New Mets catcher James McCann was introduced in a press conference Thursday afternoon. Before the Santa Barbara native spoke, team president Sandy Alderson and general manager Jared Porter commented on why they signed McCann to a four-year, $40 million deal.
Both executives mentioned McCann’s dual-threat ability at the plate and behind it. “We think he’s a great fit for us,” Alderson said.”He’s a right-handed hitter and we are awfully left-handed.” He also made sure to point out that “from a defensive standpoint, [McCann has] shown significant improvement over the last couple of years.”
Aside from the on-the-field impact Alderson hopes McCann will have, he also equally stressed how excited he was about a guy of McCann’s character joining the clubhouse, noting his relationship with pitchers and leadership qualities as some intangibles that also led to the signing.
Before McCann spoke, Porter said he was “really excited to add a catcher that can make an impact on both sides of the ball.”
Negotiations for McCann started before Porter was officially named general manager, but he seemed to echo Alderson’s comments on the catcher helping impact the overall culture, as well.
Over the last two season with the White Sox, McCann slashed .274/.334/.474 with a 114 OPS+. He also had 9 DRS behind the plate.
When asked by Newsday‘s Tim Healey why the have confidence McCann’s last two years are more reflective of his future than his first five years with the Detroit Tigers (where he had a 76 OPS+), Alderson doubled down on McCann’s work ethic and being motivated by being non-tendered by the Tigers.
Sometimes a fire is needed to be lit under the rump, and a non-tender can do that. He compared McCann’s situation to that of Liam Hendriks, a free agent reliever who improved vastly with Oakland after Alderson helped bring him to the A’s.
