Dodgers: Love it or hate it, Yasmani Grandal should return in 2019

Yasmani Grandal had one of the worst postseasons in recent memory for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season. Despite that, Grandal should and will return to LA in 2019.

The Los Angeles Dodgers fell short of the ultimate goal for the second consecutive season, losing to the Boston Red Sox in five games in the 2018 World Series. While certain pitchers could not come up in big spots and there were some questionable coaching coaches, it was ultimately the offense that cost LA the World Series.

The Dodgers collectively hit .180 in the World Series with a .550 OPS. Relying too heavily on the home run ball obviously cost the Dodgers, whose offense looked horrendous at times. The worst offensive team in baseball this year in terms of OPS, the Miami Marlins, had a .659 OPS this season.

This happened last year as well. The Dodgers went from a .881 OPS in the 2017 NLCS to a .683 OPS in the 2017 World Series. Yasmani Grandal was part of the problem both years.

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Grandal practically lost the starting job by the time both World Series rolled around with Austin Barnes (who was terrible offensively this season) taking over. Between the two years, Grandal is 1-8 in the World Series with five strikeouts.

This is a terrible trend for Grandal that was at an all-time high this year. In the early stages of the career and in the summer, Grandal is by far the best hitting catcher in baseball. In his seven-year career, Grandal has a .307 batting average in the month of July.

However, from August to October, Grandal has a career batting average of .218. He has a .107 postseason batting average with a .464 OPS.

This year was particularly bad, however, as Grandal’s woes extended outside the batter’s box. Grandal had several defensive blunders that hurt the Dodgers, especially in the NLCS.

The Dodgers arguably lost Game 1 of the NLCS because of Grandal’s passed balls and missed plays that forced Clayton Kershaw to work with a ton of pressure. In Game 3, Grandal missed a ball in the dirt that allowed the Brewers to take a 2-0 lead with two outs.

Add that into Grandal failing to come up in several spots in the NLCS and he lost his starting gig. This was the worst time possible for Grandal to mess up as he is entering his first contract year as a professional.

And while he may have been primed for a big payday if the season ended on August 1, Grandal no longer looks like the immensely promising catching option that he did.

Because of that, Grandal is ultimately going to come back to LA, and should come back to LA, as much as you may love it or hate it.

The fact of the matter is that it is in Grandal’s best interest to accept the qualifying offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the Dodgers extended the qualifying offer to Grandal, which is worth $17.9 million for one season.

That is far more than Grandal would get annually on the open market this season and accepting this will allow him to stay on a contender, prove his value and still get to cash out next winter.

As for the Dodgers, this is the best-case scenario at the catcher position. The farm system is stacked with catching prospects, including the third-best catching prospect in baseball, Keibert Ruiz.

The only problem is that Ruiz is still too far away from the big leagues and will likely be the team’s starting catcher in 2020. I’d rather have Grandal for one more year than a catching duo of Austin Barnes and Rocky Gale.

And let’s be real, making a trade for a catcher like J.T. Realmuto is not worth it considering what LA has in the farm system. I would much rather use trade chips for an elite wipeout reliever or even another power-hitting bat in the outfield, not for a catcher.

Related Story. Potential trade target: Dee Gordon. light

Yasmani Grandal will be a Dodger in 2019 and the fans are going to have to learn to love him yet again.

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