According to Mark Feinland of the New York Daily News, the Chicago Cubs still have interest in catcher Kurt Suzuki. The Cubs have been linked to Suzuki all off-season, even after the addition of George Kontarras. The Minnesota Twins and the Seattle Mariners also have interest in Suzuki.
The Cubs acquired Kontarras from the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations earlier in the off-season to be the back-up catcher. Bleacher Nation mentions the possibility of the Cubs going with three catchers on the roster. Going with three catchers could make sense as last season, the Cubs came out of spring training with three. The Cubs had Welington Castillo, Dioner Navarro and Steve Clevenger. But Clevenger was manly a back-up at third base and first base. I could totally see Kontarras backing up Anthony Rizzo at first base. Steve Clevenger was later traded to the Baltimore Orioles along with Scott Feldman for Pedro Strop and Jake Arrieta. That is always a possibility, but I see that as a long-shot as of right now.
Suzuki isn’t known for his offense, but he’s good at managing the pitching staff and is a good all around catcher behind the plate. For the Washington Nationals and Oakland Athletics last season, Suzuki posted a .232/.290/.337, 5 home runs, 32 runs batted in, 22 walks and struck out 35 times in 94 games and 285 at-bats. Suzuki bats right-handed and is 30-years old.
Mr. Feinland did not say if the Cubs are actively pursuing Suzuki hard or just keeping tabs on Suzuki for a signing down the road if all other plans don’t come to together.
On other news, the Cubs have signed left-handed pitcher and once highly touted prospect Jonathan Sanchez to a minor-league deal. Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reported not too long ago the Cubs were talking to Sanchez and Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune reported that signing last night.
Sanchez will compete for a spot in the bullpen. If anything, he’ll be good depth for Triple-A. The signing of Sanchez has a lot of reward to it. He can pitch well if it all comes back. If Sanchez just pitches decent, he’ll see Wrigley Field this year. Sanchez could be good depth for the starting rotation in case of injury or be a good man to come out of the bullpen.
I wrote that the Cubs have interest in Sanchez recently and you can find the article here.