Catcher at top of Pirates' wish list

SAN DIEGO — It doesn’t take a deep dive into the Pittsburgh Pirates roster to determine the area that lacks depth.

Jacob Stallings is the only catcher on the 40-man. Stallings, who turns 30 later this month, has played just 95 games and accumulated 282 plate appearances in four major league seasons.

The Pirates jettisoned Elias Diaz last week rather than risk going to a salary arbitration hearing with him. Furthermore, there are no catchers on Baseball America’s list of the organization’s top 10 prospects.

Thus, it is no surprise one of new general manager Ben Cherington’s top priorities is adding catchers at the major league level and Triple-A Indianapolis.

Ideally, the Pirates would like to acquire a veteran who is strong defensively to pair with Stallings. If the possibility exists to trade for a top catching prospect, they would be amenable to that.

“It helps if they can contribute offensively, too,” Cherington said. “But we can’t always get everything we want.”

Whether the Pirates can acquire help behind the plate before the winter meetings end Thursday morning at the Manchester Hyatt remains to be seen. However, spring training is still two months away, and Cherington readily admits most of the free agents in the Pirates’ price range still are unsigned.

Many talent evaluators believe catcher is the second-hardest position to fill beyond staring pitching.

“I would say that’s a position that, the way we measure the performance, has changed maybe as much for that position as any in the time I’ve been working in baseball,” Cherington said Tuesday. “It may be hard to find the guy that sort of is the archetype in your mind of what Johnny Bench looked like or something, although he was really good.

“I would say there are also guys I think we appreciate differently now, guys who can do things to help win games. There’s still usually 60-70 in the big leagues every year. They’re out there.”

One free agent who the Pirates appear to have at least some interest in is Jason Castro.

The 32-year-old spent the past three seasons with the Minnesota Twins after playing his first six years with the Houston Astros. Though Castro is a career .231/.313/.390 hitter with 86 home runs, he is considered an adept handler of pitchers and a solid clubhouse presence.

Martin Maldonado won a Gold Glove in 2017 with the Los Angeles Angels, though the 33-year-old has just a .219/.289/.355 hitting line in nine seasons.

Neal Huntington, Cherington’s predecessor, had success with former New York Yankees catchers Russell Martin and Francisco Cervelli. Perhaps Cherington can look in the same direction with Austin Romine.

Romine is coming off two solid seasons, hitting a combined .262/.302/.428 with 18 home runs as the primary backup to All-Star Gary Sanchez.

If the Pirates want to go down memory lane, they could try to reunite with Martin or Cervelli.

Notes: Among those spotted in the hotel lobby were Pirates left-hander Steven Brault and right-hander Joe Musgrove, both from nearby El Cajon, Calif. … The Pirates’ previous regime thought about trying to convert Brault into a two-way player and have him play some outfield in spring training next year. However, Cherington said he and manager Derek Shelton have yet to discuss the possibility.