After spending the past four seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, free agent catcher Yasmani Grandal has signed a one year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers for $18.25 million.
The Cuban born Grandal, who turned 30 last November, hit .241 with 24 HR and 68 RBI in 140 games with the Dodgers in 2018. Grandal has spent seven seasons in the bigs beginning his MLB career with the San Diego Padres after originally being drafted by the Cincinnati Reds. Although Grandal has never hit above .250, he is a power threat having hit 20 or more home runs the past three seasons and will be an offensive upgrade over Manny Pina and journeyman Erik Kratz (notwithstanding his post-season heroics). Rumors are also abounding about the Brewers acquiring Madison Bumgarner from the Giants. In which case, the NL Central will be the talk of MLB in 2019.
So where does this leave the Dodgers? Does Austin Barnes become the Dodgers' number one catcher? Yes, the Dodgers have Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger Chris Taylor, but they did give away Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig and Alex Wood and did not re-sign Grandal and are unlikely to re-sign Manny Machado. One must wonder if the Dodgers are saving their money for Bryce Harper or perhaps the combo of Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer? If the Dodgers don't make either of those moves one must wonder if the back to back NL champions are blowing up the team. In which case, it could mark the first time since 2012 a team other than the Dodgers win the NL West.
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