The Diamondbacks have signed James McCann to a Major League contract, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. McCann’s MLB.com profile page indicated earlier today (hat tip to the Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka) that the catcher had been released from his minor league deal with the Braves in order to facilitate the move to Arizona. McCann is represented by the Ballengee Group.
As Rosenthal reported earlier this month, McCann’s Atlanta contract contained a rolling opt-out clause that would trigger if another team offered the catcher a guaranteed deal. The Braves could then either keep McCann by selecting his contract to their active roster, or release him to his next opportunity. Since Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin are both receiving regular playing time as Atlanta’s catching combo and both Sandy Leon and Jason Delay are providing further depth at Triple-A, it didn’t seem like McCann was going to get much of a shot in Atlanta, despite a .297/.331/.493 slash line in 160 plate appearances in Gwinnett.
However, Gabriel Moreno’s recent finger fracture suddenly left the D’Backs with a need for experienced catching help. Moreno is expected to be on the injured list for “weeks, not days” in the words of manager Torey Lovullo, leaving Jose Herrera, Aramis Garcia and Triple-A depth options Adrian Del Castillo and Rene Pinto as the makeshift catching corps. This group combined has far less MLB experience than McCann’s 11 seasons and 917 games in the Show, and the 35-year-old McCann will now slide right into at least a part-time role in the Diamondbacks lineup.
McCann’s big league career was highlighted by two big seasons with the White Sox in 2019-20, which included an All-Star selection in 2019. His overall career slash line is a modest .241/.293/.380 over 3307 plate appearances, as McCann has only shown brief flashes of the offensive form he showed in Chicago. McCann spent the last two seasons as Adley Rutschman’s backup with the Orioles, helping out as a veteran mentor for the up-and-coming star and with the Baltimore pitching staff. The advanced metrics haven’t thought much of McCann’s blocking and framing work, though he is well-regarded for his ability to work with pitchers.
The signing is a fairly low-risk move for a D’Backs team that is hanging in with a 39-38 record, despite a swath of injuries and under-performance from the Arizona pitchers. The Diamondbacks’ impressive offense is helping keep the team afloat, and McCann’s veteran presence might help coax some slightly more respectable results out of an increasingly makeshift rotation and bullpen.
Setting aside that there’s nothing wrong with guys like McCann wanting to stick around and keep playing, for whatever reasons they have, why do teams keep giving guys like him any roster space-be it in the minors or the majors- when their numbers show they’re almost certainly done?
Trillionaire: Too many teams, not enough quality players to go around.
Depth with the minor chance that they could have a resurgence with a change of scenery. Jason Heyward could’ve easily been passed on by everyone after the cubs released him and nobody would’ve been shocked. But he had a comeback year. He regressed after again. But they just hope for that kind of lightning in a bottle that just coming somewhere new with a fresh take will help. But also, because of depth.
Did you not read the article where it says Moreno is out weeks
maybe you missed the part where McCann had a 94 ops+ last season
Orioles should have gone after him.
paule: He’s dressed for it in the picture.
Heck, why not? Maybe he can hit better than our current ones, Moreno excluded.