MLB: Dollar values of the best catchers

In raw dollars, which MLB catchers earned the most by their play on the field in 2019

In MLB, we’re pretty much obsessed with the concept of value. We apply a plethora of sometimes exotic statistical approaches to measure it: batting average, slugging, home runs, WAR, OPS+, Defensive Runs Saved, Weighted Runs Created…the list goes on.

The one factor we generally overlook in all these assessments is the most meaningfully value-oriented of all of them: salary. What, precisely, was the player paid – relative to all other players tasked with doing what he was doing – and how much of that pay did he “earn” by his performance?

The rating system that follows corrects that oversight. Based on 2019 performance, it measures which players were the most “valuable” as judged by their on-field production relative to their salary. And let it be noted here that we are limiting our focus to on-field value only. Some players, megastars, are paid based largely on factors unrelated to on-field performance, their drawing power at the gate, their celebrity, their endorsement/promotional potential being among them. Those factors, while acknowledged as real and legitimate, are not part of this discussion.

Since different positions require different skills, the standard for determining production will vary depending on position…although for position players there will always be an offensive component. Indeed, at certain positions – designated hitters, left fielders, and first baseman notably – that may the predominant or only component.

We begin with catchers, where defense is a decided component. In 2019, 37 catchers were behind the plate for at least 500 innings. They’ll be assessed on three weighted criteria: 60 percent for WAR (for offense), 30 percent for total fielding runs above average (for defense) and 10 percent for pitch framing. These factors are selected in part due to their cumulative nature. In baseball as in many other things, showing up is a big deal.

For each component, we’ll compare their performance against both the group average performance and the group average salary, and translate it to a dollar value. In the end, we’ll not only know who the “most valuable” catchers were but also precisely what that “value” was.

For the record, the average salary of a catcher working a minimum of 500 innings in 2019 was $3.904 million.  Here are the other pertinent averages for this position: WAR 1.324; defensive runs saved per year 0.378; strike zone runs above average (framing) 0.486.

10 Willson Contreras, Chicago Cubs $2.16 million value; $684,000 salary

Over the past couple of seasons, Contreras has become famous – infamous may be a better description – for his defensive weaknesses, particularly his pitch framing. The rap on his skills behind the plate has become so intense that there is serious discussion in Chicago about unloading him, possibly any minute now.

Those pitch-framing and defensive skills are no bargain; Contreras ranks only 26th among the 37 most frequently used catchers. It’s so bad that Contreras’s pitch-framing actually generates a negative value in the amount of $164,000 relative to his MLB peers.

His general defense isn’t much better, ranking just 24th. It, too, generates a negative value amounting to $77.000.

So far we’ve concluded that Contreras should have paid the Cubs close to a quarter-million dollars just to allow him to catch in 2019. At the bat, however, the two-time All Star starter more than makes up for it. Contreras delivers a 3.1 WAR, the sixth best among catchers, valuing out at $2.401 million.

Given his $684,000 pre-arbitration salary, it more than justifies Chicago’s reliance on him as the team’s primary catcher, and it elevates him into the top 10, if barely, among most valued catchers.

No. 9 Gary Sanchez, New York Yankees, $2.163 value; $670,000 salary

Sanchez is Contreras’ body double at the plate. Both generated a 3.1 WAR in 2019 that valued out at $1.371 million when considered against the average of their peers in the ranks of catchers who worked at least 500 innings.

In Sanchez’s case, that sprang from a .232 batting average but 34 home runs and 77 RBIs. His 119 OPS+ provides statistical backing for the concept that he is a solidly above average MLB player at the bat.

He is basically also Contreras’ double behind the plate. Sanchez’s -3 defensive runs saved translates to a negative $115,000 value purely based on his defense.

Where Sanchez has a slight edge –and it’s only a slight one – is in his pitch framing. He still needs work; his -3 runs saved via framing ranks only 24th among his MLB peers, and values out at -$123,000. But the sum of all the components puts Sanchez’s overall value at $2.163 million in 2019, a few nickels ahead of Contreras and nicely above his approximate $670,000 salary.

Like Contreras, Sanchez will have to materially upgrade his defensive work to justify the higher salaries he’s likely to command in arbitration. That, however, is a story for a future season.

8. Christian Vazquez, Boston Red Sox, $2.221 million value, $2.850 million salary

Vazquez is traipsing into that dangerous area for a player where his salary demands begin to outstrip his actual contributions. The Red Sox can live with paying a player a half million or so more than he returns in on-field performance, but assuming Vazquez’s career advances, the price of arbitration will drive up the cost of using him. His value will have to rise with it or the game’s economics will cost him his job.

Vazquez is a solid pitch-caller. At +7 runs saved, he ranks among the game’s 10 best at that skill. His framing talents price out at $288,000, slightly more than the 10 percent of his $2.85 million salary we’ve assigned to them.

He’s competent in receiving skills, although not what he ought to be. At another +6 runs saved, he ranks among the top half, valuing at $230,000. Still, that’s about $600,000 less than the Sox should have expected to receive in exchange for what they paid him.

As a batter, Vazquez is providing value for payment received. His 2.2 WAR adjusts to $1.7 million in value, almost precisely the $1.1 million in production we would expect a MLB catcher being paid $2.85 million to generate.

For Vazquez, the bottom line is $2.21 million worth of value, enough to rank eighth among catchers and enough to keep the Red Sox from feeling ripped off. That defensive number, though, is problematic. If that doesn’t improve this season, his agent is going to walk in asking for enough money to make the Boston front office question the wisdom of their continued relationship with him.

7. Yasmani Grandal, Milwaukee Brewers, $2.344 million value; $16 million contract

Grandal was the third best-paid catcher in baseball in 2019 –behind only Buster Posey and Yadier Molina – and the only one of them to crack the top 10. Given the $3.9 million average salary for a MLB backstop in 2019, it’s no surprise that even a veteran catcher pulling in $15 million to $20 million will inevitably run afoul of the law of diminishing returns.

In fact, it’s a safe bet that neither the Giants, Cardinals nor Brewers expected Posey, Molina or Grandal to even approximate a logical return on investment. Their signings were designed to – in the cases of Molina and Posey – reward loyalty, and in all cases to placate fans while obtaining premium value, even if at an extremely premium price.

Offensively, Grandal didn’t really do that. His 2.5 WAR was above average, but that’s kind of expected for $16 million, isn’t it? In fact, it ranked only ninth among catchers in 2019, and justified just $1.936 million of his salary.

Behind the plate, Grandal was again only OK. His +1 defensive runs saved barely escaped the bottom third of his peers and valued out at just $38,000.

Grandal did excel at pitch framing, ranking fourth overall at 9 runs saved. If you rate pitch framing as a central component of catching, you love Grandal. Our formula allocates a 10 percent share to it, valuing it numerically at $370,000.

6 Tom Murphy, Seattle Mariners, $2.555 million value; $569,000 salary

You were promised surprises, and Murphy is likely the biggest. With the December trade of Omar Narvaez to Milwaukee, the Mariners appear to have made the eminently logical decisions that Murphy is their lead pony behind the plate for 2019.

Murphy arrived in Seattle from Colorado – with a four-day interlude on the Giants roster – in March just before the Mariners took off for their season-opening series against the Athletics in Japan.  It’s often hard to get attention when playing for a last-place team in the far reaches of the Northwest, but Murphy’s 2019 numbers speak. His 2.6 WAR amounted to $2.014 million in value, eighth best among catchers swinging sticks.

Defensively, Murphy was perhaps surprisingly good. Again he ranked eighth with 12 runs saved, justifying $459,000 in salary. Note that’s close to what he actually earned in 2019, making nearly 100 percent of his offensive work a bonus.

Murphy also rated 10th in pitch framing at 2 runs saved. Add another $82,000.

In fact only two catchers in baseball rated among the top 10 in 2019 at all three skills – offense, defense and framing – that are considered most central to the catching art. One of them is the player who ranks atop this list; Tom Murphy was the other.

5 Robinson Chirinos, Houston Astros, $2.849 million value; $5.75 million salary

For all but the final day of the season, Chirinos looked likely to be the catcher on the World Series winning team. Catching the Astros’ staff will do that for you. His defensive skills were actually only modest. Chirinos produced +4 defensive runs saved, basically mid-range and justifying $153,000 in salary.

Offensively he was solid. Chirinos’s 3.8 WAR tied for fourth among all MLB catchers, and valued out at $2.943 million. His .238 average, 17 home runs and 58 RBIs don’t sound all that hot, but across 4237 plate appearances, they morphed into a 105 OPS+ that puts him on the positive side of average.

The bugaboo was framing, a job requirement that occasionally baffled Chirinos. His -6 runs saved via framing ranked just 32nd among 37 and equated to -$247,000 in salary.

In time, the Astros moved some of their catching responsibility to Martin Maldonado, himself no great shakes as a pitch-framer but better than Chirinos and a front-rank defender. It was the bat that kept Maldonado from threatening anything higher than his overall 16th place standing among the 37.

Overall, then, Chirinos was the Astros’ more productive answer behind the plate.  Like Vazquez, though, Chirinos is moving – and may already have moved – into that payroll realm where the Astros are wondering whether valued received equals value paid. That’s probably why they made him a free agent at season’s end.

4 James McCann, Chicago White Sox, $3.09 million value, $2.5 million salary

McCann was a bit of a breakout star for the White Sox in 2019, delivering career bests in batting average (.273), plate appearances (476), home runs (18) and OPS (.789) among other categories. For a 29-year-old in his sixth season, that’s stepping up.

The ramped up production was most notable. His 3.8 WAR equaled Chirinos as the game‘s fourth  best and the $2.943 million value it represented happened to be more than the $12.5 million McCann earned all season.

He was solid, if not great, with the glove, saving 6 runs, the season’s 14th best total. That added $230,000 worth of value.

Had McCann complemented that with solid pitch framing numbers, he would rank one place higher on this list. That, alas, was too much to ask. His -2 runs saved framing ranked only 24th overall, and valued out to-$82,000. Giving money back is rarely a good idea.

Still, it was enough for the Sox to sign McCann to a $5.4 million deal for 2020. The raw valuation numbers for a catcher make it unlikely that McCann will justify that level of financial confidence, but if he comes close the White Sox will probably be happy to pay the premium.

2. J.T. Realmuto, Philadelphia Phillies, $3.870 million value; $5.9 million contract

The Phillies acquired Realmuto from Miami during the winter of 2018-19 as the consensus built that he was the game’s rising star behind the plate  At age 28 and in his sixth season, he justified that reputation with a .275 average, 25 home runs, 83 RBIs and a 108 OPS+.

That worked out to be worth $3.408 million in catcher’s dollars, a bit less than the $3.54 million his salary would have expected.

But the Phillies were paying Realmuto for the entirety of his game, not just his bat. Behind the plate, he saved 11 runs, the game’s ninth best figure, equating to another $421,000.

Working with the Philadelphia staff, Realmuto turned out to be a relatively neutral pitch framer. He saved a net of 1 run via framing, good for 15th, and equating to about $41,000 in salary value.

Realmuto is entering his third arbitration season in 2020, and his will be an interesting case. Third-years normally project to make between $10 million and $12 million, and the early betting on Realmuto has him squarely in the center at $11 million.

Based purely on on-field performance, it’s impossible for him to justify that kind of expenditure, so the factors Phillies management have to weigh include whether he brings any valued esoterics to the equation, such as an immeasurable but valued relationship with the pitching staff. Then they have to quantify that esoteric.

Finally, they have to determine whether there is any viable alternative to Realmuto. If not, it may be pay-up time.

1 Roberto Perez, Cleveland Indians, $4,812 million value, $2.625 million salary

Until 2019, Perez was largely thought of as hopelessly good field, no hit. Then the Indians traded away all his more expensive competition for playing time and got out of Perez’s way. The result was enlightening.

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In his first season as a MLB regular following five years as a backup, Perez delivered 24 home runs, 63 RBIs, and a credible, if not imposing, .774 OPS. Across 449 plate appearances, it worked out to 3.9 WAR, third best for catchers behind only Realmuto and Garver. Who wouldda thunk it?

Lay that production atop the resume of a catcher known for his defense and you have a contender for the game’s best. Defensively, Perez saved a majors’ best 35 runs in 2019, equating to $1.34 milion in salary. Perez and Austin Hedges were the only two catchers in 2019 justifying more than $1 million in salary purely on their defense, and Hedges wasn’t nearly Perez’ equal as a run-producer.

He also ranked second in pitch framing, saving another 11 runs via that skill. That generated a further $452,000 in value.

The result was a rare player indeed: A veteran being paid in the millions and yet generating value equal to more than twice what he was being paid.

The Indians owe Perez $3.625 for 2020, the final season of a four-year deal he signed in 2017. So far that’s been money well spent.