Yasmani Grandal finished second among catchers in WAR in 2018, behind only the player perhaps most coveted in the trade market, J.T. Realmuto. Salvador Perez was the only catcher to hit more homers, 27, than Grandal's 24. The most walks drawn by any catcher: 72, by Yasmani Grandal.
The No. 1 catcher in these pitch-framing metrics: Grandal.
To review, Grandal gets on base, hits homers and does all the stuff on defense that analytically driven front offices really like. That would seem to create a really nice free-agent platform for Grandal, who just turned down a $17.9 million qualifying offer from the Dodgers.
But it's as if there's a large performance pimple right in the middle of Grandal's résumé, some ugliness that probably will scare away at least some potential suitors.
