The A's Catcher Conundrum
On Monday, Mark Kotsay told reporters that Manny Piña "felt something" in his surgically repaired left wrist while taking a swing in minor-league camp. He was getting some work in before he was set to return to game action this week.
On Wednesday, Matt Kawahara of the Chronicle reported that Piña is seeing a specialist about his wrist.
If Piña, 35, is set to miss a couple of weeks, then the A's can use an in-house option. Non-roster invitees Yohel Pozo and Kyle McCann have been mentioned as the backup options behind Shea Langeliers in the event that Piña isn't ready for Opening Day, but neither fills the role that Piña was set to hold: A veteran backstop with great blocking metrics and a decent bat that's there to help guide Langeliers in his first full big league season.
Pozo, 25, played in 21 games for the Texas Rangers back in 2021. He started two of those games behind the dish. McCann, also 25 and the A's fourth round selection back in 2019, has played just seven games above Double-A.
That is where the timetable for Piña's return comes into play. If he gets good news from the specialist and is able to be with the A's at the end of April, that's great! Pozo or McCann (likely Pozo) can hold it down with a start or two a week in that timeframe. But if the veteran is going to miss months of the season, then the A's may need to look outside of the organization for a catcher that has more experience. Even though the A's aren't expected to compete this season, providing Langeliers and this inexperienced pitching staff with the tools to succeed could have long-term benefits.
The only two free agent catchers on the market at this stage in the off-season are Gary Sanchez, who is likely seeking a starting job, and 39-year-old Robinson Chirinos.
The route the A's could take instead is to get through camp and wait for teams to make some of their own roster decisions, which should see an influx of veteran catchers being made available, either via waiver claim or via trade. The A's aren't looking for the next Shea Langeliers, they just need a veteran with a decent bat that can handle a pitching staff.
The other reason that looking for a catcher from outside the organization makes sense is because if the A's were to use Pozo, they would have to either put someone on the 60-day IL, which could end up being Piña if he gets bad news from the specialist, or DFA someone else on the 40-man roster.
Assuming that Piña is deemed healthy enough to return after a potential absence, the A's would then have to option Pozo, and also likely remove him or another player from the 40-man roster to make room for Piña once again. Pozo isn't irreplaceable, but he's an interesting player that has made a ton of contact throughout his professional career while putting up pretty good numbers.
Last season in Triple-A he hit .320 with a .352 on-base, struck out 12% of the time, and walked 4.1%. ZIPS has him projected for a 96 wRC+ (100 is league average) with eight homers and a .262 average in 89 games. He has potential to be a pretty decent backup catcher for the A's, and the club may want to see a little more from him in Las Vegas before having him be their backup at the big-league level and then having to potentially decide if he sticks with the organization in a couple of months.
McCann could be in the Majors later this season, but again, the A's will likely want to see how he handles Triple-A before giving him that push essentially from Midland. The front office would also have to DFA someone (or place someone on the 60-day IL) in order to get him onto their 40-man roster. They'd also likely keep him on their 40-man at that point, which would lead to another DFA from elsewhere on the roster.
That's why a short-term veteran option could be the solution to this conundrum. They would have to clear space for them initially, but once Piña is deemed ready, he can take that spot and the player DFA'd at that point could be the veteran backstop that was brought in.
The A's are trying to essentially bridge a gap between the beginning of the season to roughly June or July, when Pozo, McCann, or even Tyler Soderstrom, the A's top prospect, could be deemed ready for Oakland. JJ Schwarz and William Simoneit are also options for a potential look later in the season.
Again, we don't know what the official diagnosis is for Manny Piña, but these are the options the front office has to be mulling over currently. Mark Kotsay has talked a lot about roster construction this spring, and the decision over who ends up being the A's backup catcher is going to have to take all of these different elements, and arrive at the best decision for the club in both the short and long-term.