Veteran catcher James McCann has obtained gives from at the very least 4 groups, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo writes, and the Crimson Sox are one of many suitors checking in on the backstop’s companies. McCann has spent the final two seasons with the Orioles, and whereas Baltimore had proven curiosity in a possible reunion, the membership’s current signing of Gary Sanchez seemingly closes that door.
Sanchez is certainly one of many out there catchers who’ve already discovered new groups, leaving the Sox in a little bit of a scramble to handle the place. Talking with Cotillo and different reporters throughout the Winter Conferences, Crimson Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow famous merely that “there have been extra groups in want of catching than there have been out there catchers. That was the demographic that moved actually, actually shortly.”
Boston’s want is much less obvious than most golf equipment, because the Crimson Sox are particularly searching for what Breslow described as “the best complement and proper backup” for Connor Wong. McCann and Wong are each right-handed hitters, although supervisor Alex Cora downplayed hitting steadiness as much less necessary than sturdy protection. This may not ideally match McCann both, as Statcast’s metrics have been notably down on his general protection in 2024, and slightly blended basically all through his profession.
A pair of sturdy seasons with the White Sox in 2019-20 lined McCann as much as rating a four-year, $40.6MM contract from the Mets throughout the 2020-21 offseason. Sadly, McCann’s hitting numbers tumbled within the aftermath of the signing, and the Mets then dealt him to the Orioles in December 2022 with New York consuming the vast majority of McCann’s remaining wage. McCann hit solely .228/.274/.382 in 459 PA and 134 video games with the O’s over the past two seasons, however his capacity to deal with a bit greater than only a backup’s share of catching duties allowed Baltimore additional flexibility in preserving Adley Rutschman’s bat within the lineup as a chosen hitter.
