Nick Hundley, C. DOB: 9/8/1983. B-R, T-R. 6'1", 210 lbs.
2016(Rockies): .260/.320/.439, 20 2B, 3B, 10 HR, 7.9 BB%, 20.5 K%, 317 PA.
Whoa! Can't say I saw this one coming. The Giants signed FA C Nick Hundley to a 1 yr/$2 M contract. This is obviously bad news for Trevor Brown because the Giants did not add $1 M to their Luxury Tax to give Brown competition in spring training. Nick Hundley is going to be the backup catcher and Brownie is going to AAA if he isn't traded somewhere. This signing also makes the minor league contracts for Tim Fedorowicz and Josmil Pinto, well, minor league contracts.
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I actually think it's a good thing for Brown. Sometimes I think Sanchez's failure at catcher, beyond his injuries that set him back, was his being an up-and-down yo-yo back up. I mean the guy was in rookie ball in 2009 and MLB in 2011. Then up-and-down...
ReplyDeleteThe Giants know their system is woefully short on ML ready catchers -- the minor league signings are indicators of that -- but is backup catcher the reason for last year's failures? Nick Hundley is a plus, albeit, not much of one. Does he have any above average qualities? For what it's worth, Brown had a positive dWAR last year at 24, Hundley didn't.
ReplyDeleteBrown will benefit from being in AAA, but is he the catcher of the future anyway? Probably not. He's a backup.
You can't have too many catchers and Hundley knows he's coming into a backup situation to the best catcher in baseball, but for Hundley to play either Posey or Belt will sit. Is he a RH bat off the bench? It's unlikely to bat your backup catcher unless the situation is dire, then to play on, Belt has to come out.
It comes back to trust in the FO, they are far more aware of what they need, and, in this day and time, what's a million dollars?
RH bench power. I read an article earlier today that the Giants have had ONE RH home run off the bench in the last two years. That was Mac Williamson.
DeleteFor RH bench power see also Jae Gyun Hwang. Not as much as Hundley (although I have checked how his Colorado stats will translate to SF, or on his age decline curve). Or even Mac himself.
DeleteI wouldn't count Brown out of the mix just yet. He is very versatile and can play several positions and maybe taught to play others. As pointed out, it is not ideal to have a back up catcher as your power off the bench because once you burn him as a PH, you also lose your back up for catcher. I can see Brown becoming a super utility guy for them and perhaps sticking.
ReplyDeleteBilly Baseball
That's a good point.
DeleteI wonder if the Giants will consider carrying 3 catchers and use Hundley as a power right handed bat off the bench? Does this impact Ruggiano and Morse?
ReplyDeleteTerrible pitch framer according to StatCorner, terrible defender according to SABR defensive index. I don't mind having Brown in AAA to season (he's still quite new to catching), but Hundley just isn't a good catcher with certainly not enough bat to prop that up. . . . . Of course this means he's going to get a walk-off homer against the Dodgers or something like that!
ReplyDeleteI would have liked to see Josmil Pinto get a shot though. If they wanted a right-handed power bat, they had one for free.