The Cubs added to their catching depth today as they have inked veteran catcher Austin Romine to a one-year deal according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the deal is pending a physical. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports the deal is worth $1.5 million.
With the trade of Victor Caratini, a backup catcher was a pressing concern for the Cubs and after missing out on Jason Castro they make a solid signing with Romine.
Romine, 31, struggled with the bat for the Tigers in 2020 hitting just .238/.259/.323 in 37 games and 135 plate appearances. It's worth noting that he was hitting .291/.308/.418 going into September, but after a knee injury that required him to miss a few games he came back and went just 8-51 with only one extra base hit and two talks to 24 strikeouts,
Although he doesn't have much of a reputation as a hitter, he has a track record as a pretty solid defender as he saved a projected 8 runs from his pitch framing between 2017-19 and getting around 50 percent of the pitches he received called for a strike.
The veteran catcher will never be known as much of a hitter with a lifetime .639 OPS and wRC+ of 54, but he is a pretty solid defensive catcher which will be important especially given all the question marks surrounding the Cubs pitching as of now.
Despite all the question marks surrounding the Cubs future, they are actually in a really good position when it comes to the catching position. Willson Contreras is a top-5 catcher in all of baseball and Romine is a solid back up, but they also got Miguel Amaya who has been ranked as a top 100 prospect in all of baseball, and interesting names such as Ethan Hearn in the lower minors.
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