Brewers Replacing Yasmani Grandal With Omar Narváez Following Reported Trade With Mariners
By Jerry Trotta
The early bird gets the worm, and Milwaukee Brewers general manager David Stearns was apparently up at the crack of dawn on Thursday morning, because he finally found his replacement for Yasmani Grandal.
Per Ken Rosenthal, the Brewers have acquired catcher Omar Narváez from the Seattle Mariners with the return package expected to feature at least one minor leaguer.
The #Brewers have found their primary replacement for Yasmani Grandal. They are close to acquiring catcher Omar Narváez from the #Mariners, a source tells The Athletic. M’s would receive at least one minor leaguer in return.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 5, 2019
Grandal signing with the Chicago White Sox left Milwaukee with Manny Piña as the only established catcher on the roster.
Expect him to split time with Narváez, who, despite flaunting a tremendous bat, leaves a lot to be desired as a defensive catcher.
Across 119 games for Seattle in 2019, the 24-year-old Narváez slashed .278/.353/.460 paired with 22 home runs, 55 RBI, and 63 runs scored.
Whoa: Brewers Trading for Big Bat Catcher Omar Narvaez https://t.co/vx0hA95t41 pic.twitter.com/sLu4oPV31R
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) December 5, 2019
Again, the only reason he hasn't established himself as an everyday MLB catcher is his defense. Across his career, he has never started more than 91 games behind the dish in a single campaign because of those aforementioned shortcomings.
With that being said, the Brewers weren't going to acquire a catcher of Grandal's caliber on the bereft open market. At least Narváez can provide similar production at the plate.