The Chicago Cubs are still unsatisfied with their production at catcher, which has them on the phone with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Chicago’s search for a catcher is somewhat old news. Cubs president Jed Hoyer has been on the prowl for a backstop all summer. Hoyer traded Yan Gomes in June and replaced Gomes with Tómas Nido, who has quickly developed winning chemistry with Justin Steele.
Nido isn’t an everyday option, though, because he doesn’t hit, nor does Chicago’s other catcher Miguel Amaya. Nido is slashing a horrific .135/ .154/ .189 in 39 plate appearances as a Cub. Amaya is at .201/ .266/ .288 in 205 plate appearances for Chicago in 2024.
The Cubs were linked to the Seattle Mariners’ phenom catcher Harry Ford at one point in early July, but that’s not happening.
Hoyer has his sights set on a more realistic acquisition, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
“The Chicago Cubs have expressed interest in Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen,” Nightengale said on Sunday.
Jansen is hitting .223/ .319/ .397 this year in 207 plate appearances, a resume that exceeds what Chicago is getting out of Nido and Amaya. He’s got sneaky slug potential, too, having hit 17 home runs in 307 plate appearances last season.
One would think that the Hoyer-Craig Counsell brain trust envisions keeping Nido in the lineup for Steele outings but replacing a lot of Amaya’s playing time for the rest of 2024 with the more experienced and better-hitting Jansen.
It might seem like a marginal improvement, but the National League Wild Card race will be won and lost at the margins.
More MLB: Cubs All-Star outfielder will not be traded, per insider: ‘he’s not going anywhere’
