Mariners find their catcher of the future: Omar Narváez

Rob Kajiwara - baseball - Seattle Mariners - Omar Narvaez

The Mariners made a trade today sending all-star reliever Alex Colome to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for catcher Omar Narváez.

My initial reaction is that this is a fair trade. Colome is a good reliever with two years of control left, while Narváez is a young catcher who is team controllable until 2023(!). Narváez is better known for his hitting than his defense; although his defense is decent, he's no Mike Zunino. Offensively he doesn't have as much power as Zunino, but is an overall better hitter with a higher average and on-base percentage. Last year Narváez put up a .275 / .366 / .429 slash line, with an OPS+ of 120. Offensively, that's quite an improvement over Zunino.

Narváez's weakness, though, seems to be in pitch framing. Perhaps Dan Wilson can work with him and Narváez can improve in this area. With the Mariners in rebuilding mode for the next several years, Narváez has ample time and opportunity to work on framing as well as his defense in general.

So while Narváez is an offensive improvement over Zunino, he is a defensive downgrade. Nevertheless, I think this is a fair trade, and I think Narváez is a good pick to potentially have as a catcher on a future playoff-caliber team. Colome will be missed, but with the Mariners in rebuilding mode, having a good closer is not necessary right now for them anyway, so Colome was expendable.

I am very glad Jerry Dipoto acquired Narváez rather than signing a short-term fill-in-the-gap free agent catcher, such as Martin Maldonado, as some baseball analysts had previously suggested. While I like Maldonado, he is really just a back-up catcher, and not someone who can match Zunino's value either offensively or defensively, and is not a young catcher to build around for the future.

In short, I like this trade, and it will be exciting to see what Narváez can do for the Mariners behind the dish. The Mariners have lacked a true regular, reliable catcher since Dan Wilson retired, and though Zunino was very likable, played outstanding defense, and had monster power, his low on-base percentage and high strike out rate left something to be desired. So can Narváez become the Mariners long-term solution at catcher? We'll see.

Rob Kajiwara is a singer/songwriter, visual artist, baseball player, and human rights activist from Waipahu, Hawaii. For more information, please visit his website at www.RobKajiwara.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mariners trade Jean Segura to the Phillies

Image
Another official Mariners trade - Seattle is sending Jean Segura, Juan Nicasio, and James Pazos, and one million dollars (to cover Segura's trade bonus) to the Phillies in exchange for J.P. Crawford and Carlos Santana. Though the trade has been rumored for the past 24-48 hours or so, people were eagerly awaiting to hear the official details. Well, the details are out, and both Mariners fans and baseball officials are confused and upset. For Philadelphia, the trade seems like a steal. They are receiving an all star shortstop in his prime, and signed to nice team-friendly contract. He can be a fixture in the Phillies' infield and lineup for years to come, while still allowing them ample room to sign free agents. Nicasio had a rough year marred by injuries, but may be able to bounce back in 2019, and in any case, he only has one year remaining on his contract. Pazos is a nice young, hard throwing lefty reliever who can get both lefties and righties out. Though he had a rough...
Read more

Mariners talking to Padres about Wil Myers

Image
Rumor has it that the Seattle Mariners and the San Diego Padres are talking about a potential trade that would involve Seattle sending RHP Mike Leake and shortstop Jean Segura to the Padres, with Wil Myers among the players heading to the Mariners. No word yet on who else might accompany Myers to Seattle.  This is an interesting trade for the Mariners in rebuilding mode. Leake is essentially being swapped for Myers, both of whom have long, expensive contracts. But Myers is quite a bit younger than Leake, and will still be in his prime when the Mariners finish rebuilding a couple of years from now. While Leake is a solid mid-to-back of the rotation innings eater, with the M's in rebuilding mode, his role doesn't quite fit with the team anymore. He would be much more useful with an organization that hopes to contend for a playoff spot more immediately. Myers is a versatile player who has spent ample time at all three outfield positions, first base, and third ba...
Read more