The Atlanta Braves are looking for catching but the free agent market is thin. Will a free agent fill the Atlanta Braves catching void?
GM John Coppolella took over Atlanta Braves Twitter for a Q&A a few weeks ago and said among other things that
- The Braves were going to spend money on free agents this off-season and
- Starting pitching and improving catching were priorities
Alan looked at starting pitching a few days ago so I’ll look at catching beginning with free agents
Note that Coppolella did not say – as some have interpreted it – he was going to spend money on free agent catchers. That’s a good thing because there aren’t many of note, Wilson Ramos. Jason Castro and Matt Wieters top the list-or did until two weeks ago.
Notes On Catcher Defense
Judging catcher defense is more difficult than any other position because there are so many facets to look at. There’s framing, pitch blocking, game calling, controlling the running game and being able to manager pitchers just to name a few.
Pitch blocking (wild pitches/passed balls) and controlling running are impacted by the pitchers on the staff and to some extent by the whims of the scorekeeper.
There’s a lot of emphasis on pitch framing but it isn’t a make or break item. Stat Corner ranks catcher framing skills and this year Salvador Perez ranked last while Tyler Flowers was third.
Fangraphs ‘Defense’ metric ranks Perez first (15.5) and Flowers 51st (-1,1) among catchers with 350 innings while the Inside Edge ranking at the same link has Perez 34th and Flowers 18th.
Is limiting the running game your thing? Perez threw out 37 of 77 (48%) base stealers, Matt Wieters 23 of 66 (34%) while Flowers. . .never mind.
You get the idea, there’s a case for most of the top catchers depending on where you put the priority. As I go through the catching options I’ll throw some statistics in and you get to choose which you pay attention to.
Stat Corner breaks out framing by team, I combined the numbers of those players so the ranking I give may not match the one on the page. Onward and upward for a look at free agents.
Wilson Ramos
When Wilson Ramos had a breakout year and looked on the way to a qualifying offer at worst and a multi-year deal in the neighborhood of $17M a year at best. Then he jumped to catch a throw in from the outfield and his knee collapsed on landing.
The MRI revealed that Ramos tore his ACL and Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the meniscus could be damaged as well. Ramos could be ready for spring training next year if his rehab goes as planned.
This is the second time he’s torn that particular ACL, increasing the probability that he won’t be able to catch everyday next year.
This led some to suggest that an AL team might be his next home. A catcher with bad knees is a risk and Ramos’ had other injury issues as well making signing him long-term a risk.
Things to consider:
- 35 WP, 10 PB in 1096 1/3 innings
- In seven seasons player over 110 games three times
- Career .269/.313/.430/.743 line
- Ranked 36th in catcher framing
- Threw out 19 of 51 base stealers 37%
- Injury may limit playing time
Juan Castro
At 29 years old Castro has a reputation for being a solid defender with a below league average rate (26% career) for throwing out runners who frames pitches well. This year his pitch framing ranked just below Tyler Flowers but at the plate he was well below the current Braves backstop.
Over the last three seasons Castro’s bat virtually vanished – .215/.291/.369/.660 OPS+84, 36 homers, 56 doubles – and looked to be on his way to being nontendered.
Then the injury Ramos happened and Houston was suddenly considering an extension. In any case he looks more like a backup catcher than the five game a week starter the Braves seek.
Things to consider:
- 50 WP, 12 PB in 908 2/3 innings
- In eight seasons averages 91 games perhaps due to weak bat
- Career .232/.301/.390/.691 line
- Ranked fifth in catcher framing
- Threw out 14 of 59 base stealers 24%
- After Ramos’ injury Astros began making noise about extending Castro
Matt Wieters
Wieters was one of the players who accepted his qualifying offer last off-season. The Georgia native was linked to the Braves prior to accepting that offer and that’s been the case as this off-season approached.
Wieters caught 113 regular season games and ranked just below A.J. Pierzynski at framing pitches. He silenced concerns about his arm after TJ surgery two years ago by throwing out 23 of 66 runners. That 35% mark is well above league average (28%).
At the plate he posted numbers just below what those his baseball card would have predicted. An awful slump in July brought his final line down to .243/.302/.409/.711 with 17 homers in 464 PA. Eliminating July he posted a .264/.321/.455/.775 with 17 homers in 397 PA.
Wild pitch and passed ball numbers can be a little misleading and pitcher dependent so look at the following and make of them what you will.
Things to consider:
- 42WP, 1PB in 980 1/3 innings
- In five uninjured season averaged 136 games missed parts of two seasons due to TJ surgery
- Career .256/.318/.421/.739 line
- Ranked 54th in catcher framing
- Threw out 23 of 66 base stealers 34%
The Other Guys
MLBTR lists 17 available free agent catchers. The Rangers will extend Jonathan Lucroy, A. J. Pierzynski is already retired and we’ve looked at the big three, that leaves 12 more names.
| Alex Avila (30) | Chris Iannetta (34) |
| Jarrod Saltalamacchia (32) | Jeff Mathis (34) |
| Nick Hundley (33) | Geovany Soto (34) |
| Dioner Navarro (33) | A.J. Ellis (36) |
| Kurt Suzuki (33) | Ryan Hanigan (36) |
| Drew Butera (34) | Carlos Ruiz (38) |
Some of those names are not options because of age or because they are simply career backups. I’d say that eliminates Ruiz, Hanigan, Ellis, Soto, Mathis, Butera and Saltalamacchia.
The only catchers of the remaining five to play 100 games this season were Navarro with 101 and Suzuki with 106.
Suzuki
Suzuki is known as a defense first catcher with a league average bat; .258/.301/.403/.704 this season .256/.311/.372/.683 career. He had a superb 2014 with the Twins and earned a nice contract but his bat returned to normal after that.
In each of Suzuki’s previous two seasons he caught 131 games but lost time this year when the Twins were looking for more production. Inside Edge ranks him 16th, Fangraphs 35th and his framing comes in at 50th.
Navarro and Avila
Navarro posted a .207/.265/.322/.587 line with the White Sox and Blue Jays. In 2014 he played 139 games in Toronto with a .274/.317/.395/.712 line. Fangraphs ranks him 29th, Inside Edge fifth and Stat Corner has him 65th in framing.
Avila is the youngest of the remaining free agents. The 30-year-old former Tiger and White Sox backstop ranked 57th in framing this season, 31st on Fangraphs metric and 51st on the Inside Edge list.
The Sox brought him in to be their number one guy this year but he only caught 57 games posting a .213/.359/.373/.739 line. He has a history of concussion issues and those alone make him a risky sign.
Hundley
Nick Hundley caught 678 innings for Colorado this season finishing 61st in framing, 51st on the Fangraphs metric and 37th according to Inside Edge. He posted a .260/.320/.439[.759 line with 10 homers down slightly from 2015.
Prior to coming to Colorado he hit double-digit homers only once (2013) and in his nine-year career managed more than 100 games twice(2013 and 2105). Before joining the Rockies he managed only a .238/.294/.386/.680 line with 52 homes in 1986 PA over seven years.
Iannetta
The Mariners signed Iannetta as insurance after a shaky 2015 from Mike Zunino. As it turned out he split time with Zunino (55 games),Steve Clevenger (22 games) and Jesus Sucre (9 games). He didn’t hit his weight (230) finishing with a .210/.303/.329/.632 line and seven homers.
His career .229/.349/.397/.746 line is probably a high water mark for him as his bat has declined with age. Fangraphs has him 15th on their defensive list, Inside Edge has him at 33 and Stat Corner has his framing at 60th
That’s A Wrap
The free agent catching market is essentially Wieters and a group of backups. The Orioles aren’t going to attempt to keep him but there are a number of teams who could well pursue the switch hitting backstop.
The Mets want to move on from an unproductive Travis d’Arnaud. The Nationals may well add another Boras client to their books now that Ramos blew out his knee again. The Astros could decide to chase him – which might free up Castro I guess – as could the Angels who need a good backstop.
The White Sox and perhaps the Dodgers and Red Sox could all be tempted by his bat and switch hitting. That means a bidding war on some scale and teams near to a ring will no doubt get priority from the soon to be 31-year-old catcher.
Next: This Bud Is Not For You?
It makes far more sense to obtain a young up and coming catcher via trade. That would free up money for the pitching Coppy also suggested they want. I’ll look at some of those potential trade targets in my next post.