The GM meetings are underway in Las Vegas currently, and teams are making and taking calls on all sorts of players and positions of need. In the Nationals case, they have been looking to add to the organization’s catching depth, according to Jim Bowden, and are actively making calls about it, along with the Rays, Padres, Astros, Brewers, and Rangers.
According to Bowden, there are 4 teams receiving the most calls and texts from catching needy teams. The first is the Orioles about their star backstop
Adley Rutschman, whose numbers have dipped in the past 2 seasons after being one of the best catchers in his first 2 seasons. The Mariners are receiving a healthy amount of calls about their top catching prospect, Harry Ford, who is blocked by Cal Raleigh in their system. The White Sox are receiving calls about their rookie catcher Edgar Quero, who split reps and was largely outperformed by Kyle Teel, their other highly touted catching prospect, this season. The fourth team receiving calls about catching is the Royals about top catching prospect Blake Mitchell, an interesting one since the Royals don’t seemingly have a long-term solution in front of him.
One of the choices I was interested to see Toboni make was how he would approach the Nationals catching situation, either sticking with Ruiz as the starter or exploring external options, and it seems the latter is his choice, at least looking to find an option to take the reins in the next few years. While rumors are just that, rumors, and nothing may come of these phone calls, it’s exciting to see the front office getting active early in the offseason to improve the ballclub.
The big question on my mind, and I’m getting on many fans’ minds as well, is whether the Nationals really have the prospect firepower to make a trade like this? All 4 catchers mentioned by Jim Bowden as potentially being on the move are either established big leaguers or top prospects, meaning any of them would require more than just farm system depth pieces to acquire.
Let’s take Harry Ford of the Mariners, for example. While he is blocked at his natural position by Cal Raleigh, thus making him a likely trade chip, he is also a consensus top 100, perhaps even top 50, prospect in the sport, and the Mariners likely want big league assets in return, not other prospects. If that’s the case, CJ Abrams comes to mind, as there have been rumors about the Nats potentially moving the shortstop this offseason, and the Mariners have holes at both positions up the middle. Another name worth considering, however, is Brady House, as he was a similarly ranked prospect as Ford before his graduation and plays a position of need for the Mariners currently. House’s value likely falls a little short of Ford’s, but prospect depth could be used to finish off that deal, whereas it wouldn’t be possible without a real big league headliner in the deal.
The cheapest option of the 4 would be Edgar Quero of the White Sox, who was a backend top 100 prospect before graduation, posted -0.2 fWAR in 111 games in his rookie season, and is blocked long-term at catcher by Kyle Teel with the White Sox. The White Sox are also in the midst of a rebuild and would not be as hard-pressed for big league assets in return, meaning Abrams is likely safe in this scenario. Brady House comes to mind again in this proposal; however, this could much more likely be a 1-for-1 trade than with Ford. Ideally, the Nats can dip into some of their shortstop depth for a deal like this, as there isn’t a real long-term solution behind House if he were to be dealt.
Overall, I am excited to see Paul Toboni and his staff already getting to work on fixing the holes in the big league ballclub, as well as building to the overall depth of the organization. While the 4 catchers mentioned above are certainly potential candidates to catch for the Nationals next season, keep an open mind as more options may become available on the trade market, and perhaps Toboni may even decide to go the free agent or internal route.
