Move seems relatively minor in terms of an upgrade. Don' t mind it. So long as they keep moving in an offensive direction.
He is a Grade A tool and his ability to play 1B is really unknown. While his offense is an upgrade from Castro, it is a large downgrade from Gattis.
Wrote a short piece about it here about Jason Castro and the McCann situation. The way I basically see it is Gattis is clearly the better offensive player, and Castro is clearly the better defensive/framing player. If we're going to spend big, spend elsewhere (1B/DH, SP)
I don't see the McCann appeal at all. I would much rather prefer signing Weiters or Ramos to a reasonable 3 or 4 year deal instead of an old and offensively-declining McCann. In a market where the QO alone is just north of $17M, I think 3 years $40-$45M for Weiters or 4 years/$50M for Ramos will provide very nice value for us over the course of their contracts. Why would trading for McCann be better than either of those two options? Am I missing something?
McCann is a $49 million **** sandwich for C2. Trading for Derek Norris might be a better approach. Norris is a great defensive catcher but had a Castro-terrible year at the plate last year. Norris is arb eligible 2017 and 2018.
What makes you think those players would agree to those deals? Maybe they would, maybe they wouldn't - but the Astros don't necessarily control that. I agree that McCann should not be a priority for the Astros, but you can't just assume people will take deals that you think are good for the team - the agents know that same thing and can likely bid up their price.
That's a good point. My contract hypotheticals are based on some recent projections I read at MLBTR: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/11/2016-17-top-50-mlb-free-agents-predictions.html They guesstimate Ramos at 4 years/$50M (to the Astros coincidentally) and Wieters at 3 years/$39M to the Braves. Although they nor I have a crystal ball, I'd venture to guess their respective markets are at least in that general vicinity.
Let's see what their definition of "multiple top young players" is. While I like McCann, his bat isn't really THAT good. Even if the Yankees ate his entire $34,000,000 deal, I wouldn't give up multiple top young players for him.
There is a feeling within the Yankees organization that they shouldn't eat any of the two years and $34M guaranteed remaining on Brian McCann's contract. One MLB official with knowledges of the Yankees thinking went as far as to say the Yankees won't be sending along any money in any McCann deal. We'll see. This is just another factor in the McCann trade talks with the biggest being he has a full no-trade clause. There is a belief among some close to McCann that he would approve a deal because he doesn't want to be relegated to a platoon DH and once-a-week catcher. Gary Sanchez is now the Yankees' starting catcher. http://www.espn.com/espn/now?nowId=21-0588854493819442278-4 The trade market for Brian McCann continues to refine itself, but this much is clear: The Yankees are not just going to give away McCann and $17 million — unless they get at least one “super” prospect, along the lines of a Clint Frazier or Gleyber Torres, the can’t-miss prospects who were in the center of the Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman deals. McCann is owed $34 million over the final two years of his contract and if the Braves or Astros really want to add the veteran catcher, they are going to have to come up with a much better offer than what’s out there now, sources told The Post on Friday. The Blue Jays signed Kendrys Morales to a three-year, $33 million deal Friday, taking a designated hitter off the market. Hitters don’t come cheap. “There’s a fit, but a lot has to come together, there’s a lot of water that has to yet go under the bridge,’’ one industry source said Friday of a McCann deal. McCann has a full no-trade clause, but would welcome a trade back to his hometown Braves or a move to the contending Astros, who want to add offense. It was reported Friday by Yahoo.com that the Yankees would be willing to eat half of McCann’s contract, but would need multiple top young prospects. Evidently the bar is even higher than that. Preferably that would take a “super’’ prospect, most likely a pitcher. Despite his struggles with batting average, McCann, who will turn 33 in February, blasted 20 home runs in 2016, the ninth straight year he has powered 20-plus homers. http://nypost.com/2016/11/11/yankees-are-demanding-a-huge-return-for-brian-mccann/
McCann has always come off as a bit of a jerk, but the guy doesn't take crap from anybody. In addition to his bat, I think his toughness would be good for the clubhouse. He put punk Carlos Gomez in his place.
As much as Gomez was a punk in that video, McCann crosses a line for me by actually blocking Gomez from getting to the plate by standing half way up the 3rd base line. The bench clearing brawl was incited by McCann doing that, rather than Gomez jawing as he rounded the bases. I was also disgusted with how McCann sparked another incident when he got uptight about the late Jose Fernandez taking a peek at his first career HR at the tender age of 21. Totally needless. I can't stand these unwritten rules of baseball and the pathetic excuses of the likes of McCann to uphold them.
Same with me. I don't care for how guys like Gomez act routinely, but McCann takes the unwritten rules to a ridiculous level.
