Catcher Sandy León has elected free agency, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was on Atlanta’s roster until being designated for assignment last week. He then cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett but has exercised his right to return to the open market.
León, 37, is a veteran backstop who debuted back in 2012. He has mostly not been a threat at the plate, though he did have a great offensive showing in 2016 when he hit .310/.369/.476. Even factoring in that dream season, León has hit .204/.270/.305 throughout his big league career.
His reputation on the other side of the ball is much more impressive. He has been credited with 34 Defensive Runs Saved on the whole. Outlets like FanGraphs, Statcast and Baseball Prospectus have all given him strong grades for his framing over the years while his blocking and throwing are close to average.
He began the year with Atlanta on a minor league deal but was released in April. That led to him signing with the Saraperos de Saltillo in the Mexican League. Atlanta circled back to him when Sean Murphy suffered a finger fracture in May. Drake Baldwin also hit the injured list shortly thereafter, leading Atlanta to use a combination of León, Chadwick Tromp and Austin Wynns behind the plate. Baldwin came off the IL last week and then Atlanta acquired Joey Bart from the Pirates, squeezing León off the roster.
Now that he’s a free agent, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see León back with Atlanta on a new minor league deal shortly. It might seem odd to reject an outright assignment and then sign a new minor league deal but the fresh pact could have opt-out dates or other new contract provisions, maybe even a salary bump.
It’s also possible the club lets him walk. As mentioned, they have Baldwin and Bart at the major league level. Murphy will be back in the mix at some point. The club added Jair Camargo to the roster recently and he’s now in Triple-A as optional depth. They also have Maverick Handley at the Triple-A level in a non-roster capacity. In short, the need for extra catching depth is far less than it has been in recent weeks and months.
Photo courtesy of Jordan Godfree, Imagn Images
