Dojji

Yes I know exactly what overall means. And I'm saying that until we know how well Swihart hits big league pitching and whether there's any holes in his big league defensive game we can't possibly know who the better overall player is leaving the whole question down to personal preference (and personal prejudices). And stylistically, I prefer a catcher with all world defensive potential and adequate offense, over an all-world hitter with adequate defense. This is one of the two positions where having all world defense is worth making that level of offensive sacrifice, the other obviously being SS. If that's all we know about the two players, the decision isn't nearly as clear cut as you're making it out to be.

I don't think we know that at all. We do know that Swihart has a much better offensive ceiling than Vazquez, but until he hits in the big leagues that's still a question mark, and defensively he's still an unfinished product as well -- talent is there to be a solid defensive catcher, but that's all we know right now. And defense is so important at catcher that even if Swihart matches very good offense with above average D, which is very possible, if Vazquez lives up to the hype defensively and can even just kind of hang in there at the plate (~.330 OBP or so) which package is a better fit is almost a matter of style and taste. Having to choose between a guy with Buster Posey upside and one with Yadier Molina upside is a good problem to have, but it's also a tough call with advantages either way. You can go the distance with either kind of catcher depending on how you structure the rest of your team.

Rusney has a long season to try to supplant Vic. I don't see anything wrong with erring on the side of the veteran at the outset. If nothing else that's a policy that increases our functional depth. Castillo's done everything he's supposed to to keep himself in mind if an opening shows up in the outfield. That's all he can do, it's all down to luck and making the most of his chances,.

Seriously. Who in the Mets orgnaization does Colon have incriminating photos of?

Agreed. Bear rules notwithstanding you don't give up the love of your life just because of a sports affiliation. We've all heard of a marriage lasting through actual religious differences, much less sports fandom.

Sure why not, if she's informed enough to have a reasonable discussion. You can't spend the whole time talking about the weather.

Which is why I'd really like to see him tried in the pen. The workload may suit him better and let us see that Buchholz more often.

Umm no, they didn't bring in Haningan "because he was around Vazquez' level defensively," that's nonsense of the kind you'd be more likely to see in one of my posts, and if you think that's me trying to insult you, then well done, have a cookie. They brought in Hanigan because they had a young starting catcher who was still learning the ropes and wanted a defensively solid veteran backup that wasn't quite as washed up as David Ross, who they could go to for a few years and help ease the young starting catcher in. also because if God forbid something happened to the young starter they'd have someone who could stand in for a few weeks to a couple months if needed, which Ross couldn't do anymore. Basically they wanted to be able to lean harder on their backup than they could expect to be able to lean on Ross, ergo Hanigan. The fact that Hanigan is also a defensively focused catcher didn't hurt certainly, but they didn't bring him in to be Vazquez by any means. They brought him in to be Ryan Hanigan, a very good backup catcher who they could get some mileage out of as a short term starting solution if they had to. Good thing too, imagine if our tandem was Leon and Ross. Doesn't really bear thinking about. But no, the only thing Vazquez had to do with the Hanigan signing was his age and relative inexperience making a somewhat more broadly dependable backup desirable.

And there's absolutely no difference between Alex Gonzalez (pretty darn good d-first SS comparing roughly to Leon and Hanigan) and the Wizard of Oz (all time stupendous defensive SS) Right? Right? What? They're both defensive specialists who live on their glove, there's clearly no difference between the two, right? Who's with me on this one? The best defensive catcher in the world right now is yadier Molina. He's won 6 straight gold gloves, he's probably going to win more, he's an all world defender, one of the best of all time. Vazquez is exactly the same type of catcher. Exactly. Defensively he can do everything Yadier Molina does, all he lacks is the experience and polish Yadi has. Offensively he's not going to be a middle of the lineup guy but he's probably going to hit well enough to avoid negative oWAR. Losing that guy and bringing in an everyday defensive specialist or glove scrub is not replacing an apple with an apple. It's replacing an apple with a pomegranate seed. Don't be fool enough to convince yourself otherwise. I'm glad we have Sandy Leon. He's worth a look, and we aren't likely to find a better replacement until Swihart anyway. but don't make a mistake, even if Leon works out reasonably well, we're less effective than we would have been with a full year of Christian Vazquez behind the plate. That is not a matter of debate, that is a matter of 100% steelclad fact.

Sandy Leon looks like a primo young backup catcher and I hope the Sox have plans to hold onto the guy after this year.

Yep. All the crazy things I said, all the insane things he could have picked to throw in my face and he fixates on one thing I never said at all. That's how you know your premium Jacko is the genuine article and no substitute..

In other words not only is this year gone, next year is in question. Crap. Fortunately one thing this is unlikely to affect is pop time. That's more to do with the lower body as I understand it. So once he gets out there again he should still be able to get the ball to second in good time so there's at least that. That said, losing that many AB's and having an injury history may force him into a backup role and that just. Plain. Sucks.

Which is why I have absolutely no patience with Buchholz. This is a guy we've spent 7 years shooting a pattern with. We have a pretty good idea what we can expect, and what we can expect is not much. The dance won't change until we change the music. Buchholz should have been moved into the bullpen 4 years ago to see if that helped his endurance problems but the Capital-H Hype wouldn't stand it. I'm more annoyed that the franchise hasn't realized that this dog won't hunt and cut him than I am that buchholz is the opening day starter. OD starter is largely ceremonial. It's just that naming him is the symptom of more serious problems with the top end of our rotation. I'd really like to hope that some blind trust in a mythically resurgent Buchholz didn't factor into the Sox brass's decision to move on from Lester. Because that would just be humiliating for everyon e.

I'm very consistent once you understand why I take the positions I do.

Urbino. Put up a 4-something ERA in Texas in the 2003 season. He wouldn't have closed the door much better than the usual suspects that year. The pen was an absolute train wreck in 03 whether or not we closed by committee.

If Vazquez is out for the year, he goes on the 60 day DL and his slot is open on the 40

I get that, but if you draft with zero regard for need, these little problems happen occasionally, because catchers are rarely the best or most athletic players on the market in any round.

That's absolutely true. They also went after him because he was the best available backup catcher. And he really is a very very good backup catcher. But he is a backup catcher, he's proven again and again that he can't handle starting.

You know who'd look pretty good in a Sox uniform right now? Former Sox farmhand Tim Federowicz. He's currently stuck behind a great catcher and a very solid backup, he may be available for a reasonable price, and the Dodgers are a traditional trading partner.

Kinda surprised they didn't give Taz more of a look as the closer TBPH. I know he's probably going to be the setup man anyway, but I honestly trust him more than I trust Mujica.

So with the injury to Vazquez, I decided to do some digging and figure out who our next highest catching prospect was. So I dug. And I dug. And I dug. We have no catching prospects other than Swihart in our top 20 according to Soxprospects.com. Hmm. Also true that we have no other catching prospects in our top 40. Oh dear. I had to go all the way down to #57. Our 57th best prospect in the Red Sox system is a catcher by the name of Romanski. He's 24 and played last year in high A ball with no particular distinction and not much chance of rapid promotion frrom A ball, much less actually getting all the way to the majors. That's our next guy among actual prospects (as opposed to MLFA's and AAA depth) behind the big two. Checking last year's draft, we did draft 2 catchers who aren't ranked yet that probably will be. Ben Moore profiles as Ryan Lavarnway without the power, he's a college C/OF who's going to try to stick at catcher fulltime mostly because his bat doesn't justify a big league signing bonus as an outfielder. there's a chance, but looks more like a backup with a bit of versatility than a real starting catcher option. The other guy, Procyshen, I have absolutely no idea about because there just seems to be no info about his defense at all and he's only had 80 or so plate appearances in A ball. Might just want to see about drafting another catcher or two, Mr. Cherington.

Buchholz being the OD starter tells you all you need to know about this rotation. If they're so desperate that they're naming Buchholz the OD starter in order to build up his confidence and running freaking Buchholz out there as the nominal ace on opening day, then it's clear that this team is not built to do anything but maintain a holding pattern. What a terrible decision, made all the worst because there really wasn't a better decision to make. I mean if by some absolute bolt out of the blue miracle this is the year where Buchholz is actually healthy and effective, both at the same time, then color me pleased, but he hasn't done it yet, and history suggests he isn't going to do it this year either.

Here's why I disagree with you: we have replacements for all these guys that are good bets to perform at way above replacement level indefinitely. Betts features prominently in that list but Marrero, Castillo, JBJ, and some b guys like Coyle, Shaw, Brentz and Cecchini all have the potential to be at least tolerable big leaguers, even if they're not on the level of the guy they're replacing. The only one that has the potential to send as many ripples down the rest of the team as the injury to Vazquez, is an injury to Ortiz. Maybe Pedroia, but I'd put good money that Betts could cover second pretty danged well if he had to, by all accounts he's a pretty solid defensive 2B, and even if he's not available because he's knocking the lights out as a CF and the decision is not to mess with that, Marrero and Coyle are both worth a try before really hitting the panic button. We don't have a replacement that can start at catcher right now and we don't even really have that solid B guy. Hanigan can hold down the fort for awhile, but if we lose CV for the season, we're going to be needing to go find someone, because Hanigan is not a full season starter and I don't want Swihart up here until the team is sure. That's not a guy you muck around with. He's the only guy we could have lost right now that would have rung alarm bells in my head right now because we have a list of options a mile wide and the full month of April to find out what we have with any other position, and yes that includes DH. Our options at catcher are backups and AAA caliber scrubs until Swihart is ready, and my biggest fear right now is that Swihart is rushed in response to the injury and it hurts his development. That's what I mean when I say the worst thing that could have happened.

It's the worst thing that could have happened this Spring for three reasons. First, how pivotal the catching position is, it is the most important position in baseball IMNSHO. Second this is the only time our catching depth could even possibly have been exposed, and exposed is exactly what it was. Hanigan's a good backup and by June, we'd get a better idea what to expect from Swihart based on his AAA performance and be perfectly set for catching. Now the temptation to scramble for a cheap starting guy has to be pretty strong. Third we're very well built to tolerate attrition in every other position. Between Marrero and JBJ alone, we have better than replacement level coverage for every other position where we might be exposed to injury, even ignoring our other depth options at certain positions (Coyle, Castillo, Cecchini, etc). Only catcher is a gap, and only for the first few months. So naturally, of course we lose our catcher for the first few months. Typical really.

He's also 29 and never sniffed the big leagues. I really know very little about Matt Spring, but that doesn't seem like a guy you give starting minutes. Hanigan is probably an objectively better option for a month or two. The Vazquez injury is incredibly disappointing because it's the one thing that could have gone the most wrong for us this Spring. I don't think anything else could have possibly hurt this franchise more.