Editorials

MLB Rumors: Padres Aggressively Shopping Yasmani Grandal

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

A.J. Ellis is one of several Los Angeles Dodgers who is eligible for arbitration and will likely be tendered a contract prior to the Dec. 2 deadline. However, Ellis’ status and projected role with the Dodgers moving forward is somewhat of an unknown.

The Dodgers were believed to have some level of interest in Russell Martin, who went on to sign with the Toronto Blue Jays. While they lost out on Martin, the Dodgers may not have to look any further than within their own division for another option at catcher.



According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the San Diego Padres have aggressively floated Yasmani Grandal’s name in trade talks:

Grandal, also capable of playing first base, is coming off a season in which he’s played the most games just three years into the Majors. In 128 games, Grandal hit .225/.327/.401 with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs.

While his averages are less than what he slashed in 2012 (.297/.394/.469), which was his first year in the Majors when he appeared in 60 games, Grandal set career-highs in home runs and RBIs.

Although teams at times refrain from trading with their own division, the Dodgers and Padres could make the exception given each team’s desires. The Padres have reported interest in Matt Kemp and the Dodgers appear open to upgrading at catcher.

Comparatively, Ellis hit .191/.323/.254 with three home runs and 25 RBIs in an injury-plagued season that limited him to just 93 games. However, he was markedly improved in the postseason, batting .538/.647/.846.

While trading for Grandal would give them a younger player behind the plate, he tied for the lead with 12 passed balls and only threw out seven of 56 would-be base stealers (12.5 percent). Ellis allowed two passed balls and caught 16 of 64 baserunners (25 percent).

However, Grandal stacks up more favorably in terms of framing pitches, which may be of added value to the sabermetric-thinking Dodgers front office.

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16 Comments

  1. So what… AJ can’t learn how to frame pitches better?!?! This is retarded.

    Although his pitch calling does suck. Let’s throw Carpenter seven straight fastballs down the middle. Not even Sandy Koufax could get away with that…

    1. ahhh yes he could….Koufax’s fastball was a lot faster than Kersh’s…..

  2. Hmmm… good bat but shaky defense. Pass. Wonder what it would take to trade for Ruiz or Dioner Navarro?

        1. My two cents: Keep Ellis as backup catcher and Kershaw’s personal catcher. Lots of pitchers have personal catchers. Even Sandy Koufax preferred to pitch to Jeff Torberg rather than John Roseboro.

    1. Good bat? .227 BA is not impressive to me…has some power, but he ain’t that good

      1. almost anything is better than .191 (Ellis). and 15 Hr’s in 93 games is impressive. Defense and Avg can improve with work , but you can’t teach power.

      1. Carlos Ruiz but I realized he still has a lot of yrs left on his contract. I know the new FO is trying to shed money.

    1. Exactly. Grandal would be a nice upgrade behind the plate, but not for Kemp. Ethier + prospects or draft picks and cash. Padres love draft picks and cash….lol

  3. Love to have Grandal behind the plate and possible successor for 1B. Not for Kemp though. Give them ethier and some prospects. That Cuban kid we signed for all that $ in the minors. and some cash or draft picks. The Padres love draft picks..lol

  4. Hey Padres. We’ll give you Kemp. Under these conditions. YOU pay his salary. We get Grandal AND Quentin + prospects. We’ll even throw in Crawford and pay his salary. lol

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