Scouting the Offseason: Catching Crisis?

After the Mariners recent trade of Mike Zunino to the Rays for Mallex Smith leaving them without a reasonable option at C, it seemed like the general reaction was "oh well, they will just sign a FA or trade for a replacement catcher.  That got me to thinking about just who the Mariners might sign or trade for.  That's when it hit me that MLB appears to be headed for a positional crisis at catcher around the league.

Here's the landscape:  JT Realmuto, currently with the Marlins, is in a tier by himself, then you have a handful of teams who seem set for at least 1-2 more years at the position.  This list would include the Royals(Salvador Perez), Cubs(Willson Contreras), Reds(Tucker Barnhart and Cardinals(Yadier Molina).  The Giants might be set with Buster Posey, but he'll be coming off major surgery on his hip.  Gary Sanchez has potential to be a superstar with the Yankees, but is coming off a rough season both offensively and defensively and recently underwent surgery himself.  His future at catcher is far from certain.

Once you get past that group, there is a vast field of what can best be described as journeyman catchers, guys who are maybe good at pitch framing and not much else.  Many of them flirted with the Mendoza Line last season.  There are at least 3 teams whose current rosters lack a catcher with significant MLB experience:  Mariners, Rangers and Nationals.  There are several others who could best be described as close to crisis status:

A's:  Josh Phegley- BA= .204, 93 AB.

Astros:  Max Stassi(,226) and Chris Herrman(claimed off waivers).

Tigers:  James McCann(.220) and Grayson Greiner(.219).

Braves:  Tyler Flowers(.227)

Mets:  Travis d'Arnaud(.200), Kevin Plawecki(.210).

Orioles:  Caleb Joseph(.219), Chance Sisco(.181).

Red Sox:  Christian Vazquez(.207) and Sandy Leon(.177).

D'Backs:  Alex Avila(.165) and John Ryan Murphy(.202).

Rockies:  Chris Iannetta(.224), Tony Wolters(.170) and Tom Murphy(.226).

Austin Barnes may be a fan favorite in LA, but he hit just .2015 last season and Yasmani Grandal is a free agent who is apparently unlikely to be back.

So my first question whenever I see a comment about filling a catch need with a trade is what trade?  Who are you going to trade for in this market that's an upgrade on anything?  JT Realmuto, who the Marlins can practically name their asking price for?  OK, good luck with that!

Here is a list of available free agents at the catcher position:

Yasmani Grandal, age 30- probably the top guy on the market.  How much did his postseason struggles hurt his stock?

Wilson Ramos, age 31- A terrific player when healthy.  Has rarely stayed healthy for a full season and the injuries have to be starting to take a toll on his body.

Devin Mesoraco, age 31- Seems to still be able to hit, but has spent the last several seasons mostly injured and struggles on defense.

Others(ages in parentheses):  Drew Butera(35), Robinson Chirinos(35), AJ Ellis(38), Chris Gimenez(36), Nick Hundley(35), Jose Lobaton(34), Jonathan Lucroy(33), Martin Maldonado(32), Jeff Mathis(36), Brian McCann(35), Rene Rivera(35), Kurt Suzuki(35), Stephen Vogt(34), Matt Wieders(33), Bobby Wilson(36).

See anyone you like in that list?

There are just 4 catchers in the MLB Pipeline Top 100:

#23 Joey Bart, Giants (Short Season)

#26 Francisco Mejia, Padres (C/OF)

#39 Keibert Ruiz, Dodgers (AA)

#47 Sean Murphy A's (AA)

I scoured the AAA and AA rosters for other possible catching prospects and found pretty much nothing.  MLB is rapidly heading for a situation where there may not be enough catchers who are  capable of playing the position at he MLB level.