There’s no logical explanation for this.

The Chicago Cubs are a team in dire need of catching help. That’s no secret. They finally pulled off a move, signing Tomas Nido who should get a bulk of the playing time behind the dish for them. Yan Gomes was DFA’d as the corresponding move, ending his three-year Cubs tenure.

While Nido is better than what they had initially, that’s not saying much. Nido was DFA’d himself by the Mets and went unclaimed for a reason. He’s a worthy backup, but should not be starting for a team fighting to climb back into the postseason race.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic ($) deems the catching position as one of the major needs for this Cubs team, but one of the players he pegs as fits behind the plate makes absolutely no sense.

MLB insider’s solution to Cuibs catching woes makes no sense

Elias Diaz, Connor Wong, Shea Langeliers, and Danny Jansen would all make sense for Chicago. But Bowden’s fifth option, MJ Melendez, is where things fall apart. MJ Melendez? As their catcher solution? How does that make any sense at all?

Melendez was at one point in time an exciting catching prospect for the Kansas City Royals. He even played a majority of his rookie season back in 2022 as a catcher. but only 88 of his 342 MLB appearances have come from behind the plate. 78 of those came in 2022, 10 came in 2023, and he has not caught a single pitch from behind the plate this season. Not one.

Melendez has been a regular outfielder for the Royals in each of the last two seasons, and it’s pretty clear that’s become his long-term home. Sure, he can be a third catcher if needed, but no team should be relying on him to catch games.

Let’s even forget that glaring oversight for a second. Melendez got off to a hot start in the first couple of weeks of this season but is slashing .172/.236/.350 with eight home runs and 23 RBI. He’s been far better offensively in each of his first two MLB seasons so a hot streak might be coming, but still, what’re we doing here? Would the Cubs even get much better if he could catch?

Nothing about this makes any sense. Melendez wouldn’t provide much of an offensive upgrade over what the Cubs currently have with how he has played this season, and again, he doesn’t catch anymore. By trading for Melendez, the Cubs would be trading for another underperforming outfielder, which is the last thing they need.