Last updated on December 24th, 2022 at 11:09 am
In the latest sports news, the Baltimore Orioles are getting catcher James McCann in a trade with the New York Mets. According to the latest announcement from both teams, James McCann will be moving to the Orioles (plus cash considerations) in exchange for a player that is yet to be determined. This means that the Mets will still be taking the $19 million of the $24 million that McCann will be getting over the next two seasons.
The 32-year-old catcher is midway in his 4-year contract that guarantees him over $40 million. However, his performance has been quite of a problem since signing the deal. He is batting .220/.282/.328, 70 OPS+ with 13 home runs. He also has almost four times as much strikeouts as he has walks in around 182 games. The contract started when he was with the Chicago White Sox, when he was batting .276/.335/.474, 114 OPS+, plus 25 home runs over 149 games.
James McCann in the Orioles
The Orioles already have Adley Rutschman as their catcher, so they seem to be looking to McMann as a worthy backup worth $5 million. And it looks like a good investment as well. Those who bet on baseball are familiar that aside from Rutschman, the Orioles do not have another catcher in their whole roster of 40.
If you are learning how to be a bookie, looking at how teams are staffing their roster is important in handicapping. McCann leaving the Mets leave them with less competitive balance tax payroll by around $10 million. Its also a good move to leave some free space to see what they can do with a new strategy with Omar Narvaez joining them this season.