White Sox make phenomenal move signing Yasmani Grandal
The Chicago White Sox made a phenomenal addition on Thursday afternoon by signing Yasmani Grandal to a four-year, $73 million deal.
As per the agreement, the catcher will be due $18.25 million in each of the next four seasons from 2020-2023.
In 2019, Grandal hit .246/.380/.468 with 28 home runs and 77 RBI to give himself a 121 wRC+ and 5.2 fWAR as detailed by FanGraphs.
That fWAR ranked second among catchers in all of baseball and only 0.5 behind J.T. Realmuto for the top spot.
While his offensive numbers are significantly above average especially considering the position he plays, Grandal’s defense is what separates him from the rest and is probably why the team pursued him despite having James McCann in the fold.
Grandal ranked second in all of baseball in framing runs (19.4) and third in FRAA (20.1) according to Baseball Prospectus.
This is the area McCann struggled in as he ranked 104th in framing runs (-8.0) and107th in FRAA (-10.2).
With Grandal presumably starting behind the dish every day, it remains to be seen what McCann’s new role will be with the club, if he has any at all, in 2020.
Grandal provides the team with an offensive presence behind the plate that is extremely rare in today’s game.
The only real concern with giving him this contract is his age as he is already 31 and the catching position is not one most age gracefully at.
That being said, the Milwaukee Brewers used him at first base last year to keep his bat in the lineup while giving his knees some rest.
Currently, the team has Jose Abreu set to play there in 2020, but the White Sox could have one of them be the designated hitter and have the other be the first baseman on any given day if they want.
Grandal is a middle of the order bat for the team and could provide protection in the lineup for the team’s younger players.
Another aspect of this that makes the addition of Grandal so great is that he can serve as a mentor for the young pitchers on the staff.
Having an experienced catcher behind the dish can help the younger arms on this team relax and easily develop trust with their battery mate.
On top of it, given how great Grandal is at framing, he could help steal strikes for all of the pitchers in general.
Next. Yasmani Grandal Signing Kicks Off White Sox Offseason. dark
The signing of Yasmani Grandal serves as a foundational signing for the White Sox this offseason. Going forward this offseason, the team can’t take the foot off the gas pedal when it comes to addressing other areas of need, but this a very strong move to kick things off.