After he endured a concussion-marred few months, the Pirates released veteran catcher Francisco Cervelli last week. Including Cervelli’s numbers prior to his Pittsburgh exit, he and the Pirates’ current catchers – Elias Diaz and Jacob Stallings – have combined to record some of the lowliest production of any group of backstops in the league this year. Their minus-0.6 fWAR and 65 wRC+ each rank just 26th in the majors. With that in mind, general manager Neal Huntington will enter the offseason seeking help behind the plate, though he realizes it’s going to be difficult to find a solution.
Huntington told Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic (subscription) that “catching is the hardest position to come by,” adding: “We’ll take a look at what’s available in a trade and the free agent markets this offseason. And, hopefully, we’ll continue to push the guys who are here forward.”
Cervelli’s slated to hit the open market again after a few months with his new team, the Braves. The Pirates will “keep the door open” to re-signing him, according to Huntington, but Biertempfel points out that a reunion looks unlikely. Indeed, Pittsburgh would be hard-pressed to count on Cervelli again considering his meek 2019 output and extensive concussion history.
Turning to other free-agent possibilities, the small-budget Pirates don’t seem likely to pursue current Brewer Yasmani Grandal – who’s a strong bet to rake in the largest contract among available catchers over the winter. There will be some other potentially appealing choices who could come at affordable prices, though, with Jason Castro (Twins), Travis d’Arnaud (Rays) and Robinson Chirinos (Astros) among them. At least offensively, all three have logged better-than-average numbers this year with their present teams. As noted earlier, that hasn’t been the case for Diaz and Stallings.
It’s all the more damning for Diaz that he hasn’t made up for his subpar offense (64 wRC+) with stellar work behind the plate. While Diaz has caught a league-average 27 percent of would-be base-stealers, he ranks dead last out of 104 catchers in Baseball Prospectus Fielding Runs Above Average metric and has accounted for minus-18 Defensive Runs Saved. Stallings has been vastly superior in those categories (54% CS, 17th in FRAA, 8 DRS), not to mention with the bat (85 wRC+).
The soon-to-be 29-year-old Diaz and Stallings (30 in December) are without minor league options, making it eminently possible at least one won’t be with the Pittsburgh organization in 2020. However, in an ideal world, the Pirates will possess “three or four” viable backstops next year, Huntington said. The club does have two Triple-A catchers, Steven Baron and Christian Kelley, but the two of them have posted horrid numbers in the minors this season. That should further put the onus on Huntington to find outside help at the position in the coming months. Huntington suggested it’ll be a challenge, but the woeful production of the Pirates’ 2019 catchers means he won’t have a high bar to clear when it comes to landing an upgrade.
Jason Kendall available?
Still remember when he blew his ankle up hitting 1st base awkwardly back in 1999. Lord that was ugly…..
That was……YIKES.
Mother of God – I still remember watching that on SportsCenter as a kid over and over again. It was so horrific that I couldn’t look away.
I was there. Awful. And a brutal hot day in that terrible stadium.
Not saying he’s a stud, but the team drafted Reese McGuire in the first round and shipped him out only so they could get rid of Liriano’s salary.
McGuire can’t crack the lineup in Toronto, another losing team. When the trade went down, I understood why they needed to include other players in order to get Toronto to take the rest of Liriano’s contract. Was bummed it was Rameriez and McGuire. Rameriez washed out in Toronto and finally made it to the bigs this years in Miami. and is having a middling year. Not near what I thought he would be back in 2016. I thought McGuire would be the starting catcher in Toronto by now but he as struggled since too. I guess those minor league player rankings don’t mean a whole lot.
Reese is a strong defender that having him catch 1-2 per week is fine. Whatever offense he can provide is a bonus.
When he was a Pirates farm hand, the rep was he had the tools to be a strong defensive guy but needed to work on the defense some more but he was a hitter. Seems to have flipped the rep now.
Yes it has. Good receiver, improved pitch-caller and blocking ability. Offensively he goes up and hacks. Maybe he will improve, maybe not. He reminds me a little of Scioscia.
I think that Stallings has improved a lot and is a very good backup who has gotten by as a 50-50 catcher this year.
Diaz,on the other hand,has steadily gone downhill this year.He has been a fairly good catcher in the past but has made a lot of errors this year.His hitting has bottomed out over the last three months too.
Cervelli will not be and should not be resigned due to his concussion issues.
I thought that losing Reese could be a problem but his predicted future seems correct as a good fielding second catcher.The problem was that the Pirates did not replace him.
They also need to have another older catcher as an emergency replacement in AAA which they did not have this year.
Maile?
His floor was a strong defensive back up. His hit tool would determine if he could start. He didn’t hit well enough in his last couple years in the minors for Pgh. I liked he was left handed.
So, will the Pirates trade Bell, Newman and Willams for a guy like Caleb Joseph? Seems right up Huntington’s alley
Are you basing that on the Archer trade or his 12 years as GM aka the Most successful Pirates GM in the last 25 years
He’s definitely the best GM they’ve had over the past 25 years, but that’s such a low bar that it isn’t exactly a complement when you call him such. The Archer trade was an atrocity, even before the 5.25 ERA he put up this season, and it will damage his legacy. He gave the Pirates three years of success, then set back the farm system by trading three of their top five prospects for a middling starting pitcher. There’s no way around that.
Yea, it’s like saying that someone is the tallest midget
He is basing that on the Cervelli trade with the Yankees when he gave up just Justin Wilson.
NH to his credit has made relatively few bad trades over the last seven years,and he always gets knocked for the ones he did.
Out of town fans rarely know what they are talking about.
But it is of no credit to be compared to the two bozoz preceding him.
The Cole trade wasn’t so great either
The Cole trade is being judged off what Cole has done with the Astros.
Hindsight is always 20-20.
Who really thinks that NH passed by a better trade?He got the most that he could get at that time.
A question could be asked about why he did not wait a year,but for who,for what?What happens if Cole gets arm problems in the interim.NH knew that he could not resign Cole,and that he was a stud pitcher,but I am not sure that the rest of baseball knew that.
The Pirates got three serviceable ML players and one decent minor league player.I think that it was the best that he could get at the time.
Hindsight is always 20-20.
Feliz has gotten better this year as well. Came in the other day with guys on 1st and 3rd and no one out. and struck out 3 to keep the Pirates in it
He was coming off of two mediocre seasons with injury concerns and an alarming home run rate.
I’d say getting 2-3 major league capable players is a good return on investment
Problem with the Cole trade is he got mid-level talent to fill roster holes since he did not have the budget to fill them in free agency. Would have been better to get higher end talent that might be a couple years out, but had to find a starter, reliever, and third basement to play in the majors that year.
TK you are probably right.That is why these armchair GMs really could not hold down the job because it is a lot more complicated than on the surface.That said,I think the more knowledgeable armchair GMs can tell whether it is a bad trade or signing sometimes sooner than the GMs because they are not so close to the action and common sense takes over.
It would be nice to have gotten two stud young players plus a couple others but the Yankees and Astros were not willing to give them up and they seemed to be the only two teams seriously interested in Cole at that point.
Problem is he was asking for the world from the Yanks and settled for allot less from Houston. If he would have negotiated with the Yanks maybe that deal works out. If you guys recall he wanted a much better haul from the Yanks to start negotiations. At the time Andujar bat was huge for the Yanks and they needed a 3rd baseman. Frazier was a top 25 prospect.
I am not sure that we know what he was asking for at this point.It seems to me that it has to be conjecture.Maybe someday we will find out for sure.
I do not doubt that he was asking for two players like Frazier and Andujar,but I think that the pitcher named Chance was part of it as an either/or.He has evidently not blossomed as thought,which is the risk with young players.
I understand that Andujar is quite a hitter,as is Frazier,but they both seem to have fairly serious fielding questions also.
Maybe it also was because the Pirates knew how good Cole could be as he never really learned to like it in Pittsburgh,whereas the rest of the league may not have realized that he had the ability that he has shown with the Astros.It did not surprise me in the least.
Is any catcher worse than Caleb Joseph? He wasn’t even kept by the Orioles!
Or – Wellington Castillo
The quality of Catcher has dropped significantly over the last 5 years.
You look 20 years agonand you have Pudge, Piazza, Posada, Javy Lopez, Lieberthal, Kendall, Sandy Alomar, Benito Santiago, Charles Johnson, Todd Hundley, Brad Ausmus.
Now we have maybe 4 or 5 guys at that level. Nobody seems to be able to go 120-130 games and we accept poor offensive numbers and passed balls and poor throwing because of framing
Yasmani Grandal would be interesting but the Pirates typically value good defense and pitch framing over HRs and RBIs.
My prediction is a platoon of Elias Díaz and Blake Swihart
They actually value both. Diaz looked like the real deal after last season but got off to an ugly start with is virus issue in spring training and never took off this year. Stallings looked good but not what you would want as a starting catcher.
Now we all know why the Bucs were trying to pry one of the catchers away from the Dodgers if they were to trade Vazquez. I was in agreement that if Felipe were to be moved it had to be for one of the stud catchers and a stud pitching prospect. Here is to hoping that the Dodgers bullpen goes up in flames during the post season and costs the Dodgers another chance at the Series and the agree to such a return to the Pirate in the off season.
The more likely scenario is that Vasquez has arm troubles and Ruiz never lives up to the hype and they both loose.
Sadly, you are prob right on this. If Felipe has his harm blow up soon and something happens to Ruiz……….Hide….. People will be looking for you !
So, the Dodgers literally offered one of the best catching prospects in baseball for the relief pitcher and the Pirates turned it down because they got greedy and ALSO asked for one of the best OVERALL prospects in baseball, in Gavin Lux (which would be like asking for Corey Seager 2-3 years ago), again for a RELIEVER (an excellent one at that, no doubt), and your response is it was the Dodgers who were dumb and deserve to go up in flames? Man Pirates fans are as delusional as their front office,
Enjoy having few prospects and no playoff contention for 2-3 more years while holding on to a great reliever getting some meaningless work in.
Welcome back Russell Martin
Underdog- and you enjoy having the best team in the NL for the third straight year but also only the second best team in all of baseball for the third straight year
How did holding on to Dodgers prospects work out this year? 31 years since a World Series Championship! Prospect .. Somspect… Need to load up when your so close. Hit’em Straight On golf course.
Mets trade Wilson Ramos & Cash($6,250,000) for Quinn Priester.
Austin Barnes is available, just saying. You coulda had Keibert, but you messed that one up…
Keibert Ruiz alone isn’t nearly enough to net a reliever of Vazquez’s caliber. If that’s all the Dodgers were offering, then they were definitely LADreamin
Agreed. Vasquez is the premier relief pitcher available and a team that wants him will have to pay a premium for his services.
Dodgers have a deep farm, Keibert Ruiz is a 60FV everyday player. He’s good enough to centerpiece that deal. Dodgers probably offered 3-4 pieces. Also, Vasquez is good, but not worth 2 blue chips GTF outta here. Relievers are volatile, while our farm produces rookie of the year candidates consistently. So now, about this Barnes piece you need. Is Mitch Keller on the table? LOL
If I were the Dodgers, yes I would ask for Keller. Why not? Always ask high. The Pirates did not have to move Vasquez this trade deadline. Why not ask for the sun and moon? Would be different if he was going FA this year or next. but he is under control for several more years and in the scheme of things very cheap.
not going to happen, just remember Dodgers tried to trade for Cervelli in of season . Dodgers then traded for Russel from Toronto when pirates were unreasonable and 6 month later they release him. Dumb move 1 and now another dumb move Vasquez will not be used much in 2019 or 2020 because they will suck. Dodgers will win NL west both years and not even remember pirates talks.
not likely no ML team over pays for relief pitchers they are up and down year to year.
Larry-They will remember the Pirates talks when they lack that one relief pitcher who would finally get them a championship.
LA farm system is currently deep enough that they could have withstood at least two blue chip trade candidates.
This mistake will probably cost them the WS.
The Brewers did when they got Pomeraz, never ever should had made that trade of Dubon!!!
He’s cheap now that he is in jail.
yeah dodgers wouldn’t give up what was required Ruiz and May at the least + change. I can under stand why they didn’t but you gotta under stand why the pirates wouldn’t either.
Not sure that the Pirates messed the trade up.
NH rightly so wanted a real haul for one of the top three or four relief pitchers in baseball,a guy who would have made the Dodgers the favorite in all of baseball.
The LA window is not closing because of all the money that they have and the fine farm system,but NH did not want another bad trade on his recent resume.
Prospects are just that until they prove themselves in the ML.Vasquez is a given commodity.
They sure did.
The Pirates will lose with Keibert Ruiz or without Keibert Ruiz. Changes nothing for them. They are something between window dressing and the Washington Generals.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, need to win the WS this year or else it is the biggest example of front office malfeasance in the history of sports….to ignore the most obvious need ever when they could easily afford to fix it.
The Dodgers don’t NEED to win the WS this year. Our window is wide open for the next 5 years. It would be nice, but the playoffs are a crapshoot. We know this. Pittsburg should’ve entered their rebuild a couple years ago, but now they’re in the most dangerous place in baseball: the middle. Pirates FO don’t know what the hell is going on, no wonder they’re going to hold onto Vasquez too long. Look at what they gave for Archer.
If you don’t think the Dodgers will be good again next year, you’re just in denial.
A) Pittsburgh. With an H.
B) The “middle” is as high as the Pirates can make it without a salary cap. Nothing they do matters.
C) I remember in 2012 when the Nationals didn’t NEED to win the WS that year (and shut down Strasburg in Sept) because they would win it soon enough.
D) The Dodgers are another blown chance away from the “choke artist” label and becoming the Buffalo Bills of the NFL….after years of $300 and then $200 million payrolls. But somehow they and their fans are more concerned about their farm system. Maybe OKC can win it all?
Lots of teams with small payrolls do well. Rays and A’s are two examples. Salary cap has nothing to do with it.
The Pirates are the worst run franchise of the last 50 years, not in baseball, but of all professional sports. I’m sure that NH had little to do with that reputation, but he’s not doing much to change it either.
Relief pitchers are not a known quantity. One season they are dominant,the next they are decent, or injured, or head cases. Rivera, Hoffman, Jansen, Kimbrel, etc are are outliers in that they were excellent over a long period of time, The market for relievers was hot when Vasquez was at his most dominant. That’s the time to make your deal. Find the best deal, hold out for as much as you can, then make it.
Huntington was so afraid of the perception of possibly losing the deal that he failed to improve his team. At the end of the day he should’ve realized that Ruiz and May plus others was never a reasonable ask from the Dodgers. If Vasquez regresses even a little he’ll have lost the opportunity to secure even one of those types of players.
It is quite obvious that you do not know what you are talking about.
The Dodgers were just trying to rape the Pirates as like the Yankees tried.with Cole.
NH was too smart for both.
The Pirates do not want to be the Astros,Royals,Orioles,Tigers,or Marlins as these teams have absolutely no chance to win for many years.
Even mediocrity is better than a hellhole unless you are guaranteed to win big coming out of it.
The A’s and Rays have won recently but have very little chance of going for the title.Do not delude yourself.
The worst team in sports is a general moniker that applies to a number of other teams below the Pirates.
Lack of a salary cap has nearly EVERYTHING to do with it. A’s and Rays are run well. Bucs had a good run for a while too.
Last 25 years’ total of WS won by A’s, Bucs, Rays, Brewers, Reds is what, zero?
lol Astros
Offering one of the best catching prospects and a package of other prospects isn’t attempted rape.
“NH was too smart for…” words never previously uttered.
The Astros and Royals have recently won the World Series and the Tigers went and lost.
The A’s and Rays aren’t the only teams with a smaller market than Pittsburgh who have been successful. The Brewers and the previously mentioned World Series champion Royals have also been successful. If you’re going to cherry pick your examples you should do a better job.
Only the Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders, and the Marlins under Lorna can compete with the Pirates for worst sports franchise in recent memory. But bar none no one can outcompete them for worst of the last half century.
Last 25 years total won by Royals and Marlins is 3, both smaller markets than Pittsburgh.
I never listed Royals and Marlins.
Astros are not small market.
I never listed Royals.
Brewers have won how many WS titles?
You’re really gonna go back 50 years and include the Pirates?!
You should fire up the old Googlerizer my friend.
Coach Brad-You should learn history in school before you coach others.
You have again proven my point in my first sentence.Thank you.
You should also learn simple arithmetic.
The Pirates were one of the top three or four teams of the 1970’s.That is within your fifty year time limit.
NH has engineered a number of good to fine trades.Do some homework before you spout off.
My point on the Astros,which was not clear,was that they were as bad as the first four Met teams.Look it up Brad.They were fortunate to scout,draft,and teach as well as they have done to come up with a fine team.Will that happen with the Orioles,Tigers,or Marlins?
I would have to check on the Marlins but I think that Miami is considered a larger service area than Pittsburgh.
The Royals have been the only small market team to win the WS since 1991.
I agree with the Lions,but have you ever heard of the Cleveland Browns Brad?How about the Phoenix Cardinals Brad?I think that Oakland would take exception and I guarantee that you would not want to tell their fans that they have been awful for fifty years.
I humbly suggest that you quit this arguement while you are a head.
Daulton Varsho is the target of the PIrates
And what exactly would the Pirates trade for him? You have to give value to get value. And admittedly, Ke’Bryan Hayes strikes me as the most “Diamondbacks Player” by skills, but him being traded for Varsho is about as likely as the Snakes trading Varsho to the Pirates in the first place.
The Pirates will have no choice but to trade one of their three young infielders for a young catcher.
I cannot criticize the Dodgers or Yankees for not trading youngsters for Vasquez or Cole otherwise.
I personally do not think that Hayes will hit enough to be an all star although he is a very good fielder.
Like you said you have to give value to get value.
It would be up to NH to make sure that he is getting good players in return.
James McCann?
Brian McCann? Lol
I’d guess McCann either resigns with the braves or retires.
Retired!
Bill Smith, James McCann is still arb eligible. In the unlikely event the White Sox don’t tender him a contract then I could see the pirates going after him since he’ll most likely be on a cheap deal anyways.
I don’t think so. If McCann – James that is, is on a ‘cheap deal’ – Reinsdork will definitely resign him.
Convince russell martin to not retire. At worst hes a quality back up that can still get on base at a fair clip (given his crappy average)
In a recent interview Martin Perry much said if he doesn’t get an offer to play on a contender, he’s just going to retire.
he also said if the fit is right. He seemed to like Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh loved him.
Its a long shot, but i’m sure most here would love to have him back.. though there maybe better cheap options available.
I really liked Russell Martin and still do.
But he is way past his prime and would not help the Pirates next year.
They may still be decent for another year without injuries with the two that they have if Diaz cleans up his act.
They need to get a good young catcher with promise but that will be difficult.They May have to trade from their surplus of good young middle infielders like Tucker or Kramer.
Not the guy the Pirates have in-mind but Luke Maile “should” be available.
I am sure that Eric Haase who plays for AAA Columbus in the Tribe’s farm system could be acquired for the right price. He has probably peaked at the minor league level and seems stuck behind Indians major league catchers Roberto Perez and Kevin Plawecki.
With all due respect to be stuck behind Kevin Plawicki does not auger well.
Lol. You’re forgetting that Plawecki can also pitch in lost causes.
Mike Zunino would be a guy i think they’d consider. I don’t care if he hits .230 as long as he continues to bring pop and good pitch framing.
If Tampa can resign d’Arnaud I could see them trading Zunino.
I think the title of this article should read “Pirates prioritize helping to improve cheap catchers currently on roster.”
Already know it’s going to be Romine.
Don’t think so…the Cervelli gift was enough for “I must win all trades” Huntington….he needs to swing in the wind a bit.
Ha probably. The Pirates love getting catchers from the Yankees.
Let the cat out of the hat.
Austin Hedges for who??
I’d be ok with this
Since the Dodgers have Ruiz waiting in the wings, they might be willing to trade Will Smith to Pittsburgh. He’s pre-arb and cost controlled for 6 seasons.
Absolutely no shot at Smith for PIT. If the Dodgers did not trade in season for bullpen pieces they certainly wont trade their C of the future for it in the offseason.
Better chance they deal Ruiz to PIT in a Vazquez trade. Smith has him blocked.
Could see the Pirates interested in dealing for either Austin Romine or Kyle Higashioka
Not unless the Pirates are giving up their #1 prospect!!!
You see the Yankees remember the ridiculous Cole asking price that Mr Huntington asked for and then settled for much less from the Astros!
But the trade would be up NH alley. He loves to trade away the system for players that may not amount to anything in search of “need”.
Romine is FA and probably the top “backup catcher” in the league, and better than a lot of starters. The Yankees are in love with Sanchez and aren’t going to pay Romine starter pay. Romine wants a starting gig or at least play regularly, which should actually increase his performance even more. He’ll get that somewhere. Higashioka is not FA, still under team control, and out of options. The Yankees see him as a cheap, serviceable backup, freeing up some cash to chase better pitching.
Just be a major league team and prioritize ALL the positions!
Please don’t tease us with minor league saviors. The Bucs would be a bad team with an in-his-prime-Johnny Bench as a backstop. There’s nowhere to go with this mediocre lineup. All the good ones are playing for other teams now.
The lineup is not the problem.The pitching and lack of pitching depth was the main problem this year.
The lineup has promise but needs some more power.
The fielding has been bad,and that is partly management fault.
But I won’t go there.
The Pirates won’t spend for a free agent unless it is a washed up old timer with defense metrics supporting him. Such a waste of writing
They should prioritize a new GM and baseball ops department!
Hard to believe there are four catching tandems behind them!
Hence why dealing Felipe Vazquez to the Dodgers for one of their young catchers plus additional pieces made logical sense. But sounds like Dodgers were pushing Keibert Ruiz and not willing to include Will Smith. Using that ‘We can’t subtract from our big league roster in a World Series chase’ rationale. Smart move as Will Smith looks like a future All Star.
Unless Pirates jump out of their comfort zone on Grandal, you’d expect they’ll target a mid tier FA. Jason Castro is going to have a bigger market than most realize. Austin Romine will too. Doubt they’ll go old with the Astros Chirinos whose a defensive liability. D’Arnaud could be an option but he’s got issues that 1 good year can’t cover up.
Trade Wise… Mariners always opened for business. Dipoto really should sell high on Tom Murphy. Athletics catching prospect Murphy is an intriguing option if they can match up on a trade. A’s have shown a proclivity to value veteran backstops. Wilson Ramos? Few trade options out there. Interesting offseason ahead for Buckos.