{"id":90115,"date":"2024-11-22T15:26:42","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T20:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=90115"},"modified":"2024-11-22T15:26:42","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T20:26:42","slug":"danny-jansen-catching-depth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/11\/22\/danny-jansen-catching-depth\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays Alum Seeks New Opportunity as Backstop with Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

Catcher Danny Jansen<\/a>\u00a0is poised to capitalize on his versatility after electing free agency. Following a July trade to the Boston Red Sox, which came during their ultimately unsuccessful postseason push, Jansen is primed for a fresh start. As a dependable two-way player, he brings an underrated bat and elite blocking skills behind the plate. While injuries have been a recurring challenge, Jansen is seeking a leadership role where he can leverage his experience and skills to drive success.<\/p>\n

Danny Jansen Tests Free Agency<\/h2>\n

The Toronto Blue Jays drafted Jansen in the 2013 draft. He enjoyed a breakout season in 2022, slashing .260\/.339\/.516 with 15 home runs and 44 RBI in 215 plate appearances. From 2021-23, Jansen’s OPS was .772, .855, and .786, respectively. During this period, he demonstrated impressive power, hitting 43 home runs in 667 at-bats, which translates to a 32-homer pace over 500 at-bats. As part of the Blue Jays’ catching tandem, Jansen formed a formidable partnership<\/a> with Alejandro Kirk<\/a>, bringing power to the table while Kirk excelled defensively. However, injuries and Kirk’s superior arm strength limited Jansen’s playing time.<\/p>\n

Jansen’s injury troubles began in 2021 when a recurring hamstring strain sidelined him for two months. The issues persisted in 2022, as an oblique strain kept him out for the first month of the season. A fractured left fifth metacarpal (little finger) on June 7 further limited his playing time. The injury bug continued to plague Jansen in 2023. A left groin strain landed him on the injured list from May 26 to June 13. Later that season, a fractured middle finger on his right hand, sustained on September 2, kept him out for the remainder of the regular season.<\/p>\n

Jansen’s injury woes extended<\/a> into 2024, as a right wrist fracture on March 28 kept him out of the Blue Jays’ lineup to start the season.<\/p>\n

Potential Landing Spots<\/h3>\n

Chicago Cubs<\/h4>\n

The Cubs recently added veteran backstop Matt Thaiss<\/a> for cash considerations after Thaiss was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Angels. Thaiss adds backup support for Miguel Amaya<\/a> who emerged as the Cubs number one catcher last season.<\/p>\n

The addition of Jansen would add more potential power to a club that ranked 21 in baseball last season with 170 home runs. That was down from 196 a season before. Having Isaac Paredes<\/a> and Cody Bellinger<\/a> in the lineup gives the Cubs two potential 30-home run bats. The ball club last had that combination with Kyle Schwarber<\/a> (38) and Kris Bryant<\/a> (31) in 2019.<\/p>\n

Jansen would likely play a leadership role for Amaya while providing potential pop and consistency deep in the lineup.<\/p>\n

Washington Nationals<\/h4>\n

The Nationals are looking to “get better catching-wise,” according to general manager Mike Rizzo. 26-year-old Keibert Ruiz<\/a>, entering his sixth year of pro ball, ranks poorly in both batting and fielding value.<\/p>\n

Ruiz has been up and down at the plate since coming over from the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2021. After showing a hot bat in 23 games (.284\/.348\/.395) that season his production wained in 2022 with an OPS of .673. He bounced back in 2023 with a .717 OPS, 18 home runs and 67 RBI, but his production fell off sharply again last season.<\/p>\n

While Jansen would add consistency at the plate, his defensive ability would be even more desirable to the Nationals as they rebuild.<\/p>\n

Market Value and Projections<\/h3>\n

Jansen ranks 15th among catchers with a current market value of $4.4 million. This valuation is slightly below his $5.2 million salary from last season.<\/p>\n

For comparison, top-ranked catcher Kyle Higashioka<\/a>, 34, boasts a 2.9 WAR but carries a market value of $1.6 million. Meanwhile, Victor Caratini<\/a> of the Houston Astros, is set to earn $6 million in 2025. Caratini produced a solid .269\/.336\/.408 slash line with eight home runs and 30 RBI in 87 games last season.<\/p>\n

Jansen has the potential to surpass Caratini’s production. When healthy, he brings exceptional blocking defense and a reliable late-lineup bat, making him an attractive option for teams seeking a well-rounded catcher.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: \u00a9 John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Catcher Danny Jansen\u00a0is poised to capitalize on his versatility after electing free agency. Following a July trade to the Boston Red Sox, which came during their ultimately unsuccessful postseason push, Jansen is primed for a fresh start. As a dependable two-way player, he brings an underrated bat and elite blocking skills behind the plate. While […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5158,"featured_media":90242,"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":[1071],"tags":[2181,38],"class_list":["post-90115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-danny-jansen","tag-washington-nationals"],"modified_by":"Matt Graves","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90115","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\/5158"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}