71 replies to this topic

[Mackus]

Can't speak to defense, but the bat looks much worse on paper than Chirinos' did heading into last season. Chirinos was very old, though, so substantial dropoff risk whereas McCann is merely old. I'd be fairly worried that McCann has already dropped off.

Owed over $12M in both '23 and '24. Mets gotta be kicking in a ton of money here.

[Mackus]

Solid back up. Didn't hit a ton for the Mets but was fairly solid before that. I'll take it.

76 OPS+ in 400+ PA in 2021. ~600 OPS over the past two years combined (~600 PA).

He was quite good in 2019 and raked during the short COVID season, but has been pretty awful since then.

Mid-600s is fine for a backup C, of course. And if they're taking him on I'm sure they think highly of his defense. Would be very strange if they're paying much of the money, but most of the money they've doled out this off-season has felt fairly strange.

[BaltBird 24]

Mets are paying a ton for us to take him. Hope we aren't giving up much.

[You Play to Win the Game]

The typical target we’ve come to expect here in Liftoff.

[dude]

This sucks, I can't believe we did this.....

 

 

 

...oh wait...I like this deal.  I'd have liked to do more with it, but I think McCann helps at a number of levels.

[dude]

If I could pick a RHed option.  I like James McCann from the Mets.  He'll be 33 next season and has 2 years and 24M (12M/per) left on his contract.  He has a .777 OPS vs LHers so there's some buffer there for Adley's performance vs LHers.  I don't think the Mets care about the money in terms of keeping him or moving him, but if they choose to move Francisco Alvarez (their top prospect) into the starters role, they could sign a different compliment (if they don't want Nido).  If they thought they could throw cash on McCann and get a useful prospect, then maybe he's an option.  I'd check in on it.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Ist of a few trades. Sneaky solid trade. Backup C will never be sexy to fans but I like McCann better than any of the remaining FAs

[BSLBobPhelan]

$2.5 million per year for two years. The PTBNL will be no one of consequence. He’s the backup catcher.

Btw he was two wins better than Chirinos last year despite only putting up a 0.4 fWAR.

[makoman]

Has had some terrible years and some good years framing, per baseball savant, so I guess at least it shows he is capable.

[Mackus]

Yeah with the amount of cash picked up this is a good option for backup catcher. Decent chance he hits terribly, but that's what backups do. Hopefully he doesn't fall off a cliff defensively due to age but that isn't a huge risk.

[Nigel Tufnel]

From the Baltimore Sun article:

 

In 2022, he hit .195/.257/.282 with three home runs in 61 games, though McCann’s expected statistics, based on quality of contact, suggest he experienced some poor luck. His expected batting average was .244, with an expected slugging percentage of .414, both in line with his career performances, according to Baseball Savant.

 

 

McCann is a significant defensive upgrade over Rutschman’s previous backup, Robinson Chirinos, who ranked last among 60 qualified catchers in framing borderline pitches into strikes, according to Baseball Savant. McCann was tied with Philadelphia Phillies star J.T. Realmuto for 22nd, while Rutschman ranked 10th. McCann had a similar poptime on throws to second as Chirinos, but his average exchange time was quicker and his best throws were an average of almost 2 mph faster.

 

Orioles acquire catcher James McCann from Mets for player to be named; veteran expected to back up Adley Rutschman – Baltimore Sun

[mweb08]

This seems fine.

[BSLSteveBirrer]

Fine. Now lets get back to discussing potential players that can actually help this team be better in 2023...lol

[Mike B]

$2.5 million per year for two years. The PTBNL will be no one of consequence. He’s the backup catcher.

Btw he was two wins better than Chirinos last year despite only putting up a 0.4 fWAR.

Given that McCann is being brought in to play 40 games as Adley's backup. this is a good move.   McCann had a bad year last year, but he is just 32 years old so, hopefully he can bounce back a little bit at the plate while playing good defense..  

[makoman]

This seems fine.

I agree, they needed a backup, and he seems reasonable enough.

 

I wish they would have played around and paid him more to get an additional something back, like dude had suggested, there should have been room for something with his high salary. Of course that's if the Mets were on board with that. On the one hand they don't seem to care about money, but on the other hand each of their dollars is magnified due to the tax (I'm assuming money they pay McCann is still subject to tax). And of course the O's would have to be willing to do that, which probably isn't likely. 

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Itll be interesting to see how often he starts vs LHP

[dude]

Itll be interesting to see how often he starts vs LHP

 

The Orioles had 50 games last year against a LHSP.  McCann should start all of them. His career OPS vs LHers is .777...if he can stay around .750 (or better) that is huge because you don't get a big drop off and Adley can rest his legs through DH.

 

If you have designs on the playoffs and your best player is your catcher, you can't grind him out over 162 and expect him to be fresh for the Playoffs.

[dude]

I'd still like to see more with the deal.  

 

1) I'm always a fan of restructuring contracts for several reasons.  McCann buying into a restructure says "I want to be here, in this role" and that's how the Orioles are going to need to win across the board.

 

We're talking about buying his age-35 year so the stability and guarantee should appeal to him.  Given the money the Orioles got in the deal, you can probably get his 2023 costs to zero (that has to appeal to ownership).

 

Add 1/4 to the back.  That makes it a 3/28, flatten to 8.5M/year (the Orioles make 1M in 2023 and 2024) and have a 2.5M buyout on a 5M team option.

 

2) Mets went this far with money, I just can't believe we couldn't figure out the difference between something like Kjerstad and Parada to make this deal an A.  

[TwentyThirtyFive]

It would be so awesome being a fly on the wall with dude as GM. He works a solid smaller deal that should benefit the team and then he ruins it by getting hung up on trying to outsmart himself and haggle for more 

[Mike B]

It would be so awesome being a fly on the wall with dude as GM. He works a solid smaller deal that should benefit the team and then he ruins it and gets hung up on trying tooutsmart himself and haggle for more 

The funnier thing would be if you were the other GM on the phone making the deal.