Los Angeles Dodgers: The three best options to replace Yasmani Grandal
By Jason Reed
Yasmani Grandal recently rejected the $17.9 million qualifying offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers, making him a free agent this offseason.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are officially in the market for a catcher this winter as Yasmani Grandal opted to decline the team’s $17.9 million qualifying offer and instead become a free agent this winter. While this does not guarantee that Grandal is gone, chances are his Dodger career is over.
Meanwhile, southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu accepted the qualifying offer, adding yet another great arm to an already deep starting rotation. If one of them was to reject the offer, as a fan, I am happy it is Grandal.
Grandal is arguably the best power-hitting catcher in baseball if not Gary Sanchez. Defensively, Grandal typically puts together good metrics due to his pitch framing and the impact he has there.
However, Grandal led the league last season in passed balls and had an infamously bad postseason in which he singlehandedly cost the Dodgers multiple runs. Mix that in with a bat that always gets ice cold from August onwards and most Dodger fan are not terribly concerned about his departure.
The team is going to need to bring in a starting catcher, though. Austin Barnes showed no signs of being a good everyday catcher last season, despite having a fairly decent 2017. With elite prospects Keibert Ruiz and Will Smith still a year or two away, the Dodgers need to find a rental option.
The market for quality catchers is thin, as it always is and the Dodgers don’t have many great options to replace Grandal.
There are options out there still. Here are the three best options to replace Yasmani Grandal in 2019, in order.