{"id":66594,"date":"2024-02-12T12:14:39","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T17:14:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=66594"},"modified":"2024-02-12T12:29:35","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T17:29:35","slug":"pirates-catcher-grandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/12\/pirates-catcher-grandal\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates, Veteran Catcher Grandal Agree to One-Year Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">During the Super Bowl, the Pirates announced they had signed free agent catcher\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/grandya01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Yasmani Grandal<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to a one-year contract. No Super Bowl parties for Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Sources: Cuban catcher Yasmani Grandal is on agreement with the Pittsburgh Pirates. It\u2019s done deal. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ByRobertMurray?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@ByRobertMurray<\/a> was on it. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rwZXgbELY5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/rwZXgbELY5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francysromeroFR\/status\/1756843225166258535?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 12, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Pirates Sign Veteran Catcher Yasmani Grandal<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The incentive-laced deal calls for a $2.5 million salary. Grandal, a 12-year veteran, has toiled for the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, and most recently, the Chicago White Sox. He gives the Pirates the experienced catcher they had been looking for since it was announced their projected starting catcher,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=rodrien01,rodrig002end&amp;search=Endy+Rodriguez&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Endy Rodriguez<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, would be lost for the season due to offseason surgery. The Pirates previously had\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/05\/pirates-interest-gary-sanchez\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">shown interest<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sanchga02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Gary Sanchez<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. However, when Sanchez\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/05\/pirates-interest-gary-sanchez\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">signed with the rival Brewers<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, the Pirates had to turn their attention elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For his career, the right-handed batting Grandal has slashed .237\/.347\/.426, 185 HR, 565 RBI, and 111 OPS plus. The two-time All-Star\u2019s best years were 2016-21 when he hit at least 20 homers each year except for the COVID-shortened 2020. However, his offensive production declined in 2022-23. He was never one to produce high batting averages; during that time, he hit .219\/.305\/.306, 13 HR, and 60 RBI.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Grandal\u2019s defense, once a strong suit, has also declined recently. He\u2019s credited with 58 Defensive Runs Saved for his career, mainly due to strong numbers from 2016-18. For 2023, he was \u201cworth\u201d -7 Fielding Runs Above Average and -11 Defensive Runs Saved. Furthermore, the <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fieldingbible.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Fielding Bible<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0gives him minus one Strike Zone Run Saved, a measure of his framing skills.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">An Experienced Backstop<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Even so, he gives the Pirates a veteran presence at the position and one who\u2019s been through the postseason wars. Moreover, Grandal will be playing for the next contract and should be eager to prove 2022-23 were anomalies. It gives the Pirates\u2019 2021 number-one draft pick,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davishe01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Henry Davis<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, a chance to develop as a catcher. Drafted as a catcher, Davis has caught only two innings in the majors. 2023 Davis played right field while Rodriguez handled the catching duties when both were recalled. Whether Davis\u2019s development as a catcher occurs at the major- or minor-league level remains to be seen.\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/delayja01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jason Delay<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, who emerged as\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kellemi03.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-02-12_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Mitch Keller<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u2019s personal catcher in 2023, seems assured of a spot on the team. Davis and Delay both have minor-league options.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Carrying three catchers in this modern era of inflated bullpens and deflated benches cannot be easy. However, it can be done if at least one of the catchers is versatile. Grandal has played first base 95 times in his career. With Davis also having played right field, the Pirates may be able to pull it off.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credits: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the Super Bowl, the Pirates announced they had signed free agent catcher\u00a0Yasmani Grandal\u00a0to a one-year contract. No Super Bowl parties for Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington! &nbsp; Sources: Cuban catcher Yasmani Grandal is on agreement with the Pittsburgh Pirates. It\u2019s done deal. @ByRobertMurray was on it. pic.twitter.com\/rwZXgbELY5 \u2014 Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) February 12, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5010,"featured_media":66267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,2,1071],"tags":[4875,2255],"class_list":["post-66594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirates","category-featured","category-mlb","tag-henry-davis","tag-yasmani-grandal"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}