IMO, they kept Leon pretty long as a testament to his value as a catcher who maximizes pitcher results. They certainly did not keep him for his hitting.
Plus, he started making about $2M a year, and they probably felt they could find a defensive catcher for cheaper. Now, Plawecki is getting near $2M and Vaz makes $7M, so let's see how they handle this.
My comps between Vaz and whoever his back-up were are not "all over the place." I keep a consistent min sample size requirement that both catcher must reach to make the study. I compare pitcher by pitcher, which is how it is supposed to be done to take our unbalanced sample sizes, and I go over every year since Vaz has been our catcher.
Yes, there is randomness. I have never claimed the numbers are all tied to pitcher-catcher relations, but when every single season shows 70-80% of the pitchers who meet the min requirements do better and many times much better with the catcher not named Vaz, I think it has meaning.
Then, I never said that "meaning" supersedes or should supersede all other factors in valuing a catcher. I have never called for making Vaz the back-up.
You guys are blowing up the significance I place on CERA and COPS data. I am merely saying it should be part of the placing value matrix, along with contract cost, offense and other defensive values.
There is a lot of data that shows Vaz is not handling the staff as well as his back-up. That's not the same as saying he sucks handling the staff- just that he has not been as good as the other catcher. If Leon was great- maybe Vaz was still good.
You can choose to deny it or try to misuse overall CERA data all you want, but facts are facts.