James McCann

McCann is now two years into a four-year deal with the Mets which has not gone as well as anyone had hoped, which led him to be traded to the Orioles while the Mets signed Omar Narvaez. McCann has been significantly below league average offensively in both seasons and missed chunks of time in 2022 with a broken wrist as well as an oblique injury. He has done a good job behind the plate receiving the talented casts of pitchers on the roster, but his throwing skills would be a poor pairing for a starter who struggles to control the running game as he is not much help. The 2019 power numbers are the outlier, as is the case for many players, but McCann still has the thump to hit double-digit homers, though he's unlikely to see enough playing time for it to matter with Adley Rutschman set to work as Baltimore's No. 1 backstop. However, the Orioles do plan to utilize McCann some at first base and designated hitter.

Year 1 in Queens was a disaster for McCann, who ranked in the bottom 16% of the league in xBA, xwOBA, xSLG, K% and chase rate, per Statcast. He made up for those offensive struggles to an extent with his defense, though McCann's framing numbers also left something to be desired. With eight MLB seasons in the books now, McCann sits with a cumulative 4.1 fWAR over 722 career games. It can be argued that he's miscast as a No. 1 catcher, and with the Mets spending and pushing to be among the game's elite teams, there's a chance McCann will be relegated to backup duty at some point this season. That will almost certainly happen before the end of his contract. McCann is a career .273/.341/.478 hitter against left-handed pitching and just a .236/.282/.351 career hitter without the platoon edge. In weekly lineup leagues, he's a low-end second catcher. If you can play the matchups on a daily basis, McCann's value gets a slight boost.

After appearing in at least 65% of the team's games the prior four seasons, McCann split time behind the plate with Yasmani Grandal. Despite less frequent action, McCann posted a career-best 144 wRC+, fourth best among catchers with at least 100 PA. The impetus was new personal bests in average exit velocity and hard-hit rate, though it would have been helpful to see if McCann were able to maintain those levels over a 162-game season. McCann parlayed his 2020 success into a four-year, $40 million contract with the Mets. On paper, his power will suffer, but he'll again be a bell cow with playing time among the league leaders at the position, especially if he can maintain improvements in framing, going from 12th percentile in 2019 to 88th last season. McCann should be rostered in all one-catcher leagues and is a target for those willing to spend in two-catcher formats.

The Tigers non-tendered McCann, paving the way for the White Sox to sign him to pair with Welington Castillo. An early-season timeshare turned into bell cow duty for McCann as he outproduced Castillo in April and May, then Castillo battled assorted injuries the rest of the season. On May 12, McCann was slashing .382/.421/.607 with a 23% strikeout rate. The rest of the way, his line was .246/.305/.423 wile fanning 30% of the time, almost exactly what was projected for the 2019 season. His hot start can't be ignored, but it's likely an outlier. For the season, McCann's average exit velocity increased so it's fair to raise his baseline accordingly. The White Sox signed Yasmani Grandal, a superior hitter and backstop, but the club still plans to find action for McCann. He's unlikely to match last season's playing time or production, but remains in play in two-catcher formats.

McCann was a power sleeper at a shallow position coming into 2018, but the power remained comatose and never woke up. He had a horrendous season at the plate after showing three years of steady power improvement from 2015 through 2017. The non-power part of his game is rather non-existent, as he hits for the type of low average you would expect from a slow-footed catcher. He is best utilized in a platoon where he can face lefty pitchers (.231/.275/.322 against RHP for his career). The Tigers declined to tender McCann an offer for arbitration and he ultimately landed with the White Sox on a one-year contract. Assuming his exposure is limited and he can just feast on lefties, McCann will at least have some appeal as an injury replacement in two-catcher formats.

McCann was a below-average major-league hitter last season, but he wasn't bad at all compared to his contemporaries at the catcher position. He lifted 13 home runs in 391 plate appearances, lending hope to the idea that he could get to 20 homers with a full season of regular playing time. McCann's 6.6 walk percentage leaves something to be desired, but he trimmed his strikeout rate from 2016 by nearly six percentage points to 22.8 percent and showed improvement against right-handed pitching (.234/.296/.355, up from .200/.236/.219 in 2016). The pitch-framing statistics are not kind to McCann, but he has a great arm and grades out well on defense. He should be the primary catcher on Opening Day, and he could hit as high as fifth or sixth in the Tigers' batting order.

2016 was a bit of a disappointment for McCann, who faced high expectations following a 2015 season where he hit .264 in 114 games with 18 doubles, seven home runs and 41 RBI for the Tigers. This past season, the 26-year-old slashed .221/.274/.358 with 12 home runs and 48 RBI. The home run increase was a positive, but it came at a cost, as his strikeout rate increased from 21.2 percent to 29.2 percent. McCann, who grades well as a defensive catcher by most criteria, threw out 45 percent of potential basestealers, up from 41 percent in 2015. Barring a free agent acquisition, he figures to enter 2017 as the Tigers' starting catcher, where he'll hope to add to his power increase with a rebound in average and contact rate.

McCann won the 2015 Tigers' Rookie of the Year Award from the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association on the back of an outstanding season behind the dish. He caught 112 error-free games to lead all MLB catchers and became only the sixth catcher on record to be error-free in over 100 games. On top of the flawless glove-work, he threw out 40.6 percent of American League base stealers. But McCann is more than just a defensive specialist -- he hit .264 with 18 doubles, five triples, seven home runs and 41 RBI with the Tigers last year. His leadership is off the charts, especially for a guy entering just his second season. McCann's power stroke will continue to grow and double-digit home runs will arrive sooner rather than later.

After showing growth at the Triple-A level last season, McCann was rewarded with a September promotion. The 2011 second-round pick made nine appearances for the Tigers in September, hitting .250 with one double and two runs scored in 12 at-bats. Despite the improvements at the dish at Triple-A, McCann’s calling card remains his solid defensive play. He has thrown out 39 percent of base stealers in his first three full seasons in the minors while doing a quality job running a pitching staff. Detroit has opted to bring back Alex Avila as their lead backstop, but McCann is expected to get the opportunity to challenge Bryan Holaday for the backup gig in 2015. Given Holaday’s lack or production at the plate the past two seasons, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see McCann work his way into the backstop mix for the Tigers this season, and his role could expand quickly if Avila continues to deal with minor injuries and long droughts at the dish.

The Tigers selected McCann with the 76th pick of the 2011 MLB Entry Draft. He profiles as a solid defensive player behind the plate, but he needs to improve at the plate before cracking any fantasy radars. The 21-year-old backstop hit just .146/.222/.250 in his first season of pro ball.