It’s hard to find good catchers. It’s even harder to find good backup catchers.

Adley Rutschman’s second-half struggles were real, but the two-time All-Star still racked up 3.6 wins above replacement in 2024, per Baseball Reference, fourth most among backstops.

Similarly, James McCann’s 0.7 WAR appears impressive only when compared to those of starting backstops around the league, such as the Mets’ Francisco Alvarez (0.8), Cleveland’s Bo Naylor (0.7) and Washington’s Keibert Ruiz (0.6). McCann’s only two playoff at-bats were ugly — both swinging strikeouts — but the 34-year-old was an adequate backup for Rutschman for the last two seasons.

Should the Orioles bring McCann back on a short-term deal, it would be perfectly understandable. He has endeared himself to Baltimore’s pitching staff, and his veteran savvy has been a godsend in a clubhouse full of youngsters. More pertinently, it would be difficult to find someone better than McCann who would be willing to sit behind the Orioles’ franchise catcher.

But McCann is a free agent, and there’s a chance one or both parties decide it’s time to move on. If that happens, here are three names the Orioles could consider to replace him.

Yasmani Grandal

Grandal supplanted McCann in Chicago in 2021. Could he do the same in Baltimore four years later?

Like McCann, Grandal is no longer the slugger he once was. The two-time All-Star hasn’t hit double-digit homers in a season since 2021. In fact, Grandal’s 2024 stat line with the Pittsburgh Pirates looks eerily similar to that of McCann — 72 games to McCann’s 65, .228 average to McCann’s .234, nine homers to McCann’s eight. Add in the fact that Grandal is a year older than McCann and this signing would appear to be a lateral move.

But what Grandal has that McCann doesn’t is the ability to hit from both sides of the plate, which could intrigue the matchup-obsessed Orioles. Having two switch-hitting catchers would give manager Brandon Hyde even more options for constructing lineups. A one-year deal like the one Grandal signed last offseason, for $2.5 million, might be in Baltimore’s sweet spot.

Danny Jansen

Jansen, 29, has cemented his place in baseball history as the first player to appear for both teams in a single game. Beyond this quirky footnote, Jansen is a steady big league backstop with a solid track record playing in the AL East. The former Blue Jay compiled 8.8 WAR in seven seasons in Toronto and 30 games in Boston.

Jansen is elite at blocking balls — Statcast has him in the 100th percentile in blocks above average — but his pitch framing (21st percentile) and pop time (the time it takes to receive a pitch and attempt to throw out a baserunner, 27th percentile) could use work. As the youngest player on this list, Jansen could be looking for a long-term deal. Perhaps the O’s could ink him for two years before shipping him to another destination when phenom Samuel Basallo is ready for a call-up.

Carson Kelly

The book on Kelly looks a lot like the one on Jansen: a right-handed hitter coming off his age-29 season having just been traded at the deadline. Kelly, who was released by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2023, found a home with the Tigers before being shipped to the Texas Rangers in July.

Kelly’s 2024 numbers — .238 average, nine home runs, 96 OPS+ — are mediocre. But Statcast was a fan of his defense: 77th percentile in fielding run value, 85th in caught stealing above average. Kelly also brings excellent plate discipline, boasting better-than-average walk and strikeout rates. If Kelly is willing to sit behind Rutschman, he could be what the O’s need.