Yasmani Grandal's ugly Octobers could scare away potential suitors

Yasmani Grandal finished second among catchers in WAR in 2018, behind only the player perhaps most coveted in the trade market, J.T. Realmuto. Salvador Perez was the only catcher to hit more homers, 27, than Grandal's 24. The most walks drawn by any catcher: 72, by Yasmani Grandal.

The No. 1 catcher in these pitch-framing metrics: Grandal.

To review, Grandal gets on base, hits homers and does all the stuff on defense that analytically driven front offices really like. That would seem to create a really nice free-agent platform for Grandal, who just turned down a $17.9 million qualifying offer from the Dodgers.

But it's as if there's a large performance pimple right in the middle of Grandal's résumé, some ugliness that probably will scare away at least some potential suitors. Over the past two postseasons, Grandal's play has been awful -- with a lowlight reel of passed balls, crossed-up signs and strikeouts. Grandal had 45 postseason at-bats in 2017 and 2018, with four hits, one homer and 18 strikeouts. As one evaluator noted, Grandal was effectively benched by the Dodgers in back-to-back trips to the World Series, in favor of Austin Barnes.

There are a bunch of would-be contenders in the market for a catcher -- the Astros, Nationals, Braves, Dodgers, Angels and Mets (GM Brodie Van Wagenen has made it clear he intends to win in 2019) -- but it's still unclear who might pay Grandal the sort of multiyear deal some agents expect he will get.

"Do you forget the bad stuff from October, and focus on all of the good stuff from the summer?" asked one AL evaluator.

Said another: "You figure that whatever team signs him will probably be one of the clubs that cares about the subtle [good] stuff he does on defense."

Grandal is seemingly helped by one major factor outside of his control: The Marlins' early asking price for Realmuto this winter is said to be beyond staggering. Last winter, the Marlins insisted the Braves include Ronald Acuna Jr. in any Realmuto deal, and asked for Victor Robles from the Nationals -- and this fall, rival evaluators report, Miami's demands for Realmuto are even higher. This conservative approach is what other clubs expected, after the Marlins traded away a star-studded outfield of Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna without netting a single player currently ranked among the top 100 prospects. Yelich is likely to win the MVP, and it might be that the Marlins will try to make absolutely sure they don't make a mistake with Realmuto.

Grandal might be the best accessible catcher available in the market. One team that might be a wild card in the bidding for Grandal, some executives believe, is the Chicago White Sox, who have lots of available catchers and a desire to add a big name. There is skepticism the White Sox will, in the end, land either Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, and Grandal might be the next-best position player fit for the White Sox, if they believe Grandal is the right guy to work with a very young group of starting pitchers.