Los Angeles Dodgers: Four potential suitors for Yasmani Grandal
By Jason Reed
Yamani Grandal rejected the Los Angeles Dodgers’ $17.9 million qualifying offer and is now a free agent that will undoubtedly gain interest from many teams.
It appears that Yasmani Grandal will not be on the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019 as the slugging catcher rejected the $17.9 million qualifying offer that the team offered him this offseason. While Grandal could theoretically re-sign with the team, the chances of that happening are slim to none.
Grandal is going to get offers for three or maybe even four years on the open market this winter. The Dodgers, on the other hand, only need a catcher for a season or two as the team as one of the best catching prospects in baseball, Keibert Ruiz, waiting in the minor leagues.
Ruiz is not yet big league ready but making him wait three or even four years would be absolutely ludicrous. With long-term offers likely on the table, Grandal would be silly to accept a two-year deal with LA, unless that is the only thing being offered.
For many Dodger fans, losing Grandal is not a terrible thing. The slugging catcher has a tendency to get ice cold as the summer months end, which has led to terrible postseason production. With another World Series loss fresh in the fanbase’s mind, that postseason production is a big reason why the fans disliked Grandal.
In 32 postseason games with the Dodgers, Grandal is hitting .107 (8-75), with a .464 OPS, two home runs and six RBIs. Clayton Kershaw has a near-identical career postseason OPS (.457) in 51 plate appearances.
The woes always start in August. Despite being a career .307 hitter in the month of July, he is a career .204 hitter in August and .232 hitter in September/October (regular season).
And while those are bad trends, Grandal is still one of the most coveted catchers to hit the free agent market in quite some time. He is third in FanGraphs WAR for all catchers over the last three seasons, has slugged the second-most home runs and driven in the fourth-most RBIs.
Grandal is going to have a ton of interest this winter, especially considering the free agent class next winter is particularly bad for catchers. Here are potential suitors for the slugging catcher.