Blue Jays: Consider trading a catcher to one of these three teams this winter

With the World Series over and teams across the league starting to switch into offseason mode, the Blue Jays are one team that could be active players in the free-agent market this winter.

Multiple key members from this past season are looking to cash in like Marcus Semien and Robbie Ray and the club could be looking to sign a few different players who could make a real impact on the roster over the next few seasons. This free-agent class is looking to be one of the most stacked in recent memory, especially when it comes to veteran starting pitchers and young, talented middle infielders.

Some teams are already off to the races early into the offseason, with the Detroit Tigers acquiring catcher Tucker Barnhart from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for infield prospect Nick Quintana. There was also some big news coming from out West, in that All-Star San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey is expected to announce his retirement tomorrow.

All these catchers being in the news brings us back to the Blue Jays, an organization that has three Major League level catchers on the roster and a top prospect who could be knocking on the door come mid-2022.

Danny Jansen has been in the club’s starting role for the past few seasons and while his defense has been what is expected of an MLB caliber backstop, his bat has struggled to just above the Mendoza line at .212/.298/.396 through 251 games. He spent considerable time on the IL this season with hamstring issues but did start to hit well towards the end of the year.

Alejandro Kirk arrived on the scene back during the shortened 2020 season and made the Opening Day roster this past year, using this campaign to hopefully bolster his status on the club and prove his nine-game run at the tail end of his debut was not a fluke. He ended up spending time on the IL with a hip injury and would only collect 165 at-bats, slashing .242/.328/.436 with eight home runs and a .764 OPS.

The last of the bunch is Reese McGuire, a former first-round pick back in 2013 who was called to action when Kirk and Jansen found themselves on the IL. Dropped from the 40-man roster to begin the year, the club needed him in early May and McGuire churned out a pretty solid campaign, a .253/.310/.343 with a .654 OPS through 198 at-bats.

With top prospect Gabriel Moreno looking to break onto the scene over the next year or two, the Blue Jays could look to trade one or two of these catchers to try and improve other areas on the roster. Kirk and Jansen both bring some value to the table while McGuire holds a little less because he is out of minor league options.

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants were one of the biggest surprises this year, winning 107 games on the season and taking the NL West from the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres.

Backed by a pretty potent lineup that was only enhanced by the deadline acquisition of Kris Bryant, the Giants also had great seasons from the pitching corps in both the rotation and the bullpen, which led them to the playoffs although they had an early exit in the NLDS at the hands of the Dodgers.

Moving forward, the recent announcement that Buster Posey will be retiring is a bit shocking but does put the club in a bit of an awkward position.

The most experienced catcher on the roster is Curt Casali, an eight-year veteran who has been used mostly in a bench role with just 405 games under his belt through that time. The Giants do boast a top catching prospect in Joey Bart, who will undoubtedly be handed the reigns as the club’s starting backstop in the near future, but he has struggled since making his debut in 2020, appearing in only two games this past year while bouncing between AAA and the big leagues. If the club is looking for a potential upgrade over Casali while also splitting time beside Bart on the Major League roster, look no further than the Toronto Blue Jays.

Kirk and Jansen may not fit the bill because of Bart being in the picture but McGuire could be a solid option that would come at a relatively cheap price compared to others on the market. With McGuire, the Giants get a player who boasts pretty good defensive numbers behind the plate and a catcher who can throw at runners out at a 30% clip while also providing some hitting ability from the left side of the plate (ignoring the 2020 campaign if possible).

Having McGuire split time with Bart could provide some more benefit than Casali but the club could look to keep the two together moving forward. The option is there but I would not put this at the highest possibility of happening compared to other options listed below.

In return, the Blue Jays could look to acquire a pitching prospect who is most likely not on top 30 prospect list or international bonus pool money, which is always something good to have in the back pocket.

Cleveland Guardians

A team that is familiar with the Blue Jays and their fanbase, the Cleveland Guardians are an organization that could be looking to upgrade at the catcher position this offseason.

Cleveland used three different catchers this campaign in Wilson Ramos (picked up off waivers from Detroit midway through the year), Roberto Perez, and Austin Hedges. Ramos heads to free agency this winter on the heels of his third ACL-related injury, something that puts his future as a catcher certainly in jeopardy while both Perez and Hedges struggled in 2021. Perez did spend some considerable time on the IL, posting a .564 OPS through 141 at-bats while Hedges carried a bulk of the catching duties but fared no better, posting a .178/.220/.308 slash line with a .527 OPS through 286 at-bats.

Both catchers are on the books until the end of next season before becoming free agents but the team could look to trade one of their biggest assets to try and bolster the organization in multiple areas.

The Blue Jays inquired about third baseman Jose Ramirez this past trade deadline but the two sides were unable to strike a deal. If the club is looking to improve at the catching position and acquire some other players/prospects, trading with the Blue Jays and including Alejandro Kirk makes sense on both sides of the coin.

The Toronto Blue Jays have three catchers who are major league caliber but could be used as trade bait this offseason to bolster the rest of the roster.

I personally don’t believe Cleveland would be too interested in Jansen and would rather acquire Kirk, who is a power threat and has more club control. Kirk alone will not get the deal done, as the Jays will have to add a few more players/prospects to get Cleveland to come anywhere close to moving Ramirez and his team-friendly contract. Kirk could be someone the future Guardians could be really interested in as an upgrade over Perez or Hedges and carries some considerable value.

There are quite a few different combinations the Blue Jays and Cleveland could hash out to try and get any deal done but with a surplus of catching in the organization, I don’t see how the Jays don’t try and include Kirk or Jansen. It would be tough to part with Kirk for sure but Ramirez would be such an upgrade on the roster that the deal makes sense if the club is serious about contending for the postseason over the next few seasons.

The one hiccup to any potential deal involving a Blue Jays backstop would be how much Cleveland values catching prospect Bo Naylor and whether they prefer to have him try and gain some ground next season behind home plate over an outside source like Kirk or Jansen. Only time will tell on this one.