Who are the Miami Marlins targeting for catching help?
The Miami Marlins are in need of some catching help. I covered one option that sadly seem to be off the table, and Brian covered some other options. Today's report from Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald talks about their speculative options. What we know for a fact however, is that Kim Ng is indeed scouring the market for upgrades.
The Miami Marlins are looking for catching upgrades.
Jackson and Mish propose a few interesting candidates.... Free agents to be Chicago White Sox backstop Yasmani Grandal, and the Chicago Cubs' Tucker Barnhart. Grandal currently has a .263/.328/.406 batting line, with 5 home runs and 17 RBI in 53 games and 175 AB. Grandal is a career .238/.350/.433, hitter who at points in his career was one of the top catchers in the game. Best of all, Grandal will likely cost next to nothing to acquire.
Tucker is batting an abysmal .162/.256/.176 in 28 games and 68 AB, with 0 home runs and 4 RBI. It's such a bad barring line, that I don't see how he's an upgrade for the Miami Marlins at all. He's a career .243/.319/.355 bat who is better as a backup than as a starter. The more interesting options were mentioned after.... the Cleveland Guardians' Bo Naylor and the St. Louis Cardinals' Ivan Herrera.
Both Naylor and Herrera are top prospects on their respective teams, but haven't been called up yet. The idea is that both are somewhat blocked at the Major League level (Herrera more so) and so might be had in a trade. Naylor had 10 AB at the Major League level and never even got a hit so far. The problem is Cleveland badly needs hitting and the Miami Marlins don't really have any to trade.
Ivan Herrera on the other hand... might make sense. St. Louis might prefer to move on from Willson Contreras instead, but considering how they just signed him.... Not to mention hurt his value with their statements, Herrera is the more likely catcher to be traded. Would they be willing to trade Herrera for starting pitching? Is the top prospect the answer for the Miami Marlins?