Cubs Sign Catcher Yan Gomes To A 2-Year Deal

 

Yes, the Cubs have actually made a move and signed free agent catcher Yan Gomes to a $13M 2-year deal. 

Yan Gomes to Cubs. $13M, 2 years. Gives them two starting catchers and maybe 1B/DH options. @CraigMish 1st

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 30, 2021

A couple bullets on Gomes:

• He batted .252/.301/.421 with a 93 wRC in 349 AB. He has a low 20.8%K rate, which is great, and had a 37.9% HardH rate.
• He provides good catching defense, as well as the ability to play first. That is a good bonus, because the Cubs are lacking in depth at 1st Base.
• In his career, he is an average hitter, with his best year recently being 2020, in which he hit .284/.319/.468 with a 105 wRC.

The implications with this signing is interesting. Yes, the Cubs need a backup catcher, but with a catcher with this amount of quality, you wonder if this means the Cubs are going to trade Contreras. According a late report, the Cubs are not involved in extension talks with Contreras, which leads me to believe they made trade him.

Of course, they may wait until the Trade Deadline to deal him, like they did for their core group this past year. So, it's a definite possibility that they'll have Contreras half of the season, but there is no guarentee of even that.

That's my brief summary for now, and I may write more on him later.