Perrotto: Ben Cherington Convinced This $5 Million Well-Spent (+)
The contract is enough to make any old-school baseball person’s blood pressure rise to dangerous levels.
The Pittsburgh Pirates signed free-agent catcher Austin Hedges to a one-year, $5-million contract earlier this week even though he hit .163 for the Cleveland Guardians last season. In fact, the 30-year-old’s batting average hasn’t been higher than .178 in any of the last four years.
However, by all the modern metrics, Hedges’ defense is elite. His 75 defensive runs saved over the last five seasons are the most of any catcher in the major leagues.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington believes Hedges is worth $5 million just on that measurement alone. And maybe more when intangibles are thrown into the mix.
Ultimately, it’s his opinion that counts when deciding who gets paid by the Pirates.
“The defensive skill, the way that’s measured nowadays has been pretty well reported,” Cherington said Wednesday during a Zoom call with reporters. “We certainly believe that’s a legitimate skill that he has, to impact the game defensively with receiving, throwing, blocking, etc.
“Beyond that, there are some aspects of the defensive game that we still just aren’t very good at measuring yet. Game-calling. Relationship-building. Influence. And, certainly, that would extend to impact potentially on pitchers, but also other catchers.”
The Pirates had that type of catcher at the beginning of last season in Roberto Perez, who signed as a free agent the previous November. However, the two-time Gold Glove winner tore a hamstring in his 21st game and underwent season-ending surgery.
Perez also signed a one-year, $5-million contract.
The Pittsburgh Pirates wound up using a total of eight players at the position in 2022. The most frequently used catcher was Jason Delay, who began last season at Triple-A Indianapolis serving as the de facto bullpen catcher.
Even if Hedges was coming off an .063 season, he would be an upgrade.
“Reports we got from people in Cleveland were really, really positive about him and the impact he can have on the defensive game and the staff at large,” Cherington said. “We’re excited to bring him in. We obviously had interest in signing a catcher where we were engaged in that market, talking to guys. Just as it came down, felt like that was the one that lined up in the best way for us.”
| [bet-promo id=”2769″ ] |
However, it is impossible to ignore Hedges’ run of anemic batting averages.
Only one major leaguer with at least 300 plate appearances had an average lower than Austin Hedges’ .163 in 2022. That was Joey Gallo, who hit .160 mark with the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hedges’ aggregate .171 average over a four-year span from 2019-22 is easily the worst of any player who has amassed a minimum of 1,000 plate appearances. The only other two under .200 are Gallo (.196) and Houston Astros catcher Martin Maldonado (.192).
Gallo, though, hit 99 home runs and won two Gold Gloves during that time. Maldonado helped the Astros reach the World Series three times and win it once.
When he met with the Pirates’ beat writers Tuesday after his signing became official, Hedges said he believes he is capable of more offense. Hedges has reached double figures in home runs four times in his career.
“We think he can produce more offense. He thinks he can,” Cherington said. “He has some raw power. He’s had years where he’s been productive. And it’s a new environment. It gives us a chance to work with a new group. Our hitting group may have some things that can help. It’s a new environment, new people, fresh start.
“We’re hopeful he can be certainly a professional at-bat in the lineup. He’s got power. He can run into a ball. We certainly expect that the biggest part of the value is going to be on the defensive side.”
Or maybe Hedges will provide the most value by serving as a mentor to Pittsburgh Pirates catching prospects Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis. Both are expected to make their major league debut at some point next season and Hedges says he is amenable to helping both players’ development.
“I would always say, first and foremost, he’s here to play and contribute to our team on the field,” Cherington said. “We believe he’s gonna do that. He has a real interest in helping other people, whether that’s pitchers or other catchers or generally anybody who’s on the team. That came through in our due diligence. It certainly has come through in our conversations with him.
“I caught up with him a little bit while he was here in Pittsburgh. He’s already doing his homework on our pitchers and what they have, the pitch qualities and doing his research on that, but he’s also looked into some of our young position players, including the catchers just to get up to speed on the guys he’s going to go into camp with. He’s a pretty high-energy guy who’s a fun conversation. He likes baseball, likes life. We’re looking forward to bringing that energy into the room.”
The Pittsburgh Pirates have gone 142-242 in the first three seasons of the Cherington/Derek Shelton regime. They can use any positive energy they can get – even from a .163 hitter.