCann handles pitchers well, and with quite a few young pitchers coming up, the Braves could use this skill set. Plus, he is well liked in the city and the clubhouse, so the front office would be thrilled to add his image to their marketing package. He’s had a down year with the bat, but he can still hold his own in most lineups.
The Braves could certainly pony up for Ramos in the off season, but they will have competition for his services. However, there are certainly enough intangibles to explore this opportunity, as McCann offers more than a name.
The real crux of the situation is whether or not McCann wants to go to a contender. His full no-trade clause holds all the leverage. IMO, if he wants the Braves, then a deal will most likely get done. Yankees have no need for him, and would surely view a savings of half his contract, plus a prospect, as a win.
WE NEED MCCANN
For?
The baseballs
If McCann goes then all that’s left is Elsbury, gardener and Headly need to go to complete the reset
As much as I hate to say this, if a good deal is in place (Yankees eating a good chunk of his contract), he’s definitely better than d’Arnaud. Mets need a Catcher. And anyone is better than d’Arnaud at this point!
So the Yanks are going to pay the majority of McCann’s contract to play somewhere else, a 32 year old, that still plays his position well. So bizarre, these comments about McCann. Everyone is like, yeah, he sucks, but he can come play for my team because he is better than our catcher. I think I’ve heard pretty much every fan from every team say that except for the Rangers at this point. So if everyone thinks he is an “upgrade” then why would the Yanks just dump him? People make it sound like he is owed $125mm. Guy has 2 years at $15mm per year, which is maybe an overpay by about $3mm or $4mm per year. Big deal. Yanks are right to not eat any money.
100% accurate. Brave fans are difficult to discuss anything regarding trade value. No common sense. Between the rumors all year with Teheran whom they wanted the three best prospects from any team interested for a mid rotation arm and now they want the Yanks to pay all of McCann’s salary! Ridiculous.
I agree to most of your points. He is owed $17M per the next two with an option. However, I just don’t see Braves paying that much, salary was half the reason they let him walk in the first place, the other being they felt Bethancourt could handle the takeover. I think he is still a Top 7 catcher in all of baseball and worth $10M a year for Atlanta. Don’t think Atlanta should take on more than that at this point. But I would rather then take on That much in McCann than what the FA catchers will command that are only 2-3 years younger. Not a matter of lack of common sense as suggested, just my opinion on what would be best overall for the team (not that that matters to anyone in FO).
Mets should offer Duda. Yanks can keep him as p/t 1B/DH next year if he’s healthy – or cut him loose if he’s not. Mets get upgrade at C with ability to slide to 1B also.
One position in a rebuild that a veteran player should be at is catcher. I would have Flowers catch Julio and Wisler next year and have McCann catch the others. He still has a productive bat and it would be more productive playing less. Yanks gotta eat a big portion of that contract though and I would prefer McCann over Wieters, Castro or Ramos.
Wieters and Ramos would be nice especially Ramos. However, Ramos contract demands will be ridiculous but still a possibility. I can not believe people think AR or JC are viable options. McCann is only a couple years older with PROVEN stats. Leadership and the guy can still hit. If he comes home u have hope that a change of scenery would help. If not his numbers are better than what we could acquire. Granted the large contract would have to be dealt with for this to be a possibility. Also, as long as the Yankees asking price reasonable then why not because we need a veteran to hold that position at least until a younger player is devolved or available in the coming couple of years.
Doesn’t make any sense for the Yankees to trade McCann and he is the one player that I don’t understand what the chatter is about. He is providing a perfectly serviceable to above average catcher, and while he isn’t the next Yogi, swatting 15 or so homers is fine. What are the Yankees options otherwise? Immediately plug Sanchez into the starting role? No chance and Romine certainly isn’t that guy. McCann has two years and $30mm remaining and you could argue that maybe he is being overpaid by about $8mm-$10mm total, but big deal. The Yanks would still have to go out and find a suitable back-up or compliment to Sanchez in the offseason and that would cost probably 2-3 years with an $8mm-$10mm annual salary. With the soon to be vacated DH spot and 1st base being somewhat open (Austin/Bird) in 2017, I see no issue carrying the extra catcher on the team. But what do I know, I guess. I guess everyone wants to dump McCann, who’s an overall solid player and then what? Please, the Yanks have no need to eat salary with a trade.
With the youth movement underway it makes perfect sense to trade McCann now. The 2017 season is the perfect opportunity for the Yankees to give young players the opportunity to play instead of platoon. And obviously it also frees up a lot of payroll.
The Yankees don’t need to trade McCann, but as he ages (and with that contract) his value will most likely decrease by 2018 and his team option year of 2019. Sanchez has a cannon arm and a pretty good bat. What he lacks is experience. I’d rather see him get that experience with low team expectations for 2017 rather than in a few years when the Yankees should be more competitive (either through FA or young players meeting expectations).
Why do the Yankees think they can unload the contract and get something in return? If anyone was willing to take on the contract, he wouldn’t have cleared waivers.
And this is where I think people are confused. The Yanks have not said they are trying to dump McCann nor is his contract really a burden. The guy is 32 and fills an important role, one which they currently don’t have anyone better. Sanchez needs a little more time at the ML level before being anointed the starter. I frankly, see this as a positive for the Yanks. Have McCann as the back-up going into 2017 for 2 seasons, being a mentor and a reserve, while taking the role of part time DH, bench spot, and fill in a 1st base. Could the Yanks fill his roster spot with a better bat, sure, of course, but I think people are misreading this. The Braves contacted the Yanks, as well as the Rangers.
Why is it such a sin to account Gary Sanchez the starter? They didn’t just bring him up for ####s & giggles. The rest of the season is all gravy, they’ve put out the white flag. It’s time to get rid of whoever they can feasibly get rid of and kick the tires on the kids at AAA. They need three catchers like they need another year of ARod. No sense in just dumping Romine (little to no trade value), so if they can get a fair prospect or two for McCann and throw a bunch of money at Atlanta, why not? If the Yanks have one thing in abundance (besides horrible albatross contacts), it’s money. No reason the Braves shouldn’t be willing to fork over two prospects in exchange for two years of McCann on the cheap. My opinion is that they shouldn’t have signed him to begin with (and just gone with Cervelli/Murphy), but Cashman has proven to me that he knows way way way way way more than I do. Heck, maybe he’ll throw in Hicks so they can bring up Gamel and Judge.
Well, you got me. Go ahead and punch my arm.
Because if any team claimed him the Yanks can say fine he is yours and you take on entire responsibility of the contract. Trades after deadline happen every year. Look it up.
I think his point was saying that if the Yankees could have made a trade without eating salary he wouldn’t have cleared waivers. Since he did teams obviously won’t take on McCann’s salary in full
Vedder, I agree 100, they are going to have to eat half of his contract. I have an interesting idea, instead of trading s prospect for him, how about trading Kemp for him, then yanks can let him dh and we can sign Reddick this offseason
The market is too weak to get in a bidding market for a non-superstar
If the Braves need a catcher, they should wait until the offseason and bring Matt Wieters back home to the ATL. A premier defensive and offensive backstop who still might have some untapped potential and in his prime.
As much as I would like to see Wieters in Atlanta, I don’t think it’ll happen simply for the fact that Boras is his agent. Atlanta isn’t going to get into a bidding war for a 30 year old catcher.
I agree. I don’t think Braves need to pay a C the same amount they didn’t want to pay McCann. Weiters and Ramos are right at same age Brian left. Granted Atlanta thought Bethancourt was ready, but why outbid other teams for what they let go. Just doesn’t make sense to me.
I’d be ok with McCann if the price was decent for Atlanta, simply for his ability to handle a pitching staff. I”m not sure how Wieters is in that regard, but I like his bat.
Ramos I think stays in Washington, not sure they’d let him come to Atlanta.
Agreed, Atlanta’s immense need for a C I think forces WASH to pony up for Ramos. Would be a rough 4 years if he was hitting against his former pitchers 18 times a year.
McCann is getting old White Sox need a catcher I think the Wheel is starting to spin in Kenny Williams Head but 32 might be to young might have to wait till 36 years old
He’s got a .750 OPS at catcher. That’d be an improvement for the White Sox. So that being said, they won’t want him.
Braves/Orioles/Yankees 3-team swap of big contracts. Braves get McCann/Ubaldo/Headley, Orioles get Markakis/Castro Yankees get Hardy/Kemp. Braves/Yanks send cash to Baltimore for Prospects.
hahahaha, nice thought.
Hardy and Kemp negate the McCann and Headley drop for the Yankees. As a Braves fan, I like the positions filled, but also taking Ubaldo at the same time limits the prospects we trade and BAL does not have much prospects to offer.
Well if B-Mac does not get traded to Atlanta then would Cleveland be interested? If Cleveland’s plan for Lucroy was to DH and play first, besides spot catching then they still have a need for production at the catching position.
They are contending so it could be a viable landing spot for him.
Maybe the Indians FO will see this post lol. It’s a good point
It’s like a lot of people have never heard of a stop gap before. The Braves are so far down the rebuild road that they have a ton of extra cash. If they want to trade for McCann it’s not like they are in the same position as a team who just started a rebuild like the Yankees. The Braves can afford to pay stop gap players. It is not like they will be competitive next year either and there is a super weak FA class this off season. I would be fine with them getting McCann if the FO is able to work the trade to the right price.
Agreed Krillin, but you cannot argue how well the Yankees rebuild has skyrocketed with this past trade deadline. They wanted to get younger and have done a decent job of it, while adding a massive haul on 4 trades. Swanson was our coup, but the have brought back some top prospects. Love what Coppy has done, but Cashman has done just as well, if not better quicker. What do you think of two 12-30 prospects to NYY for McCann and $17M?
Yeah, I didn’t mean to imply Cashman is doing a bad job. He is doing a fantastic job at the rebuild. I just meant the Braves are slightly further down the road with it.
I would honestly take that trade you suggested if the Yanks and McCann were cool with it. I am no expert by any means though lol.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, you mean we are not all expertS in here? Crazier things have happened, I had suggested we bring Kemp to ATL all year.
Like your comments though Krillin, always.
That’s what I”ve been saying as well.
Yanks are doing what all teams do with waivers, they should be able to get some good players for McCann if not now over the winter. Cleveland, Braves, and Astros look like a fit . Of course theYanks will have to eat some of his contract. I see them moving Gardner and McCann before the spring, and maybe even Eovaldi and Headley.