10:07am: The Marlins and Cervelli are in agreement on a one-year deal worth $2MM, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The contract is pending a physical.
9:40am: The Marlins are “making progress” on a one-year contract with free-agent catcher Francisco Cervelli, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports (via Twitter). Frisaro first linked to the two parties earlier this month, pointing out that early in his career, Cervelli was a teammate of Marlins CEO Derek Jeter with the Yankees. Cervelli is represented by Wasserman.
Miami will again deploy 26-year-old Jorge Alfaro as its primary backstop in 2020, but Cervelli would bring a veteran backup to help guide the still-developing Alfaro. Although injuries — primarily concussions — have ravaged Cervelli’s career over the past several seasons, he’s still a 12-year veteran who, at his peak, was one of the top defensive catchers in all of baseball.
This past season, the 33-year-old Cervelli was limited to 48 games and 160 plate appearances between the Pirates and the Braves, during which time he hit just .213/.302/.348. But he’s only one season removed from a much stronger .259/.378/.431 batting line and a career-high 12 home runs in 404 plate appearances. Drawing walks (career 10.3 percent) and avoiding strikeouts (19.2 percent) have always been a part of Cervelli’s game, so if he’s healthy he should be a solid source of on-base percentage who regularly puts the ball in play.
Defensively, Cervelli might not be the standout he once was, but he nonetheless enjoyed a solid season in some regards. Cervelli thwarted eight of the 25 stolen-base attempts against him (32 percent) and logged roughly average framing numbers per Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs and Statcast. Cervelli did struggle a bit in terms of blocking pitches and yielding passed balls, though one can also imagine that with better health, there’d be improvement — particularly considering his much stronger track record in that area.
Poor Francisco. He has all these concussions and now he has to play for the Marlins.
There’s a lot of jobs worse than living in Miami for a year making $2MM
So true. Especially when last year he supposedly was retiring. Glad he’s healthy enough to give it another shot.
Here is to hoping he is healthy enough and is not putting his long term health at risk.
I was hoping he would come back to Atlanta as a third string catcher/back up first baseman/pinch hitter. He looked like he still had a little something left in the tank when he came to the Braves last season. $2 million isn’t much but I guess it could be a bit too pricey for a third string catcher though. I wish him well. He seemed to always give it his all and was a great clubhouse presence. He had some big clutch hits for Atlanta down the stretch, too. I hope he keeps that up against the Nats, Mets and Phils.
He is about 30 days short of 10 year service time, which guarantees him full pension and benefits.
Ah, being that close to the service time and the full benefits, it explains much. Could see him retire after he is guaranteed his benefits. He most likely will need them with all of the concussions that he sustained.
He will have made $40M by age 35. I guess “poor” is relative then.
Playing for the Marlins will give him a real headache
Living in Miami and getting paid 2 million to be a backup catcher, I’m no psychic but something tells me he isn’t hurting for money.
Marlins are known to sign old timers on their last leg of their career………disabled players……..and desperate players who will take a mIn. salary.
Pirates weren’t willing to take the risk with his continued concussions. I don’t think it’s wise for him to continue to put his long term health at risk but who am I to judge.
I hope I’m not being naive but in today’s world, I’d like to believe he objectively passed or will pass a physical.
I think you’re spot-on. No team wants to take that liability, especially the Marlins, if he’s even questionable, medically.
Would certainly hope so. My concern is more from liking the guy over the time period he was a Pirate. There concussions seemed to really mess him up for long periods of time. Seems like any ball off his helmet would send him back to the DL
TL–I am with you on everything you said. He may pass the physical now but with his history, the first direct hit off of his helmet with a ball or a back swing from a bat will probably put him on the DL again I know that he is not that old but sometimes you have to put you well being and being able to be there for you family long term before making some more cash. His choice though.
Look at Brett Farve. no one took more hits than him and regardless of how he feels today, tomorrow could be different. Unless he fails a physical though it’s his choice.
Shame on the Pirates for not signing and bring back Cervelli. 2 million even for the cash strapped Pirates is nothing. I realize the new Cherington regime will be in a rebuilding mode, but Cervelli’s presence would have been huge. Who cares about the bat…it’s his work with the pitching staff that would have been Invaluable.
So, bringing back a catcher that may not be able to catch more than a handful of games $2millon?? If he could play the position with no fear of concussions, I could see your point. His health history says he is not worth the risk. Bet you are still upset that they did not sign Walker long term and did not match what the Jays gave Martin. Smh…….
Nope. Didn’t care at all about Walkers departure. Don’t get hung up on how many games Cervelli would play or miss. You’re missing the point. His ability to work with the pitching staff is incredibly important…whether that’s from a players standpoint…or from a pseudo coaching perspective. Once Cervelli departed Pittsburgh, the pitching staff fell apart. His biggest value to the pirates organization was his “know how” to make every Bucs pitcher better. Add up the millions that comprise the Pirates pitching staff…starters & relievers…Cervelli served as the cohesive bond that brought out the best of their abilities (something that the Pirates pitching coach couldn’t accomplish).
I get it but if he gets a concussion in spring training or in the first week, he will not be working with any of the pitchers so 2 million for nothing. I also could see your point if the same coaching staff was in place for the upcoming season but they are not so his know how may not be needed. He might be better as a coach than a player but he must not be interested in that yet. I always said that he seemed like the stereotype with catchers that make great managers. I think he would make at least a very good one. Sorry for the remark about Walker/Martin. You were sounding like so many that call into the local shows and still complain about those two guys who were not handed a bunch of money and as it turned out,the Bucs made good decisions on not resigning them.
We’re on the same page. All good!
If we are talking purely about managing a staff, Stallings has that covered pretty well. Can’t hit for much but can manage a staff.
Harv and Go-I agree with both of you it was time to let Francisco go but his loss was the single worst thing about the downfall in several of the healthy pitcher performances.
Walker could have signed and Martin was offered the same money but one less year and Martin also wanted to go home.
Otherwise,we must all realize that true Yinzers cannot help themselves much like negative minded posters from other teams.
AAAA farm team.
Cervelli looks like a pirate.
My Marlin mystery. Why did they DFA C Tyler Heineman, who was a defense first catcher until exploding with the bat for the Marlins AAA team last season.. I read that he has now signed with another team. Anyone know why in the world the Fish let him go?
Thought Cervelli would be a Mets target. Would have been a nice tandem with Ramos. Can’t have Nido as the backup!!
Man, Cervelli was good coming up with the Yankees… he was fun to watch. Shame about the concussions, and with all the research uncovering the multifarious affects, I’m not sure I would keep playing. But, then again, real baseball players play until the absolutely can’t anymore. Now that the rules have changed regarding home plate collisions, he’s safer anyway.
$2mil plus medical expenses for concussions
Seems like a pretty decent move to me., Cervelli has had plenty of success on both sides of the ball in his career. He might be able to help Alfaro with his defence and on base skills.
Corazone, well said. They’re priming Alfaro and using Cervelli as coach and mentor, much like the Yankees did with Posada his last few years (which Jeter witnessed first-hand). Great point.
Alfaro’s service clock is at 2.083 already. So they’re priming Alfaro for a year… until they trade him away ahead of him hitting arbitration and starting to make real money.
What’s even the point of developing players if you’re only going to keep them for 3-4 years? At best, you maybe maximize the trade return on them and start over… and over… and over.
Are they ever going to bring along enough players in a 3 year window to be competitive before the next fire sale?
Or maybe they simply won’t trade Alfaro and he’ll be part of the Marlins contending. Teams which begins in 2021? Why, bc they’re won’t be another fire sale.
What has this organization ever done that makes you think there won’t be another fire sale?
For years it was “give us a new park and there won’t be a fire sale.”
They got a park…. and immediately had another fire sale where they traded a current MVP and a future MVP.
The difference now is that they have an ownership group which actually wants to win. Not just for a season or two like Loria, but for a sustained stretch of time. That’s why they’re rebuilding.
And here I thought it was a completely different ownership than the one that did all that… silly me.
*Jester
Very solid backup catcher. Alfaro is already very good.
Braves should have kept Cervelli and rid itself of Flowers.
Thank you! I said the same thing
In theory, that sounds great but with his concussion history you can’t count on him to be healthy. At least Flowers has that on his side.
Other than the Yelich trade, Miami has been making some good moves. I said it back then and I’ll say it again, getting rid of that Stanton contract was a huge win.
Getting rid of the contract is nice, but they traded away an mvp at the time and got nothing in return. I’m sorry, but regaining cash is one thing, but not being able to truly strengthen the farm after trading an mvp is bad in every way possible. HOWEVER, I do agree they have been making solid moves… especially this offseason.
Saying “nothing” is a strong word when two of the prospects they got back haven’t debuted yet. Devers projects to be a solid utility player with speed and maybe a plus hit tool/good defense. Guzman could be a good mid rotation starter or late inning reliever. Maybe even a closer.
Omg again, the Marlins got salary relief in return. That was the point of the trade
Always liked the cut of his jib good luck to him
I think this is an excellent pick up for them. Perfect for the marlins in this rebuild, solid player with excellent leadership abilities and cheap. I’m hyper critical of the marlins and hate them in general as I’ve always considered them bad for baseball. But they have been making some pretty solid moves this offseason and putting together a team that likely won’t win it all, but could be a pain in the NL East’s side. Not to mention a lot of guys that will help the young players in their system and add to the culture of the clubhouse and fan base.
So the Pirates let “Frankie” go, the town loved him but they still have no catcher and allow the Marlins to sign him. Good to see nothing is changing in Pittsburgh
So they let him go just like they let Walker go. You remember Walker, don’t you? He left Pittsburgh for the Mets and proceeded to only start in 48% of the games that his teams played since. Frankie missed a ton of time due to concussions over the last 3 seasons. So you are lamenting not paying a guy millions to miss a lot of games. I bet you still lament Pittsburgh not signing Walker long term to sit out over half of his games due to injury. You probably think that the Bucs should have paid Martin what the Jays paid him so that he could have had one more good year with the Bucs and they not hit for the next 4 and as a result of that signing never have traded for Cervelli. Smh…………
Go-beware of the yinzers.
Wow! The Phillies wouldn’t pony up $2M for Cervelli to back up Realmuto. I mean it’s only $1.3M more than you’re paying Knapp this year. I guess they’re very high on the dangerous Knapp with his .218/.313/.324 slash line.
Knapp will probable actually have a better year than Cervelli considering Frankie’s injury history
I don’t think you watch many Phillies games. Knapp is a horrible offensive player. Cervelli would only need to catch 30-40 games a year because Realmuto doesn’t want to come out of the lineup. Plus, the Phillies never wanted to take him out last year because of the drop-off when he didn’t play. But when he does he would be nice to have someone with Cervelli’s experience and offense.
You are assuming that Cervelli might catch that many. He may be done after the first couple that he catches if he takes a foul tip square off of his mask. He has has multiple concussions just from that over the last 2 years.
Dakota-You haven’t seen any recent Pirate games.
Cervelli is still a decent catcher but he is one foul tip away from never playing again.
That is much too combustible to rely on.
He is a great guy who brings a lot to a team and is worth three times that amount if healthy but I wish for his own sake he would hang it up.
Like Jim Bouton said,though,the ball grips you.
‘ career high 12 home runs’ i love how thats worded like its a accomplishment, trout hits 12 homeruns in a weekend
Jesus every one of your comments one ups the facepalmability of your previous.
Amanda- that is a decent accomplishment for a good hitting catcher who is known for his leadership,enthusiasm,and defense.
You may want to try being positive at least most of the time.
Good idea. Cervelli brings a strong work ethic to a young squad.
Marlins sign cervelli to trade him mid season. That joke never gets old
It actually did years.
As a backup I wish the Yankees would’ve brought him back. Cervelli would’ve been a great mentor to Sanchez behind the plate
That’s amore.
You gotta believe this move vaults them to the top of the NL East Hierarchy
women love cervelli.
miami may get an uptick in attendance from the females.
all I know, is that at bucco games, when his name was announced, women swooned.
good luck fransisco!!!
Harvey-My sister in law is Italian and you are right,I think that she really liked him.
Jack Parkman style
Marlins shaping up for a run at .500 ball.
He’ll be a trade piece in July. Or for his benefit I would hope he’s traded to a contender
Unfortunately,he will not last that long on the active roster.
He’ll catch at least 75 games for the Marlins.
Good signing. How unlike them