The Cleveland Guardians have decided to go forward with a strong defensive pairing at catcher after trading for Patrick Bailey a few weeks ago. He and Austin Hedges have gotten the bulk of the playing time behind the plate.
Bo Naylor, who was considered the starter up until he was optioned to the minor leagues in early May, is now working his way back in Triple-A, trying to return to the majors and the team’s plans. The Guardians, however, have received some trade interest in him.
According to recent reports, three Guardians catchers have drawn varying degrees of interest in the market.
“But rival clubs already are calling on Triple-A catchers Bo Naylor, Cooper Ingle and Kody Huff, according to a person briefed on the Guards’ discussions. And that’s just one of Cleveland’s logjams. Here, too, the Guards might not be in a rush to act. The free-agent market for catchers next offseason is so thin, the Guardians’ youngsters might be in even greater demand then,” Rosenthal wrote.
Depth, in baseball, can disappear quicker than many people imagine. The Guardians might lack a reliever or two, and they could definitely use a starter and a power outfielder, but they are currently very happy about their catching situation even if they don’t have a young star behind the plate like some other teams.
Bailey and Hedges might not hit much, but they are among the finest defensive catchers in the entire league. They win games with their framing, blocking, throwing, and game-calling skills.
David Fry is the emergency catcher in the majors, and he is currently an above-average hitter with an 116 wRC+ even if he mostly plays against lefties. He actually has better stats vs. righties this year.
Down in the minors, they have Naylor, a former starter who fell out of favor and was demoted but still carries considerable offensive potential, and two rock-solid prospects in Ingle and Huff.
Ingle is a lock to make the MLB team at some point this year and is highly unlikely to be traded. He boasts one of the highest wRC+ in the minors with a 166 mark in Triple-A. Huff is a 25-year-old seventh-rounder in 2022 with a 147 wRC+ in Columbus.
Don’t be surprised if the Guardians hold on to all of them and then trade one or two in the offseason, when teams realize that free agent options behind the plate are not that many.
After all, they have to maximize value. And if anybody knows about value, it’s President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti.
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