The Cubs have launched veteran catcher Yan Gomes, in response to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That was the anticipated consequence after he was designated for project final week. He’s now a free agent and may signal with any membership.
Gomes is a veteran with greater than 1,000 video games within the majors and a thirty seventh birthday arising subsequent month. He has spent most of that as a strong defender behind the plate with some inconsistent however potent offense. He doesn’t draw a variety of walks and may be strikeout susceptible, however he’s usually been a dependable supply of double-digit dwelling runs each time he will get common taking part in time.
Going into the 2022 season, the Cubs signed him to a two-year cope with a $13M assure and a $6M membership possibility for 2024. His first season with the Cubs was a little bit of a disappointment however he hit 10 dwelling runs final 12 months and slashed .267/.315/.408 for a wRC+ of 95. Meaning he was 5% under league common total, however that’s a powerful consequence for a catcher.
The Cubs picked up the choice for 2024, however the outcomes from Gomes took a nosedive. In 96 plate appearances with the Cubs this 12 months, he slashed .154/.179/.242. He walked simply 2.1% of the time whereas getting punched out at a large 37.5% clip and the defensive metrics soured on him as properly.
The membership was additionally seeing vital struggles from teen Miguel Amaya, turning the catching place right into a black gap on the roster. Amaya is simply 25 years outdated and has 5 years of membership management past this one, so the Cubs weren’t doubtless to surrender on him based mostly on a number of tough months, however he has exhausted his possibility years and may’t be despatched right down to the minors. That left Gomes squeezed off the roster with a number of months left on his contract.
No different membership was going to amass Gomes based mostly on how tough he’s been this 12 months, as doing so would contain absorbing what’s left of his wage, simply over $3M. He has greater than sufficient service time to reject an outright project, so the Cubs have launched him, which leaves them on the hook for the rest of that cash.
Any of the opposite golf equipment can now signal him whereas solely paying him the prorated model of the most important league-minimum wage, with that quantity subtracted from what the Cubs pay. Regardless of his tough season, maybe that may spur some crew to take a low-cost probability on him based mostly on his monitor report. He has 137 profession dwelling runs and a .246/.295/.412 slash line total, with that translating to an 89 wRC+.
