On Sunday, it was reported that there was an agreement between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Yasmani Grandal.
He signed a $2.5 million contract to play for the up-and-coming Pirates in the 2024 campaign.
The expectation is that Grandal fights and competes to be the starting catcher over Jason Delay, Ali Sánchez, and current favorite Henry Davis.
Grandal explained his reasoning for joining the Pirates, and one of them is mentoring Davis and fellow young, talented catcher Endy Rodriguez.
“Yasmani Grandal saw opportunity to be the starting catcher for the Pirates and help mentor their young catchers, like Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis,” Pirates insider Kevin Gorman tweeted along with a video.
Yasmani Grandal saw opportunity to be the starting catcher for the Pirates and help mentor their young catchers, like Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis. pic.twitter.com/Yv3foy4o9s
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 15, 2024
The odds are in Davis’ favor to be the starter behind the plate, but there is a chance he is deployed somewhere else on the diamond.
In any case, the Pirates wanted someone with experience to guide him, and Grandal does have years of wisdom at his craft.
Grandal, now 35 years old, hit .234/.309/.339 with eight homers in 405 plate appearances for the Chicago White Sox last season.
Those are decent numbers in comparison to his horrible 2022 (.570 OPS), but in the period from 2015 to 2021, he was one of the top catchers in baseball.
Both Davis and Rodriguez have the talent to be starting catchers at some point, but the latter won’t play in 2024 after suffering a long-term injury.
Still, Grandal will always be there to offer them advice on how to position themselves to make certain throws, hitting, plate discipline, blocking, framing, and other things.
It’s a low-risk, high-upside signing by the Pirates.
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