Yasmani Grandal is off of the market. The Reds have been rumored to be interested in free agent Robinson Chirinos as an option. But what about the trade market? The Seattle Mariners are reportedly willing to shop their catcher, Omar Narvaez.
Amid the early and heavy movement in the catching market, one name in trades keeps coming up: Omar Narváez. The Seattle Mariners have shown a desire to move him, sources tell ESPN, and a deal could be completed soon. Narváez really can hit. His glove remains a major question.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 25, 2019
The Reds seem be looking to upgrade the offense this offseason, and the offense at the catcher position is one area where they could do it. It wasn’t the position where they had the lowest production – the catchers hit a combined .247/.328/.404 on the year with 23 doubles and 21 home runs. That was good for an 86 OPS+ on the season. The catchers across the league were at an 84 OPS+.
Omar Narvaez has hit .277/.358/.448 over the last two seasons between his time with the Chicago White Sox and the Seattle Mariners. That’s good for a 120 OPS+. Yasmani Grandal, for example, has also posted a 120 OPS+. The difference, offensively, between the two is that Grandal’s track record is a lot longer, and that he’s been able to play more in the last two seasons. He’s had 1150 plate appearances compared to 804 for Narvaez.
But it’s not all about the offense. As Jeff Passan’s tweet notes, there are some questions about his glove. In 2019, among catchers with at least 550 innings caught, Narvaez rated out as the second worst defensive catcher when it comes to framing according to Fangraphs. He doesn’t rate out well in the Baseball Savant framing stat, either.
With that said, even with the defensive struggles, he posted a 1.8 fWAR and a 2.1 bWAR during the 2019 season. And some of that value got dinged because he played in 22 games as a designated hitter. The Reds catching crew posted 1.7 fWAR and a 1.8 bWAR. It’s certainly worth noting here, though – that catching value misses a lot of what a catcher does. Even their defense, which places try to measure, is still sort of a guide more than at any other spot on the field.
It’s pretty clear that Omar Narvaez would go a long way to improving the offense for the team – he’s a well above-average hitter, and an elite one for the catcher position. But how much of that value he gives back on the defensive side is a legitimate concern. His biggest issue is pitch framing. That used to be an issue for Tucker Barnhart, too. But this past season he went from among the worst rated in the game to an above-average. It’s a skill that can be worked on, and improved.
His contract status could make him an interesting pick up, too. He’s not a free agent until after the 2022 season. He’s entering his first year of arbitration. MLB Trade Rumors projects him to get $2.9M in arbitration. The combination of his bat, and his contract, probably makes his cost of acquisition, well, not cheap. Perhaps teams will hold the defense against him in negotiations with the Mariners to try and bring it down. It will be interesting to see if anyone can meet the asking price, and where he winds up.
Photo of Omar Narvaez by Richard Bartlaga. Photo’s colors have been modified. License can be found here.
Catcher is one position where you simply can’t overlook poor defense.
Interesting that Tucker’s pitch framing drastically improved when the starting rotation drastically improved.
With Grandal off the market, I guess I’d rather look to upgrade offensively in the middle infield and outfield, and keep Tucker/Casali behind the plate.
Having umpired fast pitch softball for over 20 years I’m not putting a lot of stock in pitch framing. Yes I know the girls are not throwing it at 90+ and that the catchers I am seeing are very young but the pitcher still has to throw the ball over part of the plate. One of the guys on MLB Tonight was pointing out that even though the speed of the ball continually increases the umpire behind the plate has one job, “watch the ball come across the plate.” To a large extent I agree with that. You have pitchers with better control you have better pitch framing. The areas of defense that I would be concerned about is can he block a ball and can he throw. Those areas would have to be at least comparable to what we have now before I would be sold.am sure that
I can’t argue with that, but it still can be plus.
The MLBTR article said he improved a good amount with blocking/passed balls. Isn’t there a line of thinking that stolen bases are just as much on the pitcher as the catcher? My thinking is that defense can be improved, and he’s shown that ability to improve with the passed balls. The Reds definitely need more offense and shouldn’t be too choosy where it comes from as long as the price is right.
I sort of agree. It’s very clear that major league umpire miss on a lot of calls due to the catcher’s performance, good or bad. I have seen strike literally right down the middle called balls because the catcher caught it so badly. I have also seen balls 4 inches off the plate called strike because the catcher caught it outstandingly. And if the same catchers are always at the top of the framing leaderboards it’s clear they are doing something to influence all the umpires
Pitch framing won’t be an issue once they start using robo umps. Could very well be before he becomes a free agent.
If the “more important” offensive positions are upgraded, the Reds can get away with average from the C position. What they cannot afford is average to below from SS, CF, 1B and 2B. Upgrade those and let C alone, and do not bat them cleanup….
Tucker didn’t magically improving his framing in one year…he actually got a good pitching staff this year. Framing is so overrated for catchers, Tucker is proof of this
While I certainly agree that the pitchers on a staff do help/hurt catchers with the pitch framing metrics, it’s a lot more than that.
Here’s what Tucker said this year – link :
I agree with this. We have to make upgrades to the offense where we can, and if we can do it at a cost that isn’t prohibitive then even better.
I’m just not impressed with the options after Grandal compared to who is currently on the roster. I’m sure there is room for improvement but I would focus elsewhere.
I don’t think he’s worth giving up a top 15 prospect,
As others have noted, I’m not sure the Reds are really in the market for a catcher outside of elite options (i.e. Realmuto last offseason and Grandal this offseason). The rest of the options seem to be marginal upgrades at best.
+1,000. Don’t block Tyler Stephenson. I think he’s going to smooth out the up and down Red’s rebuild.
No! We don’t want him, he had an outstanding first half, then went back to his career average second half which is barley replacement level. He has had half a season of good track record and multiple bad seasons
I think they are waiting to see what’s going on with lindor first
I might be wrong but I believe i read McCain is about as bad defensively as well. Mlbtraderumors had this story yesterday and I think they said McCain was as bad as Narvaez.
I can live with a Barnhart casali split catching. Linder would be nice
Wow, if the Reds could actually get Narvaez for Siri, I believe they should do that immediately before the Mariners change their mind. But I just have a hard time believing that is realistic. On the other hand, I readily admit that I don’t know what would be needed in a trade to get Narvaez. But, if Siri is the center-piece of a trade for Narvaez I would do that in a heartbeat.