The Milwaukee Brewers have been active this offseason. They have done this under their new leader of baseball operations Matt Arnold. He has made a few major trades including parting ways with Hunter Renfroe and Kolten Wong. Despite a few moving pieces, the Brewers have retained a lot of their core players and are currently inline to compete for a playoff spot in 2023. However, there is one position that they should look to address during the Winter Meetings.
The biggest position needing an upgrade is catcher. Victor Caratini currently stands on top of the depth chart. Caratini struggled in his first year as a Brewer, in particular during the second half. He finished last season with a 84 wRC+ and a batting average below .200.
Mario Feliciano and Payton Henry are behind him and likely will serve as depth pieces. Alex Jackson was recently outrighted and removed from the 40-man roster. This leaves the Brewers in need of an upgrade at catcher.
What options do the Brewers have to upgrade at catcher during the Winter Meetings?
The Brewers have two options in order to upgrade at catcher. They can either sign a free agent or trade with another ball club. Top catchers in free agency include Wilson Contreras and Christian Vazquez. Former Brewer Omar Narvaez is a free agent and a re-union with the Brew Crew could be considered.
In regards to the trade market, there are a few options. Sean Murphy of the Oakland A’s is a highly regarded target. The Toronto Blue Jays have three catchers available in Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk, and Gabriel Moreno.
All of the above mentioned catchers have multiple years of club control remaining and would cost the Brewers multiple players/prospects. It would not be cheap to acquire any of these players via trade, but it would help bring some stability at the catcher position for the near future.
It’s obvious that the Brewers do need to upgrade at catcher. The big question is which route they will go in order to do this. We may see the Brewers make their move during the Winter Meetings.
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