The Indians are in first place in the American League Central, yet they possess one of the most glaring weaknesses of any contender in the game. Cleveland catchers this season — Yan Gomes (currently injured), Roberto Perez and Chris Gimenez — have combined to bat a staggering .172/.225/.296 in 457 plate appearances. The company line has been that they’re high on the defensive capabilities of each backstop, but no club in all of Major League Baseball has received worse production out of its catchers. How best to remedy that situation — or whether they even need to — is up for debate.
Obvious Trade Candidates
Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes today that Cleveland has had some discussions with the division-rival Twins about Kurt Suzuki in the past, but “there’s nothing happening at the moment.” Suzuki cleared trade waivers yesterday, making him a logical candidate for any club in need of catching help. The main sticking point for Cleveland, it seems, is that Suzuki isn’t regarded as a strong defender, and he would obviously be tasked with learning an entirely new pitching staff in a short amount of time in the event that the Indians made a move. That’s a tall order for any catcher, and it could conceivably lead to further difficulty in framing/blocking pitches if he’s not fully familiar with the full arsenal of each pitcher he’s catching. Then again, Suzuki is affordable (owed $1.5MM through season’s end) and hitting .281/.321/.435 — an enormous upgrade over the offensive deficiencies that have plagued Cleveland catchers in 2016.
Another obvious candidate for Cleveland would be the only other catcher that is known at this time to have cleared trade waivers: Brian McCann. The defensive question marks that surround Suzuki aren’t as prevalent with McCann. While the Yankee backstop is admittedly having a down season in terms of throwing out runners, his 23 percent is still better than Suzuki’s 19 percent, and he’s traditionally been more adept at controlling the running game. Likewise, McCann routinely posts above-average framing marks, per Baseball Prospectus, while Suzuki perennially ranks as one of the worst in the game at stealing extra strikes for his pitchers. It’s probably a surprise to some that haven’t paid close attention to see that Suzuki, though, has actually been the better hitter of the two this season in terms of both average and slugging percentage.
The difficulty with regards to McCann, however, is that he’s owed $34MM beyond this season, and there’s almost certainly no way the Indians would be willing to take on that type of coin. The Yankees would have to eat a substantial amount of McCann’s remaining salary for any type of serious consideration, and they’d accordingly ask for a greater return in terms of prospects if they continue to shoulder the bulk of McCann’s contract. On a speculative note, though, McCann would seem to be a good fit for the rotating catcher/first base/designated hitter role that prompted Jonathan Lucroy to veto a deal to Cleveland. And, speaking of no-trade clauses, McCann does have full no-trade rights under his deal with the Yankees, so he’d have to approve of the move.
Names That Could Become Available
Derek Norris could (and perhaps should) be listed in the previous category, but there’s no official word that he’s cleared waivers yet so I kept him in this bucket for now. At any rate, the Padres’ catcher has seen his bat go ice cold again in recent weeks after showing promise from May through mid-July. Norris got off to one of the worst starts of any big league hitter this year but largely righted the ship and looked to be hitting his way back into trade candidacy. But, in 80 plate appearances since the All-Star break, he’s hitting .113/.213/.127, making him look more like a non-tender candidate than a trade candidate.
Digging a bit deeper, I looked at the trade market for catchers last month and listed a number of names that were rentals and some that were controllable beyond the current season. The latter group is probably off limits now (with the exception of the aforementioned McCann and Norris), but a number of potential rentals figure to be available.
Carlos Ruiz still draws plenty of walks for the rebuilding Phillies and could at the very least provide some OBP from behind the plate. The Rockies have wilted as of late, falling to 9.5 games back in their division and 6.5 games back of the second Wild Card spot. If Nick Hundley hasn’t already been placed on trade waivers, he very well could be in the near future. It’s no certainty that he’d clear, but he’s another affordable rental piece that could theoretically help Cleveland if he makes it to them unclaimed. Geovany Soto of the Angels represents another option that figures to land on trade waivers and could make his way to Cleveland, if he’s not first blocked by a club like Detroit in an effort to prevent Cleveland from adding any sort of alternative to their incumbent options. [Editor’s Note: Soto was placed on the 15-day DL after this post was published.] Likewise, Mariners catcher Chris Iannetta could hit the wire now that Mike Zunino is hitting well, but Iannetta is in a Norris-esque free fall at the moment himself.
The Case for Staying the Course
For all of their offensive woes behind the plate, the fact of the matter is that Cleveland is six games up on the AL Central. They’re 10th in the Majors in terms of caught-stealing percentage from their catchers, having halted exactly one third of the attempts against them, and more impressively, the Indians have had the fewest steals attempted against them of any MLB team — just 57 tries. It’s still possible that Gomes returns from a separated shoulder next month and brings his strong framing skills and rocket arm with him, further increasing the club’s defensive prowess. Any addition, at this point, would likely be made for the purposes of adding some punch to the postseason roster, but framing extra strikes (or simply ensuring that actual strikes on the fringe of the zone are called) and preventing stolen bases are of magnified importance in the playoffs. Cleveland could simply elect to prioritize those elements over adding another solid, but unspectacular bat to a lineup that has already scored the fourth-most runs in baseball even with a dearth of offensive production from behind the plate.
All of that said, I’ll open this one up to our readers for debate in the comments and in the following poll (link to poll for Trade Rumors app users)…
Mike Napoli back to Catch
They need to go after Maldonado from Milwaukee were going to think outside the box on this one
They need to go after Maldonado from Milwaukee were going to think outside the box on this one.
The Brewers made a curious move the other day picking up Michael McKenry to catch at AAA. They already had received Susac back from SF in the Smith deal.
You may be on to something. They might be trying to get Maldonado through waivers to deal.
His hip is destroyed. He’s never getting behind the plate again unless it’s the 18th inning of a national league game.
Right? Why can’t he be a catcher for just one of the guys in the rotation? Once every five days he catches.
I know Napoli has hip issues, but the real reason I wouldn’t do this is because it might screw up with his current production if Napoli suddenly has to relearn his catching skills, not focusing on perfecting his hitting.
Lol
I’d rather have Carlos Santana catch and Mike Napoli stay at first. but a Kurt Suzuki sounds nice too.
Bad hip, never going to happen. Santana would be an emergency catcher before ever considering Napoli.
Perez & Giminez are better than any option out there (not paying McCann), defense matters
Say that when Perez or Gimenez are coming to the plate in the 8th with 2 on and 2 out and the Indians are down 1….then they hit that routine grounder to the shortstop and end the inning…….
Routine grounder? More like, take 1st pitch right down the middle, whiff at a slider 4 feet off of the plate for Strike 2 and watch a 75 MPH curveball over the fat part of the plate for Strike 3.
There are literally Little Leaguers playing in Williamsport right now that can hit MLB pitching better than Perez or Gimenez.
I was trying to give them a little credit….but your description is pretty spot on!
They can be pinch-hit for, and the other comes in. I also suspect that Santana can still don the tools of ignorance in a (playoff) pinch,
McCann and $30M for Zimmer?
I really hope you’re joking.
The Indians are all in this season. They might not do that deal, but it isn’t ridiculous to propose it.
McCann for free is not worth Zimmer. Being all in doesn’t mean that the front office should start acting crazy. Cleveland has generally always made intelligent trade decisions, and that proposal is nonsense.
Sounds like Recker would’ve been a solution if they had kept him. He has played well for the Braves.
I am enjoying Recker being on the Braves, that’s for sure.
True, but with Flowers back today, I could see Coppy giving him up.
AJP was put on the DL today with a convenient ailment just in time for Flowers to come off the DL himself.
I am too, I’d even like to see him get a chance with Flowers next season. Not sure if his performance at the plate is legit, but he’s been good behind the plate. He would be a solid backup I think.
Bring Wiilin Rosario back from Korea. Buyout would probably be cheaper than what’s remaining on Suzuki’s contract.
rosario’s defense suuuuuuuuuuuuuucks @ catcher – there is a reason he was made a 1b/bench guy in CO
Stay the course is the Indians motto.which = 13,000 last night vs. ChiSox? Quintana vs. Kluber? It makes me laugh, guessing about 8,000 show up vs. ChiSox minor league starter tonight. Dolan’s said money wouldn’t be an issue when we win. Prove it make a McCann deal, Yankees know are prospects well enough to make the Miller deal. Tribe front office knows which prospects the Yankees like based off those conversations & completing the Miller deal. I say make the McCann deal & just my hunch is attendance will at least double in the 26,000-28,000 range at least. Dolan’s have to spend to win back the fans angry from the Wedge/Acta losing eras & signing Pronk (who couldn’t throw or field) over Lee/Vic./&C.C..Nows the time to spend $$$ Dolan’s we’re a first place club.
Yanks will trade McCann either now or in the winter, Cleveland would have to give them Clevenger and another mid level player, the Yanks would have to pay down McCann contract a bit/ maybe 10 million. The Yanks might wait until the winter and try and get a top pitching prospect like Newcomb of the Braves.
Why would Cleveland have to give up a top 100 prospect? McCann is hitting something like .223 since coming to NY, and they have Gary Sanchez ready to role. They don’t need (or want) McCann any longer. If Cleveland would eat the contract, they would take a mid-range pitching prospect, as a player to be named later.
No way on Earth they eat that contract, might as well bring Travis Hafner back.
Mccann’s average is down but his OBP and power numbers are still quite high for a catcher. I say McCann while paying half his salary, Romine and Refsnyder for Clevenger
No way should the Braves give up Newcomb or any half decent prospect for that matter to get McCann back. He’s not worth much even free if you ask me. I’d rather have Wieters and keep my prospects.
The indians nearly acquired Lucroy so that he could catch this season and give flexibility between catcher and first base next season while also adding a quality bat. Norris fits the mold just as well as lucroy. I think Norris is their best and most likely option.
Agreed!
McCann is owed wayyyyyyyy too much money to be considered and only way the Yankees pick up a sizeable portion is with a top prospect going back. Not worth it IMO! Besides, McCann won’t bring you 150 extra fans yet alone doubling your attendance, that’s just ridiculous. They ponied up for Miller and he’s been brilliant, they ponied up for Lucroy’s and he pulled back. Guyer is a small addition but a nice one so far. I’d hate to see them overpay for any catcher that disrupts the pitching and then goes into a slump at the plate. Perez was hurt and rushed back, he’ll get a little better at the plate.