November 11th, 2018 at 8:03 am 
by Ron Cervenka Shortly after the 2018 World Series ended, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and (now former) Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi had a decision to make. They had to decide whether or not to make a $17.9 million qualifying offer (as set by Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association) to just-turned-30-year-old (on November 8) catcher Yasmani Grandal to bring him back for the 2019 season, or let him walk away and enter free agency for the first time in his now seven-year MLB career.
They made him a qualifying offer.
The initial reaction by many – perhaps even most – Dodger fans was why on earth would the Dodgers even consider bringing back Grandal after his abysmal second half of the 2018 regular season and his even worse postseason, and pay him $17.9 million at that?
Although this is a very valid question, the answer is actually quite simple. F&Z were 100 percent convinced that Grandal, who went 4-for-29 (.138), with one home run, one double, and one RBI in the combined 14 postseason games in which he appeared offensively, would absolutely positively reject the qualifying offer, thereby giving the Dodgers a competitive balance draft pick between the second and third rounds of the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft in June. I mean, why not give Grandal a QO, knowing full well that he would reject it and get a freebie draft pick out of the deal to boot, right?
Wrong.
In the simplest of terms, Friedman and Zaidi’s decision completely backfired on them. Barring an absolute miracle, there isn’t a MLB team out there who is willing to give Grandal anything close to the $17.9 million that the Dodgers must pay him – period.
Would you?
Would you give a guy who, in the 13 postseason games in which he appeared defensively, was charged with four passed balls, committed two very costly errors, and had three wild pitches get past him that he absolutely should have blocked a multi-year free agent contract?
So bad was Grandal defensively that during Game-1 of the NLCS, he allowed a passed ball, was charged with catcher’s interference, and committed an error … in the same inning.
…and there’s another one.
(Photo credit – Jae Hong
Things got so bad for Grandal that eventually (and finally), he was relegated to back-up catcher behind back-up catcher Austin Barnes. And while Barnes was actually worse than Grandal at the plate (2-for-29 – .069), he was far better than Grandal behind the plate.
In the 10 postseason games in which Barnes played defensively, he was charged with only one passed ball and had only one wild pitch get past him. He was also on the receiving end of an absolutely perfect throw from Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger to nail Red Sox pinch-runner Ian Kinsler at the plate in the 10th inning (of the eventual 18-inning Dodgers win) of Game-3 of the World Series for a spectacular inning-ending 8-2 double play.
Bellinger’s throw to Barnes in the 10th inning of Game-3 of the 2018 World was right on the money to nail Ian Kinsler at the plate for an inning-ending 8-2 double play. (Video capture courtesy of MLB.com)
Grandal has until 2 p.m. PT on Monday, November 12 to decide whether to accept or reject the qualifying offer. If he rejects it, he immediately becomes a free agent and the Dodgers are off the hook for $17.9 million and get that freebie draft pick.
However, if he accepts it…
Stay tuned.
Posted in 
Figuratively holding my breath as I really do not want to see Grandal return — I thought he has been over-rated as a defensive catcher and offensively is too streaky, disappearing for weeks at a time. I will not be surprised to see him take the QO hoping to have a better all around season and eliminating future QO
Aside from Roberts returning, my other nightmare is Austin Barnes as our starting catcher. He’s the Dodgers’ designated out. Even if he is a better defensive catcher than Grandal, we might as well have our *pitchers* batting eighth. Ryu is a better hitter! I would rather see Rich Hill flailing away, at least he is trying.
So throw Barnes aside after a poor season offensively after a terrific season in 2017? I hope that implying Barnes wasn’t trying is just hyperbole as it is much more likely that the was trying overly hard. Being the starting catcher in 2017 post season then early in ST is told that Grandal will be the regular starting catcher in 2018 it would be understandable if Barnes started the season with something-to-prove. In my non-professional opinion catcher’s defense is the most important part of the job description.
Of course by 2 PM Monday,Dodgers will know how to move forward with this catching situation. some people said that if he accepts QO, it gives Dodger minor league catchers another year to develop, as only will Smith appears to maybe be ready in 2019, WSS
Yep! I think it is a huge long shot that Grandal will accept the QO but if he does I don’t think Dodgers will be disappointed. Team can platoon him and Barnes until trading deadline when (hopefully) Smith is ready and Dodgers can trade Grandal. In addition to money/years I would not be surprised if Grandal factors into his decision making the boos of Dodgers fans and Roberts benching him in post season. I believe Grandal leaves and Dodgers sign a FA like Matt Wieters to platoon with Barnes, or Jonathan Lucroy to share catching duties. Realmuto is a possibility, but will Dodgers pay the stiff price to acquire him?
Read Friedman’s answer to the question I asked him about Smith and Ruiz in this piece:
https://thinkbluela.com/2018/11/dodgers-catching-could-have-a-new-look-in-2019/
I’ve got to agree with every word, Bum.
I will say that Rich Hill is more entertaining at the plate and on the bases.
For everybody: check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUKcC9GQjjE I’m not a great ARod fan, but he really hits the mark here. I think the only person associated with the Dodgers (including fans) who doesn’t get this is Freidman.
I have a really terrible thought:
Obviously I have no inside knowledge regarding who said what when deciding that F+Z would give Grandal the QO. But now we have F+Z-Z and Z has Buster Posey for his catcher while F may be stuck with another year of Grandal. I s’pose you can see where I’m going with this.
Of course, F is the head nerd and makes the final decision, but who knows how much input came from Z.
Man, I’m starting to sound like a conspiracy theorist!
Decision day! Fearless predictions: Grandal declines QO, and Ryu accepts.
Here’s some more fearless predictions:
1. It’s 60/40 Grandal declines. But it’s a win/win decision for the Dodgers either way.
2. Ryu accepts.
I agree, I think Dodgers would be pleased to have Grandal accept a one year deal
Yes, $17.9M is a very small price to pay for a much needed one-year bridge to the deep minor league, hopefully stud, catching prospects.
And while Grandal definitely has his warts, he’s been the primary catcher on a team that has been to three straight NLCS and two World Series in the last three years. All the while producing 8 OWAR during that period. Not many catchers out there that can say that.
One thing offensively Grandal has going is he is the first catcher since Mike Piazza with at least 3 straight 20+ HR seasons. Beyond that wss.