White Sox Sign Yasmani Grandal In Egregious Overpay

Trey Daubert/MLB/November 21, 2019

The Chicago White Sox made the first major splash of the 2019-2020 MLB offseason. The Chi Sox have signed Yasmani Grandal to a $73 million contract over 4 years. The White Sox will pay Grandal an average annual salary of $18.25 million per year. Daniel Palka got DFA’d to make room for the new signing.

The White Sox announced the move themselves. No reporter scoop cheese here:

OFFICIAL: The #WhiteSox have agreed to terms on a four-year, $73-million contract with free agent All-Star catcher Yasmani Grandal (@YazmanianDVL08). Under terms of the agreement, Grandal will receive $18.25 million per year from 2020-2023. pic.twitter.com/dczzZo8UTE
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) November 21, 2019

Grandal bet on himself this past year and it couldn’t have worked out any better. Grandal, 31, turned down a $60 million deal from the Mets on the same length. Instead, Grandal cashed in on a $18.25 million one year deal with the Brewers and then got the same number for 4 more years with Chicago. This contract is now the richest contract that has ever been given by the franchise.

^ That’s the entire point and problem. The White Sox pushed their chips to the center for an aging catcher. Probably not a wise investment. Grandal was a 2.5 WAR player despite having an unbelievable season. 28 homers with an OBP of .380 and OPS+ of 119. All of those things are great. Grandal’s bat really comes and goes. He has a batting average of .115 in 33 postseason games. He’s also hit in the .220’s or below in 3 of 8 seasons.

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Having said that, Grandal will provide excellent defensive value. Grandal ranked 3rd among catchers in 2019 in fielding runs above average. That’s great. He’s not getting this much money to be great behind the plate. He’s getting this much money to be a middle of the order bat. Now that, I don’t think lasts. Yasmani Grandal set career highs in pretty much everything in 2019. Do you bank on that repeating for 4 more years?

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