Are you a 35-year-old veteran back-up catcher who has recently played for the Twins? If so, there’s a good chance you were involved in a trade today.
#Cubs today acquired catcher Bobby Wilson from the Twins for catcher Chris Gimenez and a player to be named or cash consideration. Wilson was placed on the 10-day DL.
To make room for Wilson on the 40-man roster, RHP Cory Mazzoni has been designated for assignment.
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 30, 2018
Each year, competitive teams add a third catcher in September, and for the Cubs, it’s going to be Bobby Wilson, coming in at the expense of former Twins catcher Chris Gimenez, who just didn’t make it work as a back-up this year with the Cubs.
Wilson, like Gimenez, is a defensively-inclined catcher who has – intermittently and in a limited role – actually hit passably in the big leagues, albeit not recently. He’s a glove man, through and through. For September, that’s a good catcher to have on the roster. Why the Cubs opted to go with Wilson instead of just re-adding Gimenez is the kind of thing for which I’m sure they have their reasons, though I’m not sure we’ll be privy to them.
Wilson is currently on the disabled list with an ankle bruise, but can come off the DL early next week. He’s a pitcher’s catcher:
According to Baseball Prospectus' metrics, Wilson is a solid framing catcher. Ranked 25th this year (Caratini 91 and Contreras 104 out of 105). Heard pitchers love throwing to him.
— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) August 30, 2018