The Giants have made big splashes to their infield and outfield this offseason with the signing of Carlos Correa and Mitch Haniger. They upgraded their rotation by signing Sean Manaea and Ross Stripling. One thing still on the to-do list is addressing their catching corps, with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reporting the club has been in contact with Curt Casali about him returning to the club.
When Buster Posey retired after the 2021 season, it was hoped that prospect Joey Bart could step up and take over as the club’s everyday backstop. Unfortunately, that hasn’t come to fruition just yet. At the plate, he’s got some power but undercuts his value with strikeouts. He’s been punched out in 38% of his plate appearances thus far in his career and has a batting line of .215/.296/.364 for a wRC+ of 90. He was also given negative marks by Defensive Runs Saved and FanGraphs’ framing metric in 2022. As Slusser notes in her piece, Bart was nudged out of working with either Carlos Rodón or Logan Webb down the stretch last year.
Veteran Austin Wynns, who is still on the roster, ended up getting into 57 games behind the plate for the club last year. His defensive numbers were around league average, better than Bart, but he’s unlikely to provide much with the bat. The 32-year-old has a career batting line of .231/.275/.337 for a wRC+ of 68. There’s a third catcher on the 40-man roster in Blake Sabol. The Giants just acquired him from the Reds, who grabbed him from the Pirates in the Rule 5 draft. He has great batting numbers in the minors but no major league experience. He also plays the outfield, making him perhaps best suited for a third catcher/utility role.
Given those options, it’s unsurprising that the club would be open to finding more certainty behind the plate. They were connected to both Sean Murphy and Christian Vázquez in recent weeks, but those players are each now off the board, having been traded to Atlanta and signed with Minnesota, respectively.
Casali, 34, is a perfectly serviceable big league catcher, though he’s never really been a club’s primary option. Though he has 462 career games played, he’s never tallied more than 84 in any individual season. He’s generally been a strong defender behind the plate, having tallied 16 Defensive Runs Saved in his career and a slightly above-average mark in terms of framing. He’s not a liability at the plate either, with a career batting line of .223/.316/.392. That amounts to a wRC+ of 92, which is 8% below league average overall but roughly average for a catcher. His 27.8% strikeout rate is definitely on the high side but he also has drawn walks at a strong 10.7% rate. The Giants are surely familiar with him as he played for them in 2021 and the first half of 2022, getting dealt to the Mariners at the deadline.
Casali would be a perfectly defensible addition, but the Giants will have other options. The trade market is now headlined by the Blue Jays and their trio of backstops: Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk and Gabriel Moreno. The free agent market doesn’t have many super exciting options now that Vázquez and Willson Contreras have signed, with Austin Hedges, Roberto Pérez, Omar Narváez and Gary Sánchez some of those still out there.
None of these options are likely to break the bank from a financial perspective. Roster Resource currently pegs the Giants’ payroll at $190MM and their CBT figure at $206MM. They are getting near their franchise high payroll of $201MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, though that was back in 2018. They also have plenty of room under the luxury tax, though if they succeed in their continued attempts to retain Rodón, that would significantly change the picture.
This guy is so UNDERRATED.
The staff ERA when he catches is always better than his counterpart.
He has sneaky power too. Not a great hitter but he’s better than most backup catchers.
If he doesn’t resign with SF another team will get a dependable and serviceable catcher.
I’d be glad to see him for another stint in SF, too.
@davemlaw – well said!
Difference is the Giants are looking for a starting catcher not a backup. Since Trevino has become the Yankees starting catcher and they have Higashioka to back him up the Giants should try to get Rortvedt from them if the price is reasonable. He is a good hitting coach away from being a very good MLB catcher. His defense is solid and he is a decent framer. He’s only 25 and has plenty of team control remaining. The Yankees have a wealth of catching prospects with Austin Wells leading the pack. He should be in AA next year sometime. Which puts his timeline at roughly 2 years. They also have Carlos Narvaez who I think is on his way to being a star. Still very young but he is impressive to me. They don’t need Rortvedt but won’t just give him away. I’m sure the Giants can get him and will fit in well.
Uh, no. Bart is the starting catcher, silly.
guynamedchris — Joey Bart’s hold on the starting catcher job is VERY tenuous. If he doesn’t improve behind the plate and doesn’t cut down the strikeouts, the Giants have to move on, probably as soon as early May.
So why not trade for the Blue Jays’ Jansen or someone who can actually hit?
Why would the Giants trade for Ben Rortvedt, when the have a more highly rated prospect in Patrick Bailey?
davemlaw is right. Anyone remember when he caught a record 5 straight shutouts?
Very good behind the plate and pitchers love him. I hope he’s back in a Giants uni this year.
Ok but he can’t HIT
Frisco should have been in on Contreras. Bart is a Bust and even with the Addition of Correa this team is gonna have a hard time posting 83-84 wins
Loved him in Cincinnati. But that is not happening again I am sure since they decided to Maile it in.
Posey absolutely ruined that franchise by quitting
I know hr retired relatively early, but there’s nothing you can do about it. I agree the team hasn’t been the same without him. I often wish he would come out of retirement to catch. If not that, than maybe he could come back and coach Bart, Sabol and Wynn.
He is living on the EAST COAST, so training his replacements defies the concept of retiring being with family. I think he will comeback more frequently later (after kids age up) — Giants did get him on the ownership board to keep him around for sure.
avenger65 — Sabol can definitely hit, but I imagine his defense behind the plate is questionable. I guess we’ll get to see in Spring Training.
Sorry @avenger you need to retire that dream of Posey coming out of retirement. Posey is part of the ownership group now, and I don’t think you can be owner and player at the same time.
Casali handled pitchers great – That is where he is needed – they should bring him back for that alone. Just about every game he was calling behind the plate pitchers would have more quality starts than not.
I’m not sure why Gary Sanchez isn’t being discussed? Guy has hit 33 and 34 HR’s in two of his seasons and he just turned 30 a couple days ago so not super old.
There is a reason why not only do the Giants not want Sanchez, neither does most every other team. Sanchez is a DH. You have to be decent at catching for those HRs to be worth anything as a catcher.
Lol I figured there was something wrong with him if he’s still a free agent
Not to mention that his hitting skills have basically evaporated. In his past three seasons, he’s averaged .195/.287/.394 in about 528 ABs. He averaged about 27 HRs, but that’s about it.
SFGiantsGallore — Gary Sanchez is an absolutely abominable defensive catcher and has hit .185 (2018), .232 (2019), .147 (2020), .204 (2021) and .205 (last year). His OBP sucks. A complete non-starter on any Giants roster.
I think Gary renamed himself to Poorman Chris Davis, but I may be mistaken
Casali is one of Kapler’s boys. Casali and Kapler used to stage fake boxing matches in the dugout before many games. I think they finally stopped because they started to get realistic looking. Casali has power and his defensive and game calling accumen are truly top shelf. I’m surprised no one has snatched him yet.
What’s being missed here is that any chance at a reunion with Rodon hinges upon them resigning Casali.