Each offseason, MLB Network announces their Top 10 Players Right Now at each position, using a handful of offensive and defensive metrics, along with other advanced stats, to have what they call “The Shredder” compute the rankings at each spot.
As far as MLB catchers go, the Mets landed one of the best in the league, according to The Shredder. James McCann, recently signed by the Mets to a four-year, $40.6 million deal, ranked 10th on the list of MLB catchers.
Four of the catchers in this year’s top 10 (top-ranked J.T. Realmuto, Yasmani Grandal, Willson Contreras, and Mitch Garver) were also on last year’s list, while six of them (McCann, Will Smith, Sean Murphy, Austin Nola, Salvador Perez, and Travis d’Arnaud) are newcomers to the list.
The 30-year-old McCann probably should have been on last year’s list, though, as he earned an All-Star appearance in 2019 with a .273/.328/.460 slash line to go along with a career-best 18 home runs and 60 RBI with the White Sox.
He followed that up in 2020 with a new career-best year at the plate, slashing .289/.360/.536 in 31 games.
McCann has said that he’s always taken pride in his defensive prowess above all else, but the numbers make it clear that the Mets added not just a premier defensive player behind the plate, but one of the best overall backstops in the game.
