March 18: McCann’s deal would pay him a $1MM base in the majors, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney.
March 17: The Braves are in agreement with veteran catcher James McCann on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Atlanta released Curt Casali from his minor league deal and reassigned Sandy León to minor league camp this afternoon. McCann is represented by the Ballengee Group.
McCann, 34, provides veteran insurance with Sean Murphy ticketed for the injured list to begin the season. Murphy and expected backup Chadwick Tromp are the only catchers on Atlanta’s 40-man roster. They’ll need to add someone else by the start of the regular season. Removing Casali and León from the mix made it seem inevitable that top prospect Drake Baldwin would get the Opening Day assignment. That still seems highly likely. McCann hasn’t had any game reps and Spring Training ends in one week. Mark Bowman of MLB.com writes that the plan is for the veteran to begin the season at Triple-A Gwinnett.
The righty-swinging McCann has spent the last two seasons backing up Adley Rutschman in Baltimore. He hit .228/.274/.382 in a combined 134 games. He has a bit of power but isn’t going to provide much from an on-base perspective. McCann is highly respected for his leadership and work with pitching staffs. He ranks in the middle of the pack in terms of arm strength and throwing out attempted basestealers. He has never graded well by public pitch framing metrics, while Statcast has graded him a little below average at blocking balls in the dirt.
Baldwin has had a big Spring Training. He’s hitting .333 with six walks and two strikeouts in 13 exhibition games. The former third-round pick combined for a .270/.384/.460 batting line between the top two minor league levels last season. He clearly has more offensive upside than McCann or Tromp bring to the table. That said, plenty of top prospects struggle in their first look at major league pitching. If Baldwin’s career gets out to a tough start, McCann could step in as the starter until Murphy returns from a broken rib. McCann has far more experience as a primary catcher than Tromp does.
Welp, that escalated quickly.
It was meant to be. Now let him wear #16.
Another McCann joins the Braves!
Distant cousin or a brotha from anotha motha
I disagree on Baldwin being the favorite. I think McCaan and Tromp will share duties until Murphy is healthy. The re-assignment of Leon to AAA seems to spell another spell of ‘mentoring’ for Baldwin. May be wrong, but I don’t think the Braves make this move without planning to send Baldwin back down for a bit.
I think you could be right; the Braves might not want to start start Baldwin’s service clock. Sure McCann contract has an opt out date; Braves wants to see how MLB ready McCann is at this point before having to make a roster move.
I think unless Baldwin struggles mightly at the plate he is gonna stay on the MLB roster and they’ll send Tromp down or release him when Murphy comes back. The Braves have been a time share at catcher the last several years. No reason to not think they will do that was Murphy and Baldwin. This is also a franchise that isn’t afraid to play their kids if they think they’re ready.
They aren’t playing games here. They aren’t going to cheap out when the rest of their roster is under contract. The best player plays whomever, AA decides.
McCann signed to MINOR league deal.
Tromp does not have much MLB time, so maybe they run him as backup then DFA if he does not work out – they go with McCann after
I think they go with Baldwin out of the gate and put him on the 40
Plenty of time to be Ready for opening day
Normally a catcher coming to a new team has to spend quality time with the pitchers to get to know them. They sent McCann to the MINOR league complex simply because they don’t intend him to start the season in the majors. If they thought it was likely for him to start the season in Atlanta they almost assuredly would have had in in the major league complex getting better acquainted with catching their pitches.
McCann is nothing more than depth in case something goes horribly wrong with the current plan.
The Braves must like him better than Casali. I like Leon better than either. Baldwin and Tromp are still my projection for opening day roster.
I don’t think McCann will be ready by opening day and this is a great chance to get a look at Baldwin until Murphy is back.
Theyre thin at catcher so this is a nice way to stash a veteran in AAA.
It’s not in their best interests to start the clock running on Baldwin. McCann will be ready and split the job with Tromp.
Yes; I was thinking the same thing. As worst case for Atlanta would be Baldwin starting and playing week enough that he stayed up all season as Atlanta needs to steer Murphy and see what is left there with him. As if Murphy had a solid season I could see Atlanta trying to move his contract during the off season with 2026 being all Baldwin with a veteran back up catcher
Why you don’t think he will be major league ready by age 27? Three years is plenty of time to have options and his clock starting isn’t worth him avoiding free agency at 30 if he gets all of his service time.
Mets legend
Depth is always good but I don’t understand the fascination the Braves clearly had with McCann … honestly, other than a couple good years, I’ve never really understood anyone’s fascination with him. He must be a really good clubhouse guy. I just don’t see where you put him. Tromps gonna have to be DFA’d if he makes the mlb roster. Unless they are hoping to delay Baldwins clock, which he’s the same age as Michael Harris, so it’s not like he’s a young prospect …
You know this is james mccann right,…not brian mccann? Im not sure James mccann and the braves have ever been connected up until be signed a minor league deal.
It is a MINOR league deal for JAMES McCann (not Brian who isn’t coming out of retirement). James McCann was signed as minor league depth in case something goes awry.
He was my wife’s “Tiger Crush” a while ago. She didn’t realize my OPS+ was higher than his in HS.
I’m assuming they’re both Tigers fans, and her Tiger crush is the player she finds attractive on the Tigers any given year. McCann played for the Tigers.
I thought it was the Tigers player his wife wanted to scratch and claw the most.
They’re managing the risk of Baldwin’s MLB transition while keeping his trade value intact.
Seems like Tromp will be the odd man out whenever McCann is ready. McCann probably backs up Murphy when he’s done with his spring training. Baldwin gets his feet wet in the bigs then back down for more seasoning when Murphy’s ready. Next year DH position opens up for Baldwin to get more ab’s.
Deservedly so, for what Tromp had to say about McCann not being a hero.
MLBTR want to explain to me why they never post my comments? Made one on this topic and it never showed up. Please respond.
Wow. 50 +/- mil in the bank. 34. Milling around 1 mil in take home pay this season. Dudes got it bad.
If James McCann has even half of that amount in the bank, then we should all be using his accountant/tax lawyer/money launderer.
They’re trying to win now and McCann has been one of the worst catchers in MLB in every category the past few years. The Braves haven’t been a team to care about service time recently anyways since they give out extensions to the guys they like. Plus, if he wins ROY and gets a full year of service time, he’d get the Braves a draft pick. If he keeps mashing the first couple weeks, they can keep him up. If he struggles, or even just does OK, they can send him down when Murphy is back and get an extra year of team control.
I wouldn’t have minded him in the Blue Jays org. Not sure I’m too keen on the prospects of Tyler Heineman being the everyday starter should Kirk go down to injury.
that staff isn’t trhowing to a rookie. crazy to me how fans just don’t understand that. Can promise you sale, strider etc will not throw to baldwin. Thats why they signed Mccan…..Mccan is not good but he knows how to run a staff. They are going to have to ease baldwin in…they aren’t going to let him learn on the job there.
no way they would start baldwins clock early, hate to see him get some experience even if he struggles