The Milwaukee Brewers Scoop Up Yasmani Grandal On A One-Year Deal

What a goddamn steal for the Milwaukee Brewers. ONE YEAR? ONE YEAR??

I don’t want to over exaggerate here, but this was shocking for a few reasons. Yasmani Grandal rejected the Dodgers’ qualifying offer of $17.9 million, which means that he obviously thought he’d fetch a multi-year deal in free agency. Yeah, well, according to reports — he did. The Mets reportedly offered the 30-year-old catcher a four-year deal worth $60 million, which Grandal turned down. Yeah, I’m just as confused as you are. Unless you’re a Mets fan, then you probably understand better than most.

So, either no other teams came calling with multi-year offers, or Grandal just felt that a one-year pillow contract would be his best option. Bet on yourself for a year and then re-enter free agency next winter to cash in. I just don’t believe that’s actually what happened. What I think happened is that he wildly overestimated his market. Which is weird, because it’s not like he’s coming off a down year or something.

Sure, he had a shitty NLCS defensively, but a couple of bad games don’t erase the fact that he has a .799 OPS over the last three seasons, averaging 21 doubles and 24 homers over that three-year span. And now he’s going to one of the best hitter’s ballparks in baseball! Couple that with the fact that he’s been praised for his pitch-framing ability behind the plate, and how did this guy not end up with a multi-year deal when it was all said and done?

It’s hard to fathom no other team making Grandal a multi-year offer. Perhaps he had other multi-year offers, but they just didn’t come close to the AAV that he ended up getting in his one-year deal with the Brewers? I don’t know. I’m puzzled. But I do know that this was a huge win for Milwaukee, who was rumored to be in on the Marlins’ JT Realmuto. Now, they don’t have to forfeit any prospects to fill their need at the catching position. The only thing that they have to cough up is their third highest draft pick in next year’s draft, but fuck it. Totally worth it for one year of Grandal behind the plate at a bargain rate with no long term commitment.

But I mean, goddamn. Grandal rejected one year at $17.9 million from the Dodgers just to get one year at $18.2 million from the Brewers. Sure, he’s technically making more. I’d love to make an extra three hundred grand in 2019. But in a baseball sense, this was a very, very surprising turn of events as it pertains to the demand for the best free agent catcher on the market.