Cubs, Carson Kelly is close to a deal

The Cubs are reportedly moving closer to a deal with the free agent catcher Carson Kellysaid Robert Murry of FanSided and Jon Heyman of the New York Post. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers confirmed their reports and described an agreement between the two sides as “close.” The Cubs have an open spot on their 40-man roster, so no move is necessary before completing the deal.

Chicago has had trouble holding the record since the loss Willson Contreras Walk after the 2022 campaign. In 2024, Cubs catchers ranked third-to-last in the NL in Fielding Run Value (according to Baseball Savant) and second-to-last in OPS and wRC+. According to FanGraphs WAR, no NL club received less production from the catcher position. It goes without saying that the front office is aware of these deficiencies. President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer failed in his efforts to add a backstop at the trade deadline, but The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma reported after the deadline that Hoyer would continue to play catcher in the offseason.

Ideally, that would mean a starting-caliber catcher usurping the incumbent Miguel Amaya. Sharma noted back in August that the Cubs see Amaya as a long-term backup. Funnily enough, Amaya hit pretty well from the day the report was released through the end of the season (.770 OPS, 114 wRC+ in 34 games), but his career numbers say a lot more than that small sample size. He has an OPS of .657 and a WRC+ of 87 in 170 career games. His defense was passable, but not enough to compensate for a significantly below-average hitter. That being said, the Cubs needed an upgrade.

However, the free agent catcher market moved so quickly this offseason that Chicago’s options started to look slim. Kelly is one of the few catchers still available who should be a clear upgrade over Amaya. In fact, depending on how you feel Yasmani Grandal And Elias DiazKelly is the only everyday catcher still on the market. Kyle Higashioka, Travis d’Arnaud, Danny JansenAnd Gary Sanchez are already off the table.

Matt Thaisswho the Cubs acquired from the Angels earlier this offseason is just a backup. With Kelly taking the majority of the reps behind the court, Thaiss and Amaya will likely compete for playing time in 2025. Both are not on the minor league option, so one will likely be traded or DFA’d sometime before Opening Day. As a left-handed batsman, Thaiss has the early advantage; Kelly is right-handed, so the Cubs could look to a left-handed replacement. Additionally, the Cubs may prefer to DFA Amaya, who does not have the necessary MLB service time to decline an outright assignment should he clear waivers.

More to come…