After losing free agent Yasmani Grandal to the Chicago White Sox, the Milwaukee Brewers made a deal today to acquire his potential replacement.
The Brewers sent minor league pitching prospect Adam Hill and a Competitive Round B draft pick to the Seattle Mariners for left-handed hitting Omar Narvaez.
Hill was acquired from the Mets last year in the Keon Broxton trade. He went 7-9 with a 3.92 ERA in 26 games at Class A Wisconsin. The Competitive Round B selection comes after the second round in 2020 that the Brewers were assigned this week. That pick is currently the 70th overall selection in the draft.
The 27-year-old Narvaez played in 132 games with Seattle last season, hitting .278 with 22 home runs and 55 RBI. He had a .353 on-base percentage, a .813 OPS and a .516 slugging percentage.
Narvaez is considered to be an offensive catcher and hit .289 against right-handed pitching last season. Against lefties, he his just .227. Narvaez hit 20 of his 22 home runs against right-handers. Those numbers would suggest a potential platoon at catcher with right-handed hitting Manny Pina under contract for next season.
Defensively, Narvaez threw out just 18% of runners attempting to steal.
Narvaez still has three more years of contractual control and is projected to make about $2.9 million in salary arbitration this offseason.