The Rangers Right a Wrong By Bringing Back Chirinos

Everybody makes mistakes. Literally everybody. Baseball executives aren't exempt from that. And fans are always there to remind them of that.

When the Rangers decided to not pick up Robinson Chirinos' $4.5 million option for 2019, it came with a few raised eyebrows. Maybe the Rangers thought they could bring him back on a cheaper deal. Or maybe they just wanted to move on and go in a new direction behind the dish.

The latter ended up coming to fruition, as the Rangers brought in veteran catcher Jeff Mathis on a two-year, $6.25 million deal and Chirinos went down I-45 to Houston for a one-year, $5.75 million contract.

Mathis was brought in to help build a great rapport with the pitching staff, which did end up paying off in a way. Mathis was Mike Minor's primary catcher and were battery mates for 27 of Minor's 32 starts in 2019. With Mathis as his catcher, Minor was 10-9 with a 3.53 ERA IN 173.1 innings.

Lance Lynn was paired with Mathis for 23 of his 33 starts last season as well. Lynn went 9-8 with a 3.50 ERA with Mathis as his catcher.

Both Minor and Lynn had stellar seasons in 2019, earning A.L. Cy Young votes in the process. Both hurlers also seemed to benefit from Mathis' presence behind the dish, boasting better numbers than their overall 2019 stats.

On the flip side of the coin, Mathis was a black hole in the Rangers' lineup. Whatever baseball was thrown toward the plate didn't come back out. Mathis slashed .158/.209/.224 in 244 plate appearances. There's no reason to go any further on those numbers. They speak for themselves.

Truth be told, there aren't as many good two-way catchers as there used to be. Catchers who can hit and be solid behind the plate are rare and very valuable commodities in baseball nowadays. That's why trading away Sam Huff in a package for Nolan Arenado or Starling Marte may prevent those trades from ever happening.

Defense, game-calling, pitch framing, and controlling runners are valuable traits for a catcher, but offense can't be completely ignored. Not to mention, Mathis only threw out 17% of baserunners trying to steal, which was 10% lower than the league average of 27%.

On the other hand, Chirinos went to Houston and hit 17 home runs, put up a .790 OPS, meanwhile framed pitches an almost identical rate as Mathis, while throwing out a higher percentage of baserunners attempting to steal and had a +3 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). Mathis had a -5 DRS.

Chirinos made almost $3 million more than Mathis last season, but was worth 5.4 more wins than Mathis. Just as many things in life, you get what you pay for.

This isn't a "let's rip Jeff Mathis" story. Mathis provided value and intangibles that can't be measured by numbers. And as mentioned earlier, he boosted Minor and Lynn's productivity, helping make them Cy Young candidates.

The bottom line, however, is this: the Rangers shouldn't have cast aside Chirinos. He proved that with his performance in Houston. Chirinos had similar seasons in a Ranger uniform, primarily in 2016 and 2017. Chirinos is also a valuable voice in the clubhouse and builds good rapport with his pitchers. Plus, he's a solid bat to put in the bottom third of the lineup.

Thankfully, the Rangers got the chance to correct their mistake. As many of us know, seldom do you often get a chance to do that. That's when you often hear the cliche "shoulda, woulda, coulda."

Texas gets an immediate boost by bringing back Robinson Chirinos. The question now will be which catcher will get cast aside now? Will Mathis be sent packing? Or will Jose Trevino be sent to Triple-A Nashville for more development?

That question may not be answered until after the Rangers start playing games in Surprise, Arizona. They may want to take three catchers on the 40-man roster and allow competition within the position to help make their decision. It's actually the smart thing to do. And after the winter the Rangers have had so far, I'd say that's to be expected.

The Rangers have had a strong winter, and they just made it an even better one. They righted a wrong and brought back a catcher they should've never let go of in the first place.

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