Note from author: This story was published before Roberto Perez signed. It will be updated to reflect the signing.
On Monday, the Pirates surprisingly traded Jacob Stallings to the Marlins for three players.
What makes the move so unexpected is not just because Stallings was a Gold Glove winner with three years of team control remaining, but that the Pirates no longer have a catcher on their 40-man roster.
It’s a notoriously thin market this year -- which is part of the reason why the Pirates opted to trade Stallings -- which will make it difficult for the Pirates to find a pair of backstops before next season begins. And with the Collective Bargaining Agreement set to expire Wednesday at 11:59 p.m., the clock is ticking for them to add a catcher, and some clarity at the position, before the lockout.
INTERNAL OPTIONS
Oh you know things don’t look great when we start with Michael Pérez.
The Pirates have accumulated some good catching prospects over the past 12 months. First overall draft pick Henry Davis is their No. 2 prospect, according to Baseball America's most recent update. Endy Rodriguez came over in the Joe Musgrove trade and has jumped up to No. 7 in the system, with everyone ahead of him almost certain to make the top 100 list. Carter Bins is a good defensive catcher with a college background, and Abrahan Gutierrez grades well as a pitch receiver.
“We feel really good that we are deeper at that position,” Ben Cherington said recently about the minor-league catching depth. “We’ve got some guys in the minor leagues who have a chance to be good major-league catchers. We’ve added some real depth and talent at that position throughout the system, and there’s some nice competition happening amongst those guys.”
There’s one catch: None of them are close to major league ready.
Rodriguez and Gutierrez played for Class Low-A Bradenton. Davis is more advanced because he’s a college player, but he barely got a cameo with Class High-A Greensboro. The soonest he could be in Pittsburgh is 2023. Bins tore up Class High-A with the Mariners this year, but wasn’t as strong in his first taste of AA. It’s at least a possibility that he could be ready for the majors towards the end of the season, but that doesn’t fill the immediate catching need the Pirates will have opening day.
Which brings us back to Pérez, who was designated for assignment and cleared waivers earlier this month.
“[That doesn’t] necessarily mean we wouldn’t have interest in Michael being part of what we’re doing next year,” Cherington said after designating him for assignment. “Certainly, there’s plenty of time between now and spring training to figure out what the rest of our catching mix looks like.”
Pérez didn’t hit (.143 batting average, .511 OPS over 231 plate appearances) and his defense was a little below average (-1 defensive runs saved, -1.7 framing runs according to FanGraphs), but at least he knows these pitchers. There’s a little continuity and stability for a young staff with him. That shouldn’t be undervalued.
FREE AGENCY
This list could expand Tuesday night after the non-tender deadline passes. For now, though, the list is thin.
The top two options -- Manny Piña and Yan Gomes -- have already signed. Going by WAR, the best remaining option is Luke Maile, who passed through Pittsburgh in 2020 before missing the season with injury. He has a good defensive reputation and the Pirates felt comfortable enough to give him an inside track for a MLB job before. Do they try again?
It’s been reported that the Pirates have interest in Roberto Pérez, who is a Platinum Glove award winner coming off finger surgery and two terrible seasons at the plate. He would at least provide the strong defense the Pirates have become accustomed to behind the plate. His 35 defensive runs saved since 2019 are the second-most for any catcher… behind Stalings. The Guardians declined a $7 million option on him last month.
The Pirates kicked the tires on Robinson Chirinos during the 2019 offseason before ultimately giving Stallings the starting job. Andrew Knapp is a very light hitter (imagine his .152 batting average and .452 OPS pairing with Michael Pérez), but I was told he’s a great clubhouse guy and does very well with game planning and pitching management, another area Stallings excelled in.
Chance Sisco was Baseball America’s No. 68 prospect in 2018, and while he hit pretty well in limited cameos in 2019 and 2020, he floundered last year, both offensively and defensively. If there’s any hope that he could develop defensively and hit, he could potentially be a decent major leaguer.
After that, it becomes a list of 30-somethings who have been replacement-level or worse over the last two seasons (Jeff Mathis, Jose Lobaton, Kurt Suzuki and Austin Romine). The market could become more interesting if Gary Sánchez or a similar type player gets non-tendered Tuesday, but don’t forget those players were let go for a reason.
TRADES/RULE 5/OTHER OPTIONS
After releasing Cody Ponce Monday so he could pursue an opportunity in Japan, so the Pirates already have a spot open for a potential Rule 5 pick (assuming they don’t sign a major league free agent by then). Some potential non-tender that are due Tuesday could also open up some spots.
Baseball America listed Blake Hunt of the Rays as a catcher to watch for in the Rule 5 draft. One of the main parts of the Blake Snell trade with the Padres last winter, they write he could probably handle a major league backup job, being a little more polished than other 22-year-old catchers. He has only 63 plate appearances worth of experiences in Class AA, and they were horrible (.125 average, .370 OPS). Still, FanGraphs gave his a 50 grade, which projects to a major league regular potential. To throw another name in the mix, Josh Breaux is a top 20 prospect with the Yankees with a good combination of raw power and a strong arm, though his .274 on-base percentage in Class AA is far from ideal.
Jorge Alfaro was once one of the game’s top catching prospects and he was just designated for assignment by the Marlins. Perhaps a quick trade or waiver claim to get someone who is at least a capable fielder and has two years of control could be in play. Dennis Ortega is a minor-league free agent and one of the best defensive catchers to pass through the Cardinals' farm system recently, if you can deal with his light bat.
But no matter how you slice it, there isn’t a lot of help out there, and it seems very unlikely that the Pirates will be able to replicate Stallings’ defense and his average bat, and perhaps neither. There’s still a long way to go in the offseason, but with the lockout looming, it does add a sense of urgency to create some certainty at a vital position.