Milwaukee Brewers Trade For Their New 2020 Catcher

MILWAUKEE, WI — After seeing last year's starting catcher Yasmani Grandal sign a four-year, $73 million deal with the Chicago White Sox earlier this off-season, the Milwaukee Brewers believe they may have found the team's starting catcher next year via a trade with the Seattle Mariners.

That's right, Brewers fans, Milwaukee General Manager David Stearns put together one of his trademark off-season deals to find a low-cost replacement for a key position on the field.

On Wednesday, the Brewers shipped minor-league right-hander Adam Hill and an MLB Competitive Balance draft pick to the Seattle Mariners for catcher Omar Narvarez.

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In Hill, Milwaukee trades a 22-year-old pitcher who toiled for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in 2019. He started 23 of his 26 outings, tossing 121-plus innings to a 3.92 earned run average with seven victories and nine losses to his credit. The Mariners also pick up Milwuakee's 2020 Competitive Balance draft pick, 71st overall.

In Narvarez, Milwaukee gets their heir apparent to Grandal, a 31-year-old switch hitter who batted .246/.380/.468 with 28 home runs, 77 runs batted in and a delightful 109 walks. Milwaukee has three years of contract control with Narvarez, who is expected to make about $2.9 million this year when you factor in salary arbitration - that's a far cry from the roughly $18.25 million Grandal will make in 2020.

What Milwaukee will do with that potential savings is anybody's guess, though the team has notable openings at first base, third base and two starting pitchers.

Last year for the Mariners, Narvarez batted a highly-respectable .278/.353/.460 with 22 home runs.

Stearns, upon acquiring Narvarez, lauded his new catcher's ability to hit and get on base. “Omar has established himself as one of the best offensive catchers in the game,” Milwaukee general manager David Stearns said in an Associated Press report. “We believe his bat will give us an impactful left-handed presence in our lineup.”

The knock on Navarez in years' past has been his defense. "Narvaez is considered a work in progress with the glove. He graded as one of the game’s worst framers in 2018 but did make strides to average levels last year," MLBTradeRumors writer Jeff Todd wrote on Dec. 5.

In an ESPN Seattle report, writer Shannon Drayer intimated that Seattle's trade of Narvarez was inevitable, given the team's depth at catcher.

"While they enjoyed the offense Narváez brought, he was unable to improve greatly on his defensive shortcomings, and the Mariners put a premium on defense at all positions, especially behind the plate. By the time the season ended, it was apparent they had other options in-house – options six months prior they probably did not envision having."

As for Milwaukee, Stearns indicated Manny Pina, the team's holdover at Catcher, would get an increased workload, and share home plate duties in more of a platoon tandem. When you look at Pina and Narvarez as a catching duo, the move appears to make sense: Pina can hit left-handed pitchers well, and is a superior defensive catcher. Meanwhile, Narvarez has been known to hit right-handers particularly well.