Ranking the 15 projected American League starting catchers for 2020

Grandal agreed to a four-year, $73 million deal in the offseason, which according to Bleacher Report, is the most money that the White Sox have ever handed to a free agent. He has easily been one of the most productive catchers in the game averaging about 25 home runs and an .814 OPS over the last four seasons.

For someone who is often scrutinized, very few (if any) catchers are as much of a threat at the plate than Sanchez. He hit 105 home runs in 372 career games. While passed balls were a major issue in 2017 and 2018 (he had 18 in both seasons), that number cut down considerably to seven in 2019.

Garver may have been the MVP of unexpected, out-of-nowhere performers in MLB last season. After hitting seven homers in 302 at bats in 2018, he clobbered 31 in 311 at bats last year. He received a Silver Slugger for his offensive exploits, but he has been fairly easy to steal on for opposing base runners.

An All-Star each season from 2013-18, Perez missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Despite low walk totals, he has been known as one of the premier offensive catchers. He has hit over 20 homers in each of the last four years he has played in. Perez was also a Gold Glove winner in five of those six All-Star seasons.

Chirinos is returning to the Rangers, a team he played for from 2013-18. He has combined to hit 52 homers over the last three seasons and puts up solid on-base percentages despite not always hitting for a high batting average. He is one of the older starting catchers in the league as he turns 36 on June 5.

After minimal action with the Rockies from 2015-18, Murphy was terrific for Seattle in 2019 while splitting time behind the plate with Omar Narvaez (now on the Brewers). Not only did he hit 18 home runs and finish with an .858 OPS, but he also finished second in the AL throwing out 39 percent of base stealers.

He’s always had a strong throwing arm, but Vazquez became much more well-rounded by easily having his best season at the plate. From 2014-18, he hit 10 homers with a .632 OPS over 999 plate appearances. Last season, he connected on 23 long balls and owned a .798 OPS over 521 plate appearances.

It was a standout 2019 season for Perez as he became Cleveland’s primary catcher for the first time in his career. The 31-year-old took home a Gold Glove and led the AL by throwing out 41 percent of base stealers. A career .205 hitter with a .638 OPS entering 2019, he easily exceeded those marks last season at .239 and .774 respectively.

The Angels have mostly seen the catcher position as a black hole from an offensive standpoint in recent seasons, and they are hoping Castro can change that. Not including 2018 when he played in just 19 games, he has reached double figures in homers every year since 2013.

The 25-year-old Murphy made his major league debut on September 4 last year, and he went on to have nine extra base hits (five doubles, four homers) in just 53 at bats. Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com had him listed as the 45th-best prospect entering last year.

The team also has Danny Jansen, but McGuire has excelled in his brief time in the majors. In 138 career plate appearances (2018-19), he owns an .882 OPS. It remains to be seen if he can do that over an extended period though as he had an OPS of .651 in 2018 and .683 in 2019 while at AAA.

The 33-year-old Maldonado has been a defensive-first catcher throughout his career . He won a Gold Glove with the Angels in 2017. His career marks of a .219 batting average and .644 OPS have been very similar to his marks of the past few years.

Romine will get his first opportunity to be a lead catcher, although he has seen much action over the past few years with the Yankees while Gary Sanchez has been on the mend. Somewhat of an average defensive catcher, he had his best offensive season in 2019 hitting eight homers, batting .281, and posting a .748 OPS.

Besides his 2017 season which seems like an outlier, Zunino has yet to figure it out at the plate. He hit a meager .165 last season, and only once in his seven seasons has he finished with a batting average better than .214. He does possess plus power for his position though and above-average defense.

Pedro Severino should also receive plenty of starts behind the dish. A career .305 hitter at the minor league level, Sisco hasn’t come close to duplicating that success in the big leagues. He has hit just .203 in 345 at bats over the past three seasons.