Dodgers Rumored To Be Interested In Trading Yasmani Grandal
The Dodgers had an amazing squad in the 2017 postseason. What is interesting, however, is the amount of players that became starters as the season went on. One player in particular that fought his way into the starting lineup was Austin Barnes.
The emergence of Austin Barnes appears to have made Yasmani Grandal expendable. Jon Morosi of MLB Network tweeted that the Dodgers are willing to trade the veteran catcher.
Rival clubs say #Dodgers are willing to trade catcher Yasmani Grandal, who is entering his final season of arbitration eligibility. Grandal started 2 games in postseason; Austin Barnes started the other 13. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 30, 2017
Grandal has been the Dodgers starting catcher for the past three seasons, but his time in Los Angeles may be coming to an end. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as Austin Barnes started the bulk of the games in the postseason including all seven in the World Series. Grandal has always been a power threat who could draw walks, but Austin Barnes is the complete package as a hitter. Grandal is a better defender than Barnes, but apparently not enough so that they feel they need to keep him.
With Grandal entering his final year of team control, this move makes sense for the Dodgers. The market for catchers this offseason is relatively weak, so the Dodgers could get a desperate enough team to overpay. In short, the return they could get could be worth far more to the team than Yasmani may be at this point. Kyle Farmer’s late season success showed that the Dodgers have two younger, and very capable backstops already on the roster.
It also helps that the Dodgers have two highly touted catching prospects as well. Will Smith and Keibert Ruiz have both shown promise and either could be the catcher of the future. Both are likely a couple years away from regular Major League at-bats, but provide the long-term security needed to trade a starter who is still only 29-years old.
Grandal’s three seasons with the Dodgers have seen him slash .240/.339/.435 with 65 home runs over 1,365 plate appearances. He has always been an on-base machine, but he did take a slight step back in 2017 with only 40 walks. He still managed to hit 22 home runs along with 27 doubles in what was a productive, yet unspectacular season. Barnes on the other hand slashed .289/.408/.430 with 8 homers and 15 doubles over 262 plate appearances in 2017. With the latter showing more offensive promise, it’s easy to see why the Dodgers would want to move the more expensive Grandal.
Do you think Grandal will be traded? Let us know in the comments!
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Very smart thing to do. Trade him while he still has value. His production seems to be declining. Trade him…..trade him
No, the dodgers should rethink that. Grandal is very tough. He can do the job. From what i can understand he hit a slump. Thats understandable. Whats going to happen Austin performance will become strained. You need Grandal, atleast as back up. The fans are unmerciful against him. Hang in Yasmani Grandal, God brung you this far he will not leave you.
Wrong, Barnes and Farmer are both younger, better and cheaper.
He gone!!!
They both should get traded along with Stanton if they get him send them to Giants for Buster Posey we don’t need Stanton,and Barnes was tired in the World Series
Don’t let YazMan go. Pls. Barnes is great, no argument here. Why not keep 2 great backstops. Yaz knows SP staff better. As we all know, Kersh is esp particular w his battery mate. Ellis was practically his personal caddy. If Yaz goes, Barnes takes over. 162 is long season behind dish, u get banged up. (Ehem… Yaz 2017, decimated w injuries late in season). Catcher is QB of squd. Just sayin, think hard before replacing a prmiere backstop, pitch caller & in-Gm Manager.
Both grandall and Barnes suck and grandal uses steroids so give Kyle a chance he might be better than both of them
Do a 3 team trade send Yasmany(Cuban)Hernandez(Cuban) Buehler Kazmir and Mcarthey for Stanton then trade Stanton and Ryu for Buster Posey everybody wins cause we don’t need Stanton Both Puig and Joc will hit 35 or more hrs but Roberts needs to have more faith in Joc
This makes me really nervous. We haven’t seen how Barnes hits or catches when playing 100+ games. Farmer will be great eventually. I got to see him play a lot in the minors, but the time we’ve seen him so far is not enough to gauge how well he can hit against major league pitchers as they adjust and find his weaknesses.
Grandal will still be cheap and not against that m,uch of the current payroll. If you can trade him to get rid of a bigger contract. Someone like Scott Kazmir… that would smart but Both Barnes and Grandal can coexist. Barnes can play infield and catcher. You dont want to lose the type of power bat Grandal has unless its for a significant return.
Maybe the Dodgers can sweeten the deal for Stanton by making Grandal part of the package. Like Toles or Verdugo, Grandal and Adrian Gonzalez for Stanton I mean there would be a logjam in the Outfield so you have to get rid of one or two of them and Mattingly doesn’t get along with Puig and I wouldn’t trade ct3 so there has to be some relief but trading him seems like a good idea I don’t think he wants to be the backup catcher
Granal simply put was overrun by Barnes and Farmer. Like it or not, baseball is a game for the young and in most cases the cheapest. The dodgers can free up a roster spot by trading Grandal for some prospects and continue to move forward. Grandal was effective for a time, but now it’s time to move on.
I agree..
Time to move on.
I think he should go.. The Dodgers need just a very few pieces to win it all.. Send some of those deadbeat pitchers.. i.e. Baez, Mc Carthy, etc. down the road with him.. Get some middle relief (1) and 1.. just ONE .. more stick and they’ll win it all…
If you move Grandal, you lose another left-handed power bat. Not a great idea. Ethier is gone. Gonzalez is on his last legs. Utley is likely gone. Not sure if Toles can return. Pederson is way too inconsistent. Verdugo is a punch-and-judy hitter. Seager’s back may act up. Bellinger may never learn to hit a slider down-and-in. Dodgers need a consistent left-handed bat. Can anyone say Jay Bruce? Freddie Galves, who should be available, will help in a lot of different ways. Great fielder, switch-hitter.
I agree with what you said(Ethier, Gonzalez, Utley), so-so with Toles, coming back from injury, Pederson, and .health issues with Seager. I hope Bellinger can lay-off that slider down-and-in. I’ve read where Barnes may not hold-up being the primary catcher over a 162-game season, but how about Kyle Farmer being the no.2?
“Grandal is a better defender than Barnes. . .” Are you serious? Grandal is pathetic behind the plate.
Austin plays catcher like Rogie Vachon used to play goalie.
Yaz to the Orioles as the main piece for Britton???
Sandy Koufax hits from the left side…. lets see if he still got what it takes.
Grandal needs to go along with joc Petersen to get Giancarlo Stanton to the Dodgers plus some minor leaguers
How much of the trade talk is based on Grandal’s put down of Dodger Fans? He said that Dodger Fans don’t have a “clue”.
How happy can he be as a Dodger with that kind of attitude? Maybe he should move on.