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Giants Sign Miguel Diaz To Minor League Deal

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The Giants signed right-hander Miguel Diaz to a minor league contract back in late December, as per Diaz’s MLB.com profile page.  The 30-year-old will presumably also be invited to the Giants’ big league Spring Training camp.

With the exception of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, Diaz has been a part of every MLB season since 2017, ranging from a high of 42 innings with the Padres in 2021 to a lone inning in one game with the Astros last season.  Diaz has a 4.81 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, and 11.7% walk rate over 127 1/3 innings and 88 career big league games with the Padres, Tigers, and Astros, and he has also spent time in the minors with the Brewers and Twins organizations.

Most of Diaz’s better numbers have come more recently in his career, as he has a 2.82 ERA in 60 2/3 innings since the start of the 2021 season.  Despite the strong bottom-line performance, however, some underlying metrics (such as a .222 BABIP) and some inconsistency with his control has kept Diaz from getting much of a look at the big league level.  A 4.93 ERA over 204 2/3 career minor league innings also hasn’t helped Diaz’s case for call-ups to the Show.

Diaz is out of minor league options, which makes it difficult for teams to keep him on the roster without exposing him to waivers.  In 2024, for example, the Tigers lost Diaz on a waiver claim to the Astros in April, and Diaz was then designated for assignment and chose free agency over an outright assignment before quickly re-signing with Houston on another minor league deal.  Diaz was released by the Astros entirely a few weeks later, and he completed the circle by re-signing another minor league contract with Detroit near the end of June.

San Francisco’s bullpen seems largely set, though teams routinely bring multiple veteran pitchers to camp on minors deals just in case of injury, or in case any of these unheralded arms can stand out enough to win a spot on the Opening Day roster.  As noted, Diaz’s lack of minor league options might hurt him in a camp competition, but should he clear waivers and stick around in the organization, he could act as bullpen depth for the Giants during the season.

Red Sox To Use Garrett Whitlock As Reliever

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11:44AM: Whitlock is hoping to pitch normally during Spring Training, he told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and other media.  His offseason work has thus far extended to bullpen sessions of up to 15 pitches.

11:31AM: Garrett Whitlock will miss the first month or two of the 2025 season as he recovers from an internal brace surgery performed last May, but when the right-hander does return to action, it will be in a bullpen role.  Whitlock told reporters (including Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe) today that the Red Sox intend to use him as a reliever in the coming season.

The news isn’t a huge surprise, given both Whitlock’s health status and the fact that the Sox have enough of a pitching surplus that the team is considering using a six-man rotation just to get everyone innings.  There is also the fact that Whitlock has been markedly better as a reliever (2.65 ERA in 132 2/3 innings) than as a starter (4.29 ERA in 109 innings) during his big league career.

After being selected away from the Yankees in the 2020 Rule 5 draft, Whitlock burst onto the Major League scene as a reliever when he posted a spectacular 1.96 ERA over 73 1/3 innings during the 2021 season.  It was a tremendous breakout for a pitcher who had never even worked at Triple-A before making his MLB debut, and the Red Sox jumped to capitalize on that potential by signing Whitlock to a contract extension that will net him at least $18.75MM over the 2023-26 seasons, and might max out as a six-year, $44MM pact based on club options and escalators.

The Red Sox experimented with Whitlock as a starter in 2022, but moved him back to the pen after he missed about a month due to hip inflammation, and Whitlock continued to pitch well in a multi-inning relief role before a season-ending hip surgery in September.  Whitlock was again deployed as a starter to begin the 2023 season, but struggled to a 5.23 ERA in 51 2/3 innings over 10 starts before again returned to the relief corps.  This time, Whitlock had a 4.95 ERA in 20 innings as a reliever over the remainder of that season, as some elbow problems were the larger story of Whitlock’s 2023 campaign.

Injuries again surfaced in 2024, as Whitlock didn’t pitch again after suffering an oblique strain in mid-April.  A month after his IL placement, Whitlock came away from a Triple-A rehab outing with elbow soreness, and ultimately the UCL damage that necessitated his surgery.  Ironically, Whitlock had looked very sharp in his first four starts of the 2024 season, as an 1.96 ERA in 18 1/3 innings hinted that he was finally ready to step up as a regular member of Boston’s rotation.

It still seems possible that the Sox might again use Whitlock as a starter in 2026 or beyond, depending on his health, their rotation needs, or if the Red Sox exercise their club options on his services for the 2027 or 2028 seasons.  However, it could be that simply keeping Whitlock in a relief role might be the ideal path to keep him off the injured list.  As much as Boston might’ve hoped it had found a quality starter at a relative bargain price, having Whitlock as “only” a bullpen weapon for high-leverage innings is a pretty nice silver lining, assuming Whitlock can regain his 2021-22 form.

Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson are the highest-profile new additions to the Boston bullpen this offseason, and the exact nature of the relief mix might not be known for some time.  The Red Sox will still need to figure out which five or six arms will comprise their rotation, which excess starters might also be used in the pen, and simply who will be healthy.  Aside from Whitlock, Lucas Giolito, Patrick Sandoval, and Michael Fulmer are all returning from long-term injuries.

Latest On Brandon Woodruff

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Brandon Woodruff hasn’t pitched since September 23, 2023, as a shoulder surgery the following month cost the right-hander the entire 2024 season.  It also cost him what likely would’ve been a big long-term contract in free agency this offseason, and the injury also temporarily cost Woodruff his spot on the Brewers’ roster, as Milwaukee non-tendered him last winter before re-signing him to a two-year contract worth $17.5MM in guaranteed money.

The expectation was that Woodruff would be able to return to the mound in 2025, and in an interview with MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy earlier this week, Woodruff said he’s “in a really, really good spot” in his recovery.  He was given the go-ahead by Dr. Keith Meister (his surgeon) to go ahead with his standard offseason ramp-up process, and Woodruff is currently throwing twice-weekly bullpen sessions of fewer than 30 pitches.

The next steps will involve extending the pitch count and tossing multiple simulated innings, then facing live batters.  Brewers assistant athletic trainer Bryn Hester has worked with Woodruff “multiple times” this offseason, and Woodruff is slated to visit the team’s spring camp site this week to throw at the Brewers’ pitching lab.  Notably, Woodruff hasn’t tested his velocity this offseason, which was a planned tactic so he could focus simply on testing his shoulder and getting accustomed to pitching again rather than trying to hit any checkpoints on his fastball.

This focus on process is perhaps why Woodruff can’t yet guarantee that he’ll be ready for Opening Day, even though “I can tell you my mindset is to get ready for that.”  Woodruff told McCalvy that he views perhaps as much as the first half of the season as something of an evaluation period, as it might not be until later in the season that he’ll have his old velocity and full command of his pitching repertoire.

“The further I get out, the more months that I get under my belt, the better it is,” Woodruff said.  “Really, these first couple months coming up during the season are crucial.  I think if I can get through those okay and do just fine, I’ll be okay.”

Woodruff also revealed that he was aiming to try and pitch to hitters in a live batting-practice setting by the end of the 2024 season, though his shoulder “just wasn’t ready.  Like, I couldn’t do it.  And now I look back on that, I’m like, ’Gosh, that wasn’t but three months ago, and look at where I’m at now.  I’ve made so much progress.’ ”

A longtime staple of Milwaukee’s pitching staff, Woodruff has a 3.10 ERA and two All-Star appearances over his seven seasons and 680 1/3 innings in the big leagues.  Even while battling shoulder problems throughout the 2023 season, Woodruff still managed a 2.28 ERA during his small sample size of 67 innings, helping lead the Brewers to another division title.

The full-powered version of Woodruff projects to be the staff’s ace, or at least co-ace along with Freddy Peralta.  The two right-handers figure to headline a Brewers rotation that also includes Tobias Myers, Aaron Civale, and new acquisition Nestor Cortes, though there’s naturally some flexibility built into that group based on Woodruff’s recovery timeline.  DL Hall and Aaron Ashby are the top depth starters, and a reunion with veteran Wade Miley also seems a possibility, though Miley is undergoing his own recovery from a Tommy John surgery last April.

It obviously shouldn’t be taken for granted that Woodruff will be able to regain his old form, given the severity of his injury and his lengthy layoff.  However, if he can pitch like something close to his pre-surgery self, Woodruff will line himself up nicely for a longer-term free agent contract next offseason, as he’d surely decline his end of a $20MM mutual option for the 2026 season (and pocket the $10MM buyout).

Since Woodruff turns 32 next month, it might be that his surgery cost him the opportunity to truly maximize his earnings.  As we’ve seen many times over, teams are still willing to pay good money to pitchers with checkered injury histories, even for pitchers who don’t have Woodruff’s strong track record.  The cost-conscious Brewers might well have traded Woodruff last winter (as they did Corbin Burnes) if he’d been healthy, but the club will instead hope to have Woodruff again helping the club reach the postseason, and this time make a deeper run into October.

NPB’s Orix Buffaloes Close To Signing Edward Olivares

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The Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball are close to a deal with outfielder Edward Olivares, according to multiple reports out of Japan and Venezuela.  Olivares signed a minor league contract with the Mets last month, but it seems as though New York will be releasing (or has already released) Olivares so he can pursue this opportunity with the Osaka-based Buffaloes.

Olivares hit only .224/.291/.333 with five homers in 196 PA with the Pirates last season, playing sharing right field duty with Connor Joe and Bryan Reynolds during the first half of the season.  Olivares’ final MLB appearance with Pittsburgh came on July 7, and the Pirates designated Olivares for assignment and subsequently outrighted him off their 40-man roster in August.

After making his big league debut with San Diego in 2020, the Padres moved him to the Royals at that season’s trade deadline, and Olivares has played 217 of his 285 MLB games in a Kansas City uniform.  The Royals tenure was highlighted by a .270/.322/.410 slash line (106 wRC+) over 559 plate appearances during the 2022-23 seasons, with Olivares making 385 of those trips to the plate in a semi-regular role in 2023 as Kansas City’s left fielder.  The outfield-needy Pirates were inspired enough by that performance to trade for Olivares in December 2023, but he couldn’t continue that production during his short time in Pittsburgh.

More recently, Olivares has been tearing it up in Venezuelan Winter League, which might well have caught the Buffaloes’ attention.  Despite that deal with the Mets, it isn’t uncommon for MLB teams to simply release players from minor league contracts if the player is relatively low on the depth chart.  Olivares is also out of minor league options, which would have complicated his chances of sticking in New York’s organization anyway even if he had cracked the Mets’ active roster at some point.

Olivares now looks set to start a new chapter in his career as he enters his age-29 season.  He’ll join Jordan Diaz and Luis Perdomo as two of the non-Japanese members of the Buffaloes’ roster, as the Osaka squad looks to rebound from a disappointing 63-77-3 record in 2024.

Blue Jays Sign Jeff Hoffman

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The Blue Jays made a significant bullpen upgrade on Friday evening, announcing a three-year deal with Jeff Hoffman that guarantees $33MM. The CAA client reportedly receives a $5MM signing bonus and can earn another $6MM in incentives. He’d unlock $500K for reaching each of 60, 70, 80 and 90 innings pitched in all three seasons. He’ll make a $6MM salary next season followed by $11MM annually from 2026-27.

General manager Ross Atkins said in a statement that Hoffman “will get an opportunity to close games for us” (relayed by Keegan Matheson of MLB.com). That suggests they’re planning to keep the right-hander in the late innings. Hoffman had reportedly drawn interest from teams as a starting pitcher.

Hoffman, who turned 32 on Wednesday, returns to the organization that drafted him more than a decade ago. The righty was Toronto’s first-round pick (ninth overall) out of East Carolina in 2014. He was a high-profile starting pitching prospect who landed among Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects in each of his first three professional seasons. Hoffman didn’t spend long in the Toronto system. One year after the draft, the Jays dealt him to the Rockies as part of the return in the Troy Tulowitzki deadline blockbuster.

The early portion of Hoffman’s major league career was a struggle. Like many young pitchers, he had a tough time at Coors Field. Hoffman had an earned run average north of 6.00 over parts of five seasons with the Rox. Colorado swapped him to the Reds for Robert Stephenson in advance of the 2021 season. Stephenson and Hoffman were each former top prospects whose careers would take off after a move to the bullpen.

For Hoffman, that didn’t materialize right away. He had a pair of decent but unspectacular seasons in Cincinnati, combining for a 4.28 ERA over 66 appearances. He signed with the Phillies on a minor league deal coming out of Spring Training in 2023. Hoffman had the best two seasons of his career in Philadelphia. He made the big league roster in early May of the first season and turned in 52 1/3 innings of 2.41 ERA ball.

That performance made him a key piece of Rob Thomson’s leverage group heading into 2024. Hoffman posted even better numbers during his second season at Citizens Bank Park. He worked 66 1/3 innings with a 2.17 ERA while striking out more than a third of opposing hitters. Over his tenure with the Phils, Hoffman turned in a 2.28 earned run average with a 33.4% strikeout percentage. He kept his walks to a modest 7.4% clip and held opponents to a .180/.249/.295 slash in 473 plate appearances.

Of the 97 relievers who have logged 100+ innings over the past two seasons, only five (Emmanuel Clase, Tanner Scott, Ryan Helsley, Kirby Yates and Tyler Holton) have a lower ERA. Hoffman also ranks sixth in strikeout rate, trailing Aroldis Chapman, Josh Hader, Fernando Cruz, Kirby Yates, and A.J. Puk. He is in the top 10 in swinging strike percentage. The 6’5″ hurler has the stuff to match those results. His fastball sits around 97 MPH on average. Hoffman mixes four pitches and has overpowered hitters with both the heater and his upper-80s slider.

That production earned him a contract commensurate with what most top setup arms have made in recent offseasons. It’s an exact match for what Stephenson, last winter’s breakout free agent reliever, earned from the Angels. Joe Jiménez, Reynaldo López, Rafael Montero, Taylor Rogers and Clay Holmes all landed three-year deals that guaranteed between $26MM and $38MM. Jordan Hicks signed for $11MM annually but was able to secure a fourth year from the Giants as he entered his age-27 season.

MLBTR ranked Hoffman as the #2 free agent reliever behind Scott. We predicted a four-year, $44MM deal. While the AAV was accurate, teams evidently were unwilling to go to four years at that salary for what would be his age 32-35 seasons. Hoffman was reportedly hoping to land a deal similar to the three years and $38MM that Holmes received from the Mets. He comes up a little bit shy of that, at least in part because New York is going to give Holmes an opportunity to move to the rotation.

Robert Murray of FanSided reported this evening that Hoffman had been set to sign with the Orioles on a three-year, $40MM contract before Baltimore took issue with his throwing shoulder during the physical examination. Teams have different standards for the injury risk that they’re willing to tolerate. Baltimore has a reputation for being particularly attentive to the physical. Hoffman has not spent any time on the injured list over the last two years. He missed a good portion of the second half of 2022 because of a forearm issue. He did miss around two months due to a shoulder impingement early in the ’21 season as a member of the Reds.

The signing is perhaps some evidence of a thaw in what has been a slow-moving reliever market. It’s the second straight day in which one of the top bullpen arms has come off the board, as Baltimore agreed to a $10MM deal with Andrew Kittredge last night (after pulling out of the agreement with Hoffman). Scott remains unsigned and should land the most significant reliever contract of the offseason by a decent margin. Carlos Estévez, Yates and David Robertson are among the next group of back-end arms.

It’s Toronto’s biggest free agent move of the offseason. Their only previous signing had been a two-year, $15MM deal to bring Yimi García back to the organization. They also took on nearly $100MM and acquired middle reliever Nick Sandlin in the Andrés Giménez trade. The Jays had the worst bullpen in the American League last season. They non-tendered Jordan Romano after an injury-plagued season for their former All-Star closer. (Romano signed with Philadelphia as a key replacement for Hoffman.) The trio of new bullpen pickups join holdovers Erik Swanson and Chad Green as potential late-inning options for John Schneider.

According to RosterResource, Toronto’s luxury tax number is up to roughly $239MM. That puts them within a few million of the $241MM base threshold. The Jays narrowly dipped below the CBT line last season. They’d need to be willing to exceed that marker if they’re going to make a notable offensive upgrade beyond Giménez. The outfield is the biggest issue on paper, while the Jays could also look to solidify a third base position that currently features a handful of young, unproven infielders.

Jon Morosi of the MLB Network first reported that the Jays and Hoffman were discussing a multi-year deal. FanSided’s Robert Murray reported the $6MM in bonuses, which Kiley McDaniel of ESPN specified. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported the signing bonus, while The Associated Press had the salary structure.

Image courtesy of Imagn.

NPB’s Orix Buffaloes Sign Jordan Diaz

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The Orix Buffaloes of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball announced this week that they’ve signed former A’s infielder Jordan Diaz. Reports out of Japan first emerged in November that the Buffaloes were nearing a deal with the Colombian-born infielder, but the contract was not finalized until Wednesday.

Diaz, a right-handed hitter who spends most of his time between second and third base, appeared in 105 major league games between 2022-23. The bulk of those reps came in ’23, when Diaz appeared in a little more than half of the team’s games. Diaz didn’t make much of an offensive impact, as he hit .227/.276/.358 across 344 trips to the plate. The A’s optioned him to Triple-A to begin last season. They designated him for assignment and outrighted him off the 40-man roster towards the end of May.

The 24-year-old spent the rest of the year with the A’s top minor league team. He had a strong season, hitting 22 homers with a .301/.362/.529 slash through 436 plate appearances. Diaz is up to a .311/.363/.523 batting line over 724 trips to the plate in the Pacific Coast League. That’s a hitter-friendly environment, of course, but Diaz has shown plus contact skills with decent power at every minor league stop.

Rather than pursue another minor league contract to stay in affiliated ball, Diaz will parlay his strong Triple-A numbers to a guaranteed deal in Japan. He’s young enough to attract MLB interest down the line if he performs well against NPB pitching.

Blue Jays Designate Brett de Geus For Assignment

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The Blue Jays designated reliever Brett de Geus for assignment, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. Toronto needed to create a 40-man roster spot after signing Jeff Hoffman this evening.

de Geus landed with the Jays on a late-season waiver claim from Miami. The 27-year-old righty made two appearances and allowed four runs across 2 1/3 innings. de Geus had made brief appearances with the Mariners and Marlins earlier in the year. He concluded the season with 11 1/3 frames while allowing 10 runs (nine earned). He struck out seven and issued four walks.

That marked de Geus’ first MLB action since his 2021 rookie year. He tossed 50 innings as a Rule 5 pick that season but allowed more than seven earned runs per nine. de Geus owns a 7.48 earned run average across 61 1/3 big league innings. He combined for a 5.31 ERA through 39 Triple-A innings last season. He posted a well below-average 15.6% strikeout rate against a decent 8.1% walk percentage.

Toronto is likely to place de Geus on waivers within the next few days. He has a previous career outright, which means he’d be able to elect minor league free agency if he goes unclaimed.

Orioles Backed Out Of Agreement With Jeff Hoffman After Flagged Physical

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Jeff Hoffman signed a three-year, $33MM contract with the Blue Jays this evening. The righty nearly landed with a division rival. Robert Murray of FanSided reports that Hoffman and the Orioles had agreed to terms on a three-year, $40MM contract earlier this week. According to Murray, Baltimore pulled out of the deal after the physical revealed something related to his throwing shoulder that concerned the organization. Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet write that Baltimore continued to pursue Hoffman and made him a revised offer after backing out of the initial terms, but the All-Star reliever turned his attention elsewhere.

Teams have different standards for the injury risk that they’re willing to tolerate on prospective signings or trade acquisitions. The Orioles have a reputation for being particularly attentive to the physical. The O’s backed out of agreements with Grant Balfour and Tyler Colvin, respectively, in 2013 and ’14. They restructured their agreement with Yovani Gallardo during the 2015-16 offseason because of concerns about his shoulder. Those situations all predated the hiring of general manager Mike Elias and the franchise’s sale to owner David Rubenstein. This could certainly be coincidental.

Hoffman has not spent any time on the injured list over the last two years. He missed a good portion of the second half of 2022 because of a forearm issue. Hoffman did miss around two months in 2021 due to a shoulder impingement. He was sidelined between May 27 and July 21 that season. The injury did not require surgery.

Other teams have failed free agent physicals, of course. The most famous instance was when the Giants and Mets each pulled out of agreements with Carlos Correa because of concerns about his ankle during the 2021-22 offseason. The Yankees reportedly pulled out of a deadline trade to acquire Jack Flaherty from the Tigers last summer because of concerns about his back. That’s not a direct parallel, as the Yanks had issues with Flaherty’s medical records rather than conducting their own physical.

The Flaherty situation illustrates that different clubs’ medical departments could have diverging opinions on a player’s health. The Dodgers traded for the righty within hours of the Yankees deal falling through. (Flaherty stayed healthy for the stretch run with Los Angeles.) Hoffman’s physical wound up costing him $7MM in guaranteed money, though he can earn up to $6MM back via innings-based incentives. It’s not clear whether his agreement with Baltimore would have included any performance bonuses.

Baltimore quickly pivoted to their next bullpen target. The O’s agreed to a one-year, $10MM deal with righty Andrew Kittredge last night. He’ll join Yennier Cano, Seranthony Domínguez and Keegan Akin in front of closer Félix Bautista, who is returning from 2023 Tommy John surgery.

White Sox Sign Omar Narváez To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox announced that they have signed catcher Omar Narváez to a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training. The veteran backstop is represented by ISE Baseball.

Narváez, 33 next month, has had a fairly unusual career. Once a bat-first catcher with defensive question marks, he later flipped that profile and became a solid defender with a tepid bat. Last year, he didn’t succeed in either category and ended up spending most of the season in the minors.

From 2016 to 2019, with the White Sox and Mariners, he slashed .276/.361/.411 for a 113 wRC+. But thanks to his poor defensive metrics, he was worth only 3.1 wins above replacement in 353 games over that stretch, per the calculations of FanGraphs. He then spent 2020 to 2022 with the Brewers, hitting .233/.318/.350 for an 84 wRC+ but producing 4.6 fWAR in 247 games thanks to his superior work behind the plate.

The Mets signed him to a two-year, $15MM deal going into 2023, which turned into a bust. A significant left calf strain put him on the shelf early in the first year of that deal and he only played 49 games on the season, hitting just .211/.283/.297. Early in 2024, he produced a dismal line of .154/.191/.185 in 69 plate appearances. He was released by early June and signed a minor league deal with the Astros, then hitting .196/.325/.304 in 169 Triple-A appearances.

It’s obviously been a rough patch for Narváez but he has a track record of past major league success, both offensively and defensively, though usually not at the same time. He’s a sensible flier for the Sox, who had little proven behind the plate. They currently have two catchers on the 40-man roster: Korey Lee and Matt Thaiss. Lee is a former prospect who could still break out but has hit .188/.227/.313 in his career thus far. Thaiss, picked up in a cash deal last month, is a bit better at the plate but isn’t considered a strong defender.

The club’s future probably lies in Edgar Quero or Kyle Teel or both. Quero was acquired from the Angels in the Lucas Giolito/Reynaldo López trade and Teel from the Red Sox in the Garrett Crochet deal. Both are consensus top 100 prospects but they may not be immediate solutions. Neither is on the 40-man roster yet. Quero has just 26 games at the Triple-A level while Teel has 28. Getting to the majors this year is certainly possible for both of them but there are no guarantees that they will immediately succeed even if they get there. Narváez gives the club an experienced backstop that they could lean on if their younger options get injured or hit speed bumps.

Free Agent Profile: Yasmani Grandal

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This winter’s free agent market has been hot in some ways but there are still plenty of intriguing names out there for most positions. One area that moved fairly quickly was the catching market, with many of the top names off the board.

It wasn’t an amazing class to begin with but the top free agent backstops this winter were Danny Jansen, Carson Kelly and Kyle Higashioka. All three of them signed about a month ago. Gary Sánchez, Travis d’Arnaud, Jacob Stallings and Austin Hedges have also been locked up.

For teams still looking for help behind the plate, their options are now more limited. Former All-Star Game MVP Elias Díaz is still out there, though he’s coming off a season in which his struggles were pronounced enough that he was released by the Rockies, finishing out the year as Higashioka’s backup in San Diego. Christian Bethancourt had some good results with the Cubs last year but was nonetheless outrighted, perhaps due to how inconsistent he’s been in recent years. James McCann has had passable offense at times but his work behind the plate hasn’t been well regarded.

One intriguing guy still available is Yasmani Grandal. His numbers were rough in 2022 and 2023 but there are some ways in which last year was a bounceback. The Pirates gave a lot of time behind the plate to Joey Bart, who engineered a nice breakout season, as well as former top overall pick Henry Davis. But Grandal was somewhat quietly in the mix next to those guys and managed to get into 72 games and step to the plate 243 times, as well as crouching behind the dish for 560 1/3 innings.

Offensively, he had a cromulent performance. His 18.9% strikeout rate was his best apart from his part-time work over a decade ago, before he was established as a big leaguer. His 9.9% walk rate was a bit below some of his previous work but still above league average. He also popped nine home runs in that limited role. His .228/.304/.400 batting line translated to a 95 wRC+, below average overall but above par for a catcher.

Grandal has been a solid defender in his career, particularly in the framing department, and that continued last year. Among guys with at least 550 innings caught in 2024, Grandal ranked seventh on the FanGraphs leaderboard for framing. The six guys ahead of him on that list each had more than 700 innings behind the plate. Patrick Bailey was the only backstop significantly ahead of the pack on a rate basis. Statcast had Grandal 11th on their framing leaderboard. Of the 10 guys ahead of him, only Hedges caught fewer pitches than Grandal.

The strong framing contributed to a solid overall defensive profile. When combined with a decent year at the plate, he actually provided some sneaky value, depending on which measure of wins above replacement you trust most. Baseball Reference only gave him 0.6 WAR on the year but FanGraphs had him at 1.4 and Baseball Prospectus at 1.8. That’s likely due to those outlets having different weights for catcher defense or framing specifically.

Grandal hasn’t gotten any attention this offseason. He hasn’t been tagged at MLBTR since early May, when he was activated from the injured list, having started the season on the IL due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

He isn’t going to help sell season tickets, but for clubs who still want upgrades behind the plate, perhaps he’s the best bet. He isn’t likely to cost much either. He only got $2.5MM plus incentives from the Bucs a year ago. Perhaps his solid season can get him a bump, but he’s also now 36 years old and still unsigned, which doesn’t give him a lot of negotiating leverage. Even if he does earn a raise, it surely won’t be massive.

Going back to Pittsburgh is probably not an option. Bart surely earned himself some run after his strong season, while the club still has Davis. There’s also Endy Rodríguez, who seemed to be emerging as the club’s catcher of the future in 2023, but then spent 2024 recovering from surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament and flexor tendon in his throwing arm. Jason Delay is on the 40-man roster as well.

Teams like the Red Sox, Nationals, Padres, Phillies, Atlanta, Blue Jays, Mariners and others could arguably do with improving their catching depth. Some of those clubs have strong starting options but most clubs avoid leaning on one catcher too much these days. Cal Raleigh led the league with 125 starts last year, meaning every team had a backup/secondary catcher in the starting lineup at least 37 times, often far more.

There’s obviously some risk with signing a 36-year-old catcher but he arguably has a decent floor, depending on how one values his framing. While he struggled offensively in 2022 and 2023, BR considered him to be well below replacement level, but FG had him just barely below, while BP gave him 2.3 WAR for that two-year period.

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