What to do at catcher?

[BSN07]

No, he's not a sure thing. Speaking of which, what exactly is one "sure" of with Masterson? League average SP? Alert the press. Above average RP who might need to avoid good LHH? Shiver me timbers.

 

Look, I think Masterson is better than that, but there's no surety of this belief. What's more, he's expendable. They have one of the best 'pens in the league without him in it. They can compete this year without Masterson in the BP. They have more than enough starters to fill the 5 rotation spots once Matsuzaka returns (and they need to find a way to get Buchholz in there - then Smoltz is around the corner). It's wasteful to have an expendable player replace the mop-up guy, Hunter Jones, in the bullpen when you could "expend" him for a guy who, while no sure thing, has shown siginificant potential for being an above average offensive catcher while being excellent defensively, especially when you have no catchers coming through the pipeline at the moment and your starter is one month away from pulling his annual corpse impersonation.

 

I don't care if trading Masterson for Teagarden is 1 for 1 in terms of trade value. If that's what they want, and I'm not saying it is, you do the deal. You do it if it's Bowden too. You don't need both to move forward, but you need options at catcher. You are better, IMO, with Teagarden in the mix and one of them than you are with both of them, for the simple reason that both of them aren't likely to get enough opportunity to be significant contributors given the current roster. Moving on to subsequent years, it will be easier to replace an above average RP or 5th SP than it will be to find a catcher.

When you put it like that it makes some sense. I'll be honest my original reaction was not a good one at the thought of this deal. But now it doesn't seem as bad.

There's always Ryan Doumit.

 

Pirates just inked him to an extension if I'm not mistaken. I doubt they move him anytime in the near future.

[La mujer bonita]

I don't disagree with you there, but IMO Teagarden is not a guy that I would be willing to do that with, for all the reasons cited. A couple of mid-level guys would be a better deal I think

 

Well, I don't know that much or have a strong opinion about him either way, but I do tend to agree that catching is a bigger concern going forward than pitching right now, and therefore the Red Sox have to be prepared to deal some of those cards. That's fine with me. I take a pretty fish-eyed look at younger players anyway, realizing that most of them will not be exceptional big leaguers and no one should be considered "untouchable."

[BoSox21]

I dont think the Sox are all that bad with Varitek right now and although I realize this thread is aimed at solving a problem in the near future, opportunities tend to present themselves as time goes on

[example1]

Couldn't Texas use someone like Brad Penny too? Just as a throw in? I mean, he's only given up 3 in the 5.2 that I've watched today (on the road against LAA that isn't horrible, IMO... it keeps them in the game), but they have so many pitching options when Bowden and Buchholz are thrown into the equation and with Dice-K and Smoltz coming back. He's legitimately a #3ish AL starter and he could be a nice addition as part of a package for one of the TEX catchers.

[BSN07]

Whats everyone's opinion on Carlos Santana, the Catching prospect for the Guardians. He's in AA and hitting well. He's blocked by V-Mart and Shoppach. Would he be worth sending some top tier talent the other way to get him?

[satch9841]

Mauer becomes a FA in 2010. Posada's deal is up in 2010. Enough said. Feel free to connect the dots:D

yup, dots connected. Mauer is a prize player. I think the twins will try to extend him, unless mauer wants the "lotto", meaning sox or yank money. It would be nice if the sox could land him.

[satch9841]

If the team is going to get a quality catcher in a trade' date=' it is going to have to give up a quality pitcher. Both are very scarce these days, and while the Sox seem to have an abundance of young quality arms IMO they have no one in the system who appears he is going to be Tek-worthy by the end of 2010. Any team that does is going to want something high value in return, and you can't blame them.[/quote']

 

Sounds like it's almost the same as a 2 year deal. If sox don't exercise their 5mm option, tek can exercise his 3mm option and he is the catcher for 2010, right?

[SCM33]

yup' date=' dots connected. Mauer is a prize player. I think the twins will try to extend him, unless mauer wants the "lotto", meaning sox or yank money. It would be nice if the sox could land him.[/quote']

 

Mauer is a walking injury.

 

When its all said and done, Mauer will be Dh'ing or on the DL for the Yanks.

[satch9841]

Mauer is a walking injury.

 

When its all said and done, Mauer will be Dh'ing or on the DL for the Yanks.

I do realize there is injury risk with mauer,but he is still young and producing quite well. I am not up to speed on his health situation but i know he has had some back problems. Down the road he is likely to be a 1b/dh type. Are his health issues temporary or chronic?

[example1]

Mauer is a walking injury.

 

When its all said and done, Mauer will be Dh'ing or on the DL for the Yanks.

 

I bet that, despite his injuries, the Twins make him a franchise guy and he stays there to help open the new park and beyond. He is from St. Paul and is a local sports legend who was the #1 overall pick in baseball and the Gatorade HS Player of the Year in football in 2001. It seems like just the kind of signing that the Twins will want to make happen, even if they are concerned about his injuries.

 

That said, the Twins are a smart organization and would probably think long and hard about giving him up for good prospects. I just think the home town thing and their lack of many other contracts will lead to a decent contract as a Twin.

[jacksonianmarch]

Mauer will set a new precedent for catchers in the marketplace. He'll be young at FA. He is a superior hitter. He can run. And he's a plus defender. Even in this market, you are talking 15-20 mil per yr over probably a 5-8 yr contract. Thats too rich for Minny.

[BoSox21]

Couldn't Texas use someone like Brad Penny too? Just as a throw in?

 

What use would Texas have for Brad Penny? Where are they going this year and in the foreseeable future?

[BSN07]

The more I look into him, the more I like Carlos Santana. He could really be worth sending pitching the other way.

[ORS]

FWIW, Texas leads their division at the 1/5th mark. This could be a GFIN year for them, and pitching is what they need. If the expected performers in the staff step up and, well, do what's expected of them, Penny would be expendable and attractive to a team with a need for pitching.

[BSN07]

FWIW' date=' Texas leads their division at the 1/5th mark. This could be a GFIN year for them, and pitching is what they need. If the expected performers in the staff step up and, well, do what's expected of them, Penny would be expendable and attractive to a team with a need for pitching.[/quote']

 

 

 

Let's see how they do when the summer hits. It's usually when the wilt. But yes if they are in contention, Penny could seem like a viable option for their team. Him+ a prospect(or 2 mid level) could be a nice deal for Teagarden or whomever.

[BoSox21]

Penny is rocking a 6.69 ERA and had to sign a one-year, incentive-laden deal in the off-season just to stay in the big leagues. If such little interest was shown in him when all a team had to give up was money, why would his value be increased in the trade market?

[Dipre]

Penny is rocking a 6.69 ERA and had to sign a one-year' date=' incentive-laden deal in the off-season just to stay in the big leagues. If such little interest was shown in him when all a team had to give up was money, why would his value be increased in the trade market?[/quote']

 

Concur.

 

Besides, Penny's FB/GB ratio indicates he would be a disaster in Arlington.

 

I'm sure Rangers Brass would consider that.

[rhet]

I just came from the BC/UNC game and saw the solution to the Sox long term catching problem. BC's Tony Sanchez is the real deal. They would be wise to snag him with their first pick, if he's still there.

[Cocos Disciples]

lol. Even if they do draft him with the first pick for some reason, they still need someone between then and 2013 or so.

[rhet]

So are we totally writing off Koterras?

[Cocos Disciples]

Not totally, but I doubt he's the rock we're looking for to catch for 10 years.

[rhet]

They need a two-three year bridge strategy.

 

When the Sox organization was weak in pitching, they drafted every live college arm they could find, leading to the current abundance of young pitching talent in the organization. They should do the same with catching and power hitters this year and next.

[satch9841]

i have always thought kottaras would eventually start hitting after seeing enough MLB pitching. I thought the same of cash, who turned out to be a real dud. I think the sox will stick with kottaras as the backup. He does a good job with wakefield. Kottaras would probably have to go into a deep nosedive to lose the backup role. I think sox will stand pat at catcher. But a serious injury to varitek would get the wheels in motion. We need youk to get well and get production out of the DH spot. I think the starting pitching will come around. There seems to be a ton of good pitchers this year with lousy era's thus far.

[Cocos Disciples]

i have always thought kottaras would eventually start hitting after seeing enough MLB pitching. I thought the same of cash' date=' who turned out to be a real dud. [/b']I think the sox will stick with kottaras as the backup. He does a good job with wakefield. Kottaras would probably have to go into a deep nosedive to lose the backup role. I think sox will stand pat at catcher. But a serious injury to varitek would get the wheels in motion. We need youk to get well and get production out of the DH spot. I think the starting pitching will come around. There seems to be a ton of good pitchers this year with lousy era's thus far.

 

Kevin Cash was a 31 year old career backup, why would you ever think that?

[satch9841]

Kevin Cash was a 31 year old career backup' date=' why would you ever think that?[/quote']

At least the red sox gave him a real chance to succeed. Career minor leaguer or not, who is to say he has no chance to break out. Simply put i was hoping he might be that break out guy. Some guys never figure it out. Turns out cash was one of those.

[jacksonianmarch]

While thought of writing off Kottaras may be premature at this juncture, there is a very real possibility that he could be DFAd within the next few months. Why's that? Because the sox are gonna need to bring in a catcher that can hit to supplant Vtek. If not this season, then shortly into the offseason.

 

Vtek started off pretty well. April line of .250/.348/.533 was what the doctor ordered. But most of that OPS was generated off SLG and 7 of Vteks first 11 hits went for extra bases. Since May 1, though, Vtek has come back to earth. .208/.273/.354. If he has another month like this one, then the sox are going to need to replace him. And they'd do that by trading for one of the Ranger's catchers or nabbing Montero from the swooning DBacks. That would DFA Kottaras, ensure Vtek was splitting time with the newly acquired and then eschew Vtek into free agency again after this yr.

 

This is clear. The sox dont have an in house candidate able to handle the starting catching duties in 2010. They will have to look outside of the org. And with Bowden, Masterson, and Buchholz pitching well, they have the correct currency to make such a swap.

[Dojji]

I'd rather dump a couple of the guys currently on the roster or suffer through some years of average catching than deal those young pitchers.

[ORS]

Average is an improvement, you know that, right?

[Dojji]

Not at the moment it isn't.

[Dipre]

Not at the moment it isn't.

 

I couldn't find average catcher numbers for this moment in the season.

 

But let me assure you this.

 

The MLB average catcher is hitting better than Jason Varitek.