nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
Would we be paying McCann or would he be paying us? Hey, I love the guy, but his .640 OPS in 216 PAs this past year doesn't do that much for me.
I think that anything that might be lost in Realmuto's pitch framing would be more than made up by his hitting. That said, I think it's a longshot he ends up in Atlanta.
I love McCann, but given the choice between the two I would bring back Suzuki for another season. The Flowers/Suzuki combo has given us 5.0 WAR in 2017 and 3.2 this year.
When you find a productive veteran player like Suzuki (and Anibal Sanchez I might add) who is willing to re-up on a one-year deal, that preserves a lot of financial flexibility and limits risks.
In the case of Grandal it is the risk in the fifth year, which I suspect he will get. In the case of Reamulto, we are going to give up 2 very good prospects for two years of an excellent catcher. But we should ask how much of an upgrade over Flowers/Suzuki would he give us.
There are other ways to deploy the financial flexibility we have next year. One is to go for a deeper bench (sign someone like Escobar for example in addition to acquiring a corner outfielder). We're seeing first hand with the Dodgers how useful that deep bench is. The other is to hold some powder dry for moves at the deadline. AA did a great job at the deadline on a limited budget. I want him to be a bit less restricted at the deadline next year.