House That Hank Built
Fansided

Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: that escalated quickly

By Alan Carpenter

DETROIT, MI - JULY 05: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Toronto Blue Jays hits an RBI single in the first inning in front of catcher James McCann #34 of the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on July 5th 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - JULY 05: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Toronto Blue Jays hits an RBI single in the first inning in front of catcher James McCann #34 of the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on July 5th 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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HOUSTON, TX – OCTOBER 16: Brian McCann talks with Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros during Game Three of the American League Championship Series at Minute Maid Park on October 16, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images).  Oh yeah – Keuchel is a free agent, too.
HOUSTON, TX – OCTOBER 16: Brian McCann talks with Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros during Game Three of the American League Championship Series at Minute Maid Park on October 16, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images).  Oh yeah – Keuchel is a free agent, too. /

All Caught Up Now

BRIAN McCANN VERSION

  • Firstly:  the Braves now have their catchers.  No on Ramos.  No on Realmuto.  No on Grandall.  No on Lucroy, Chirinos, Maldonado, Stewart, or anybody else… excepting another AAA depth move, perhaps (more on that below).
  • I don’t know if I’m the first to coin this tandem as ‘McFlowers’, but I’m doing it now.
  • The Miami Marlins are the big losers here, having over-played their hand.  First Washington and now the Braves have balked at the asking price for J.T. Realmuto.  Only Houston and the Dodgers might remain among those with enough prospect talent to make a deal with Miami… and now neither of those clubs have the incentive to raise their offers with Atlanta out of the picture.
  • Give credit to McCann for taking a (relative) pittance contract to come back home and to help the team acquire Donaldson… as he seemed to accidentally say:
  • Getting Donaldson allowed Atlanta to bring in McCann and not have to worry about the offensive production coming from the catching position.
  • I do have some concerns about playing time.  I think it would be pushing things to have either Tyler Flowers (33 in January) or McCann (35 in February) catch as many as 80 games.  You could probably expect the pickup of a 3rd catcher at the next trade deadline… possibly at the end of August as both players will fade noticeably.
  • McCann could still see the most work up front since right-handed pitching is more common.  Flowers kills lefties, so he will see all of the southpaws.
  • Future scoping, as in ‘this is a 1-year deal… so what about 2020?’  Well, for that, I defer to my friend Ben who already wrote on that subject.
  • I like this pick-up of McCann for the sake of his instruction… he will essentially become a second pitching coach (if they ever hire a first pitching coach, that is).
  • The Braves are going to have trouble on the basepaths. Fred Owens mentioned this to me internally, and he’s right:
    • McCann in 2018: 19 steals against, 9 caught (487 innings); 32%… but 20.5% over the past 3 seasons.
    • Flowers in 2018:  44 steals against, 13 caught (617 innings); 22%… but 16.7% over the past 3 seasons.
    • But if you like ‘framers’… you’re in hog heaven with these guys.
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