The Tampa Bay Rays are close to signing free-agent catcher Derek Norris to a one-year deal, pending a physical. Tampa Bay could retain control of Norris next season when he would be arbitration eligible one last time.
Norris will earn $1.2-million and can add another $800-thousand in incentives. That is on top of $688-Thousand in termination pay — 1/6 of his $4.2-million arbitration contract — he is owed by the Nationals under the arbitration arrangement he reached at the start of his short-lived stint in Washington, D.C.
The Rays will have to create space on the 40-man roster once the deal is finalized.
Tampa Bay signed Wilson Ramos during the offseason, although he isn’t expected to make his debut until May or June. Even then, he will likely return as a designated hitter. Instead of picking two catchers from the group of Curt Casali, Luke Maile and Jesus Sucre, the Rays are adding Norris — the most proven of the lot. Norris has made 446 big-league starts between Oakland and San Diego, while Casali has made 116, Sucre 77 and Maile 43.
Norris is coming off a rough offensive campaign with the Padres, having slashed .186 BA/.255 OBP/.328 SLG/.583 OPS/55 wRC+ with a career-worst 30.3% strikeout rate in 458 plate appearances. Yet Norris is not far removed from slashing a passible .246 BA/.336 OBP/.392 SLG/.718 OPS/110 wRC+ line over 982 plate appearances with the Athletics and Padres (from 2012-15).
Sandy Kazmir (The Process Report) brought up a good point, perhaps there was something other than age to his offensive decline.
Once again, Derek Norris didn’t get old overnight or forget how to hit, it’s pretty obvious he got hurt. Question is if he’s still that way? pic.twitter.com/zaoYuIGUHq
— Sandy Kazmir (@SandyKazmir) March 15, 2017
Still, the Rays pursuit (and eventual acquisition) of Norris has more to do with what he offers behind the plate, specifically his pitch framing.
According to Baseball Prospectus, Norris ranked 10th in Framing Runs last season, saving 8.9 with 7.4 Fielding Runs Above Average (FRAA). StatCorner also allotted plus pitch-framing marks, with Norris presenting 7.8% of outside pitches for strikes while collecting 5.7 Runs Above Average (RAA).
In the words of Daniel Russell (DRaysBay), who recently wrote about Norris’ value behind the plate:
Over the last two seasons Derek Norris has graded well with a +7 DRS over 244 games and 2,023.2 innings behind the plate. Last season saw his Caught Stealing rate dropped to 20.8% from 34.3% in 2015, but that may return to form.
Most importantly, though, Derek Norris has been among the better pitch framers in baseball since moving to the Padres in 2015.
Over the past two seasons, Norris has contributed +21.3 runs behind the plate, according to Baseball Prospectus’ Framing Runs. Baseball Prospectus’ FRAA (runs above average) credits Norris with +11.8 and +8.5 runs in each of the last two years.
Despite the fact that his starting catcher status will be short-lived, Norris picked the Rays over the Rockies, Cardinals and Blue Jays — whom he also was connected to — because he expects to receive more playing time in Tampa Bay.