Atlanta Braves Rumors: The Real Cost of Brian McCann
By Ryan Cothran
‘Fair’… A Term With a Vague Definition
@santoniobrown Keith Law on trading Folty for McCann (much less Ender) "Klaw: Ridiculous. NY media/fan wishing there."
— Ken Hendrix (@kendh) October 22, 2016
Brian McCann will be 33 years old when Spring camps open up next year. He hit .256 with the Braves in 2013, but since then his bat has been declining (.232/.232/.242) – partly due to this effective trick that teams are using on him called the “shift”.
With a shift, he hits .253 on balls put in play; .412 with no shift.
His fWAR has been 2.4, 3.0, and 1.3 as a Yankee. That seems to be exaggerated at Yankee Stadium, given the (very) short right field porch. SunTrust Park might be a bit better than Turner Field in that respect, but it’s still no Yankee Stadium… nor is there a Fenway regularly on the schedule.
The Braves were said to “value” McCann at $11 million per year. That’s about right for his 1.3 WAR in 2016.
Unfortunately, his contract calls for $17 million annually, and includes a vesting clause for 2019 at $15 million (we’ll get to that later). And all of that is for a full-time player – while it is much more likely that he’d be platooned with Tyler Flower on a lefty/righty basis in an effort to extend his days behind the plate.
There’s other catching options available in the market, too. Fred has reviewed both the free agents and some intriguing trade targets. Some have long-term upside, some have close to equivalent production projections. Almost all of them would be cheaper than McCann.
Surely the Yankees realize all of this, too.