After a pretty brutal 2020 season by Wilson Ramos, it’s obvious that the Mets will need to make an upgrade at the catcher position if they want to contend in 2021.
While the top choice among pretty much everyone will be all-star J.T. Realmuto (understandably so), there most certainly will be a high price tag for the star backstops’ services.
And with other blaring needs which also need to be addressed this winter, it might not be wise to spend the bulk on one position.
That does not mean that the Mets shouldn’t sign Realmuto along with any other top free agents at positions of need, but for arguments sake we’ll take a look at another option for behind the dish in 2021.
One player that could be an upgrade for 2021 would be White Sox catcher James McCann.
After an all-star season in 2019, McCann followed that up with another solid offensive performance in 2020.
In just 31 games played, McCann hit a solid .289 with 7 homeruns, a .360 OBP, while slugging .536, with a .896 OPS.
Defensively, McCann had another great year with a .985 fielding percentage and throwing out 33% of would-be base stealers in 2020.
As far as player comparisons, Realmuto is obviously the better performer of the two, but there are other factors to consider such as age and contract length.
Neither player is heading into free agency with age helping their causes (Realmuto heading into age 30 season, McCann age 31), especially in Realmutos’ case who will be looking for a longer term type of deal.
If the Mets are more focused on filling many of their roster holes with quality free agents, then it may benefit them to bring in a player like McCann on a more team friendly deal (less years and money) while still getting the production that they are looking for behind the plate.
Hopefully with new ownership coming in place soon, the focus going forward will be less about years/dollars and more about bringing in the best possible players available at each position — but there will other viable options out there if the Mets choose to go another route outside the Phillies catcher.
