Catcher Manny Pina signed for $1.6MM in 2019, his first season of arbitration eligibility, but the Milwaukee Brewers hold a team option for 2020 worth $1.85MM, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
The team option for 2020 also includes a $150K buyout, pushing Pina’s guaranteed dollar amount to $1.75MM. Incentives could push the value of the deal higher if Pina wins a Gold Glove ($25K), Silver Slugger ($50K), LCS MVP ($25K), World Series MVP ($50K), National League MVP ($100K), or if he earns a trip to the All-Star game ($50K).
The Brewers now have three catchers signed to guaranteed contracts for 2019: Yasmani Grandal ($18.25MM), Erik Kratz ($1.2MM) and Pina. Grandal figures to see most of the playing time this upcoming season, but as an unrestricted free agent, he’s far from a lock to stay in Milwaukee long-term. Kratz, 39 in June, somewhat surprisingly took over the starting catcher position throughout the Brewers’ playoff run last season, though the journeyman hit only .236/.280/.355 across 219 plate appearances during the regular season. It was the first time Kratz ever exceeded 200 at bats in a season, and the first time eclipsing 100 at-bats since 2014.
Pina, then, seems the most likely of the three to stay with the Brewers beyond 2019, especially now that Milwaukee has secured him at a reasonable price point for 2020. Playing in a little over 60% of Milwaukee’s games over the last two seasons, the 31-year-old Pina slashed a solid .266/.317/.410 across 696 plate appearances. Generally-speaking, he is the least accomplished defensive catcher of the trio, though he received solid marks in blocking and throwing out would-be base stealers. It remains to be seen how exactly manager Craig Counsell plans to divvy up the backup duties behind Grandal.
If Manny Pina wins NL MVP I will personally give him 100k
You didn’t put a dollar sign in front of the 100k, so you obviously weren’t talking about money. You must mean you’ll give him 100k posts on this site.
Think he’s talking about the candy bar.
Likes, obviously. The only currency that truly matters
Upvotes
“Generally speaking, he is the least accomplished defensive catcher of the trio”????
Pina was a Gold Glove finalist this year!
The stat that earned him the GG nomination was he turned the most double plays by a catcher
There’s no actual requirement that you be a good defender to win a gold glove
Usually your batting line has more of an impact than your UZR…
Yes! The other two were the automatic legacy nominations, Posey and Molina. Light hitting small market Manny Pina really was a better defensive catcher than all those he beat out. Saber defensive stats are questionable at best..they illuminate almost nothing about a catchers performance. My guess is that the author saw no more than a few games that Manny caught.
Pina is accomplished defensively. Author should’ve done his due diligence.
Kratz did such a nice job last year, especially when games became important. But I can’t see them keeping three catchers in the active roster. If anything, they will end up carrying extra infielders when all is said and done
Pina had shown flashes that he could be a decent major league catcher. Not all star level but serviceable. He’s got one hell of an arm, and his 1st season in Milwaukee he looked like he was going to figure out the bat.
He took a big step back last year offensively. Rooting for the guy but I don’t see him being anything more than we’ve seen.
Kratz deal is a split major/minor league contract. So the Brewers can easily stash him in San Antonio in case their is an injury to Grandal or the Pineapple.
Kratz contract contains an, unusually, large amount on minor league provisions.
I got no idea why we resigned kratz unless were hoping to make him some kind of coach once he retires
Insurance
Could someone please explain to me how Grandall is 10X better than Pina? I don’t understand why they paid Grandal so much when his numbers aren’t much different than Pina’s, and Manny is a beast behind the plate.