I couldn’t say for sure that the Cubs would agree with me, but I see finding a quality, veteran, back-up catcher as among the important to-do’s for the Cubs this offseason for a variety of reasons. At a minimum, though, they’ve reportedly been looking at the options.
But among those options, one of the better ones – Kurt Suzuki – quickly went off the board to the Nationals, and now the guy who might’ve been my favorite option, is heading back to the Braves:
Brian McCann is coming home. McCann and the Braves have reached an agreement. Contract specifics have not been revealed.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) November 26, 2018
Although McCann has fallen off with the bat, he remains a quality defender and superlative framer, so pairing him with Tyler Flowers is going to give the Braves a helluva backstop combo next year. That, frankly, is what I want to see the Cubs do with Willson Contreras.
Sounds like McCann pretty much only wanted to come back to the Braves, though:
McCann made it clear he wanted to be with the Braves. He passed up some more lucrative offers to once again play in his hometown.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) November 26, 2018
You wonder if the Cubs made a go at it, but it wasn’t going to happen.
In any case, there are still some interesting options out there, including Robinson Chirinos, Jonathan Lucroy, and Rene Rivera. It’s not as if I’m saying Victor Caratini can’t continue into 2019 as the Cubs’ back-up, but, as we saw last year, that’s not necessarily the best setup for his development, nor for proactively limiting the burden on Contreras.