Pirates add experience at catcher, agree to 1-year deal with Yasmani Grandal
With Endy Rodriguez out for the season and little experience at catcher, the Pittsburgh Pirates added veteran Yasmani Grandal.
Grandal agreed to a one-year contract for $2.5 million plus performance incentives, a source confirmed to TribLive.
The 35-year-old backstop, a two-time All-Star, spent the past four seasons with the Chicago White Sox. He also has played for the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers.
A career .237 hitter with a .347 on-base percentage in 12 seasons, Grandal has a reputation for his solid defense. He compiled 46 defensive runs saved for the Dodgers from 2016-18.
Grandal batted .234/.309/.339 with 14 doubles, eight home runs and 33 RBIs in 118 games last season but had a career-worst minus-11 DRS.
Even so, Grandal brings much-needed major league experience and depth to a position where Jason Delay (127) is the only returning catcher who has played more than two innings for the Pirates.
Rodriguez, the projected starter, had surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow after injuring it during winter ball in the Dominican Republic.
Henry Davis, the 2021 No. 1 overall pick, is expected to compete for playing time behind the plate this season after spending most of his rookie year in right field.
The Pirates also signed Ali Sanchez, who played seven MLB games in 2020 and ‘21 but spent the past two seasons in the minors.
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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