Washington Nationals: Yasmani Grandal trade not worth it

After witnessing Matt Wieters put up some weak numbers in 2017, the Washington Nationals may look to upgrade the catcher position in 2018. One available option is Yasmani Grandal, but is he much better?

The weakest link in the 2017 Washington Nationals starting was behind the plate. Starting catcher, Matt Wieters hit poorly and put up some pretty bad defensive numbers as well. Backup Jose Lobaton was even worse at the plate, giving the Nationals one of baseball’s worst catching crews last season.

On a team with so much offensive firepower and a tremendous starting rotation, the feeble performance by their catchers was even more noticeable.

The catching duo will have a new look in 2018. Lobaton is now a free agent while Wieters will hope to rebound in his second and likely final season with Washington. To avoid another disaster, the Nationals may want to add a more experienced catcher to pair with Wieters.

One name tossed around in recent days is Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal. A fantastic pitch framer, Grandal carries his weaknesses to the diamond.

For one, Grandal has led the league in passed balls in three of the last four seasons. Now, this isn’t entirely his fault, but there is a reason why the official scorer is not calling these wild pitches.

Aside from this though, he isn’t half-bad with the glove and did catch a lot of games for a stellar Dodgers pitching staff last season. He deserves at least some credit for the phenomenal pitching.

A significant reason Los Angeles would want to trade Grandal is that Austin Barnes appears ready for everyday duties. Grandal costs more and will see his contract expire following the 2018 season.

Rather than lose him for nothing at all, it could benefit the Dodgers to trade Grandal in the offseason. The Washington Nationals happen to be a team in search of an upgrade at catcher. However, he doesn’t feel like the best match.

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Grandal’s offensive statistics are nothing special. Even when he hit a career-best 27 home runs in 2016, Grandal finished the year with a weak .228 batting average.

He did raise it about 20 points in 2017 but saw his OBP drop from .339 to .308 in the process. Other than the power, I’m not sure he’s all that much better than what Wieters can offer.

Perhaps scariest of all, Grandal disappears in the postseason. In his 58 playoff plate appearances, he’s slashing .087/.263/.152.

During the Dodgers’ run to the World Series in 2017, Grandal didn’t pick up a hit in any of his 11 opportunities.

Naturally, any player can suddenly turn it on in October so let’s not complete disregard Grandal’s future in Washington just because he can’t hit in the playoffs.

Clearly, the Dodgers look prepared to move on from Grandal. Even at a lower price, I’m not so sure he’s the right choice for Washington.

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Grandal’s pitch-framing is the most appealing quality he has. Considering the Washington Nationals pitchers did just fine with Wieters last year, it’s hard to imagine a significant enough benefit.

Unless sold for very little, I don’t see a match between Grandal and the Nationals.