The Nationals’ catcher situation is a bit crowded in a sense. Keibert Ruiz, Riley Adams, Drew Millas, CJ Stubbs, Francisco Mejia, and Jorge Alfaro are all possible options going forward, although there are plenty of question marks surrounding all of them. Stephen Newman wrote on September 5 that he thought Alfaro has the most potential of all of them. However, Alfaro is a bit older, and it’s easier to dream on the futures of some of the others, Millas in particular. Millas did just get injured, though.
The Nationals could certainly just roll with what they have and see what happens. But depending on what their broader offseason plan is, they might want to consider bringing in a free-agent veteran. Below are the 6 most interesting options who have a solid shot of making it to free agency.
JT Realmuto
Sure, this one is pretty unlikely. A lot of teams will want Realmuto, and how aggressive will the Nationals be? They still likely won’t be fully out of rebuild mode, although it’s hard to say anything for sure given that we don’t know who the GM will be. Realmuto is a big name, but he’s a bit old at 34 and isn’t the player he used to be. So the Nationals might be able to get him at a discount. He’s still a good defensive catcher and a decent hitter, so there’s plenty of value here.
Danny Jansen
There’s a bit of a drop-off after Realmuto, but Danny Jansen has some sneaky value. He’s sort of been a backup to William Contreras this year in Milwaukee, but he’s still been given 264 at-bats. He’s having his second straight down year at the plate, but he was good at the plate from 2021-23, especially in 2022, when he posted an impressive 142 OPS+. He’s about an average defender. Lehman’s argument for Alfaro could kind of also be used for Jansen; just because the production hasn’t quite been there recently for each doesn’t mean that they couldn’t get back to a higher level in the future. Jansen’s only 30, and he has shown the ability to hit at a level that is hard to find at the catcher position. He has a $12 million mutual option with the Brewers next year; it’s always hard to expect mutual options to be picked up on both sides.
James McCann
There’s again a drop-off after Jansen, and the final four players on this list probably wouldn’t be guaranteed the starting position. But McCann has had a pretty good year at the plate this year in limited time as Gabriel Moreno’s backup in Arizona, and he’s a good defensive catcher. A veteran presence like him could be useful in helping guide Washington’s young and developing pitching staff. It’s true that he or anyone else would potentially crowd an interesting player off the roster. But let’s face it, the Nationals don’t have two catchers who absolutely need to be on the big-league roster next year. Millas could potentially return to Triple-A, at least initially.
Mitch Garver
He’s an interesting case for sure. He was a very good hitter through 2023, including a memorable 2019 season where he hit 31 homers in 93 games for Minnesota’s record-setting “Bomba Squad”. But the offense just hasn’t been there the past two seasons for whatever reason. Part of it has maybe been that he’s been playing in a very pitcher-friendly park in Seattle, but that’s clearly not all of it. Defensively, Garver is poor, and he’s been at DH more than catcher over the past four years, although he still catches a decent amount. There’s high upside here, but the industry has never really seemed to value Garver much, even before his offense regressed the past two years. The Twins traded him to the Rangers for Isiah Kiner-Falefa in 2022, and the Mariners gave him only 2 years and $24 million in 2024. He has a $12.5 mutual option next year, but Seattle certainly won’t be picking that up.
Victor Caratini
Caratini had struggled at the plate through 2023, but he’s figured it out the past two years in Houston. He’s a slightly below-average defender, but he does bring a veteran presence, which could be useful. Whether the Nationals might be more interested in McCann or Caratini would probably depend on whether their organization values offense or defense more.
Elias Diaz
Diaz is a veteran who’s played a lot, but he’s been well below-average on both sides of the ball, especially recently. At this mediocre level of player, how worth it is it for the Nationals to go out of their way to add a catcher, when they have so many already? Each individual guy they have might not look overwhelmingly impressive, but if they give enough of them a chance, one might separate from the pack.