Bears News: Grading the Carson Kelly signing |
In what was one of the worst-kept secrets of the Winter Meetings, the Chicago Cubs and Carson Kelly have officially agreed to a new multi-year contract. Initially reported during the early stages of the Winter Meetings, the deal wasn't made official until Friday night, when Kelly signed a two-year 11.5 million dollar contract with his hometown club.
Born in Chicago, Kelly was a huge fan of the Cubs growing up and was then selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the second round of the 2012 MLB draft. Seen as the future to Yadier Molina, Kelly played in the 2016 MLB Futures games and was, at one point, a top-40 prospect in all of baseball before reaching the majors. Not much of a hitter, Kelly has seen plenty of action behind the dish as both a starter and a reserve player and will be the perfect addition to the Cubs roster as Miguel Amaya has not one, but two veterans to lean on this season. Kelly will be entering his age 31 season in 2025 and is doing so with a .224 career average to go with 54 homers and 207 RBIs. While his offensive numbers aren't great when you consider he has played nine seasons, it's his defensive ability behind the dish that will help this team, as the Cubs catcher were terrible defensively last season. In 556 career games behind the plate, his pitchers have combined for a 4.45 ERA with him catching, but he can block balls and throw out runners that will come in handy for the Cubs this season. After spending the early portion of his career as the primary backup to Molina, Kelly finally started to see more consistent playing time in 2019 and has in 461 games. Looking at catchers around the league, that ranks in the top 10 in games played, where he checks in at No. 10 overall. Throw in his .995 fielding percentage, which is also a top-10 mark, showing just how good defensively he can be. That included a 172-game streak where he didn't commit an error. From an offensive side, Kelly has shown the ability to put up good numbers, and this season has been one of his better seasons. Across 91 games with the Tigers, Kelly hit .238 with nine doubles, one triple, nine homers, and 37 RBIs. He also posted a .996 fielding percentage, which was second-best among catchers, while his 26.3% caught-stealing rate was also in the top ten. His best season came in 2019, which also happened to be his first season in Arizona. That was the first time he was looked at as a starter, and he went on to reward the Diamondbacks with a career-high 111 games. Kelly posted career highs in batting average (.245), homers (18), and RBIs (47). Two years later, he came close to topping all of those as he went on to hit .240 that season, with 13 homers and 46 RBIs in 104 games. Expected to pursue backup help this offseason, the Cubs have now added two catchers, with Matt Thaiss being acquired via trade earlier this offseason. While that acquisition made sense then, it doesn't make much sense now as Thaiss is out of Minor League options, and the Cubs aren't going to carry three catchers. What does Kelly bring to the table? Well, the Cubs will find out, but he does have plenty of value. Not only will his veteran leadership be huge for Miguel Amaya behind the dish, but his ability to neutralize the running game and play sound defense will also come in handy for the Cubs. Keep in mind that the Cubs ranked near the bottom of the league in caught-stealing percentage a season ago, and their defense wasn't much better. Kelly is an instant upgrade from that aspect. Kelly also has some offensive upside associated with him, as evident by his massive 2019 and 2021 seasons. Unless he becomes your everyday guy, there is no way Kelly will put up another season like that, but that doesn't mean he isn't capable of producing when called upon. Take last season, for example. Kelly had a down year compared to years prior but still played very well. If anything, Kelly could put up similar numbers to what Yan Gomes put up in 2022 and 2023, and the Cubs will take that from a backup. If you had to grade this acquisition, you would give it a B— or C+. It is not a move that will move the needle or push them to the playoffs by any means, but it was a move the team needed to make, and they have gotten better because of it.
