The Brewers are set to exercise catcher Manny Pina‘s $1.85MM club option for 2020, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. The club could have bought him out for a meager $150K.
At least for now, Pina’s in line for his fifth season as a Brewer. The 32-year-old is coming off a season in which he batted .228/.313/.411 with seven home runs in 179 plate appearances as a backup to the excellent Yasmani Grandal. Along with providing decent offense (relative to his position), Pina gave the playoff-bound Brewers high-end defense in 2019. Just 13 catchers, including Grandal, outranked Pina in Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average metric. Pina also threw out 25 percent of would-be base stealers, placing him right in line with the league-average mark (26 percent).
Now, with Grandal on the verge of becoming one of baseball’s most coveted free agents, Pina stands as the Brewers’ de facto starting catcher. The club also has fellow backstops David Freitas and Jacob Nottingham on its 40-man roster, though those two don’t have much major league experience on their resumes. So, whether the Brewers re-sign Grandal or acquire a different No. 1-caliber catcher, the position does figure to be a priority for the team this offseason. At the very least, though, Milwaukee seems to have a capable backup in Pina.
150k.
Yep. Thanks for catching that!
Wonder if the team has any chance of resigning Moose or Grandal. Or if they decide to allocate the money elsewhere like pitching.
I predict they resign one of them, highly doubt both are in the budget
I don’t understand the deal he signed at all. Why in the hell would he agree to give them a team option for the same salary he just played for? He would have been basically guaranteed a raise over this salary.
I think the argument is guaranteed money. He could’ve been outrighted (or something) and could’ve earn way under $1M
Pina and Grandal illustrate the limitations of advanced fielding metrics. Anyone who carefully watched the two could see that Pina was the better defensive catcher. Grandal was decent behind the plate and was clearly one of the Brewers most valuable players.
Absolutely not mention the pitchers were clearly more comfortable with Pina behind the plate, along with calling a game. If brought Travis D’arnaud in to team with Pina you will save a good 10 million and the very little offense you lose compare them, you could pick up with a Braun/ Shaw combo at first with Grisham in left. Or you could have San Diego pick up most of Myers money in a trade with them that would include Austin Hedges. Sign Iglesias for short and guarantee all of them will definitely have better years hitting in Milwaukee. That would definitely give you enough to go get Wheeler or Baumgartner. Wheeler, Woodruff, Houser, Lyles, and Suter looks darn good
No chance MadBum wants to come to Milwaukee, I wish. But highly, highly doubtful
Stubby I love the concept and coming around on letting Grandal go (hopefully not to reds), and I like the idea of Travis coming in for cheaper to platoon more. The rest though…there’s zero chance we would do that deal with San Diego to take on Myers is foolish.
Why bring Suter to rotation? He’s much more valuable as high leverage reliever once again. Much rather try to have Freddy in that spot and you’re just throwing Davies to the curb?
I guess I just havent gotten on the Davis wagon yet why I dont know but I prshould
Your Wisconsin is showing: Bumgarner*
Badda Bing!
From an outside perspective Grandal seems to be the better choice. Grandal gave you guys 3.5 oWAR and -.4 dWAR where Pina gave you .4 oWAR and .5dWAR. Grandal’s offensive upside outweighs his defensive side and Pina’s defensive side doesn’t produce enough to outweigh the offensive loss of Grandal.
That’s like saying Houston would be better off re-signing Gerrit Cole than Wade Miley. Sounds good until you look at the $ required.
The last I checked Milwaukee shouldn’t have large payroll concerns. Having a solid .280 hitter who isn’t a liability behind the plate isn’t a bad investment. Sure he isn’t an elite catcher, but you lose a lot more by losing his bat than gaining Pina’s glove and bat.
The last I checked Milwaukee is the smallest TV market in major league baseball. They always have payroll concerns.
I’m agreeing with you that Grandal is better. Of course he is. But you can’t just snap your fingers and sign him. 1 year of Pina is $1.8 Mil. 1 year of Grandal is $20+ Mil. Grandal costs MORE than 10x as much!
Pina is a great backup catcher. As a starter he’s below average, but not bad considering what else is out there. He can hit OK vs. both L and R pitchers and provides good D.
That amount of $ is a no-brainer. He’s a major league player. But I’d feel better if we expected him to get about 200 at-bats and not 400.
Manny has shown he can hit around .250/.300/.400 when given regular at-bats. His career numbers actually are a bit better. I really believe the utility of an upgrade to the PITCHING STAFF heavily outweighs trying to sign (or re-sign) a stud offensive-focused catcher.
Agreed. I have something of an old-school view of catchers. That is the one position player that gets a pass for having a weak bat so long as the defense is there.
A solid defensive catcher that calls a good game and the pitching staff is comfortable throwing to is more valuable than a hot hitting one. Those rare catchers that can do it all get paid the big money.