First question. Sandy already identified that the current Mets catching staff was inadequate for a championship level team. And people said he couldn’t judge talent, HA!. So what does that mean for current Mets player Josh Thole and FA Kelly Shoppach?
Honestly, I can’t see the Mets giving up on Thole completely so most likely it means the end of Shoppach’s time in NY. A veteran catcher who can actually be more than just a backup could be needed.
Obviously there are two ways to fill that spot. One is through trade and I won’t even pretend to know who is actually available. The other possibility is through trade. Of course Alderson said that he did not expect any large FA contracts this off-season but lucky for the Mets there aren’t any starting catchers that would merit a large FA contract on the market.
With the Mets beginning to march towards a team, hopefully, based on pitching, speed and defense a veteran catcher would be a bonus for all the young pitching. So the answer to the need of a veteran catcher is the same as it has been for 3 years. Yes.
Now the next question: Who?
According to the MLBTR FA List
The following catchers are FA:
Catchers
Rod Barajas (37) – $3.5MM club option, no buyout
Henry Blanco (41) – $1.24MM mutual option
Gerald Laird (33)
Russell Martin (30)
Brian McCann (29) – $12MM club option with a $500K buyout
Jose Molina (37) – $1.5MM club option with a $300K buyout
Mike Napoli (31)
Miguel Olivo (34) – $3MM club option with a $750K buyout
Ronny Paulino (32)
A.J. Pierzynski (36)
Humberto Quintero (33)
David Ross (36)
Carlos Ruiz (34) – $5MM club option with a $500K buyout
Brian Schneider (36)
Kelly Shoppach (33)
Chris Snyder (32) – $4MM mutual option for 2013 with a $500K buyout
Yorvit Torrealba (34)
Matt Treanor (37)
Obviously some of those options guys are no brainer pickups. Example Carlos Ruiz, he’s not hitting FA. I would also assume that applies to McCann will return even with the 12M option. However, a guy like Barajas might be on a slippery slope earning 3.5M with no buyout attached, same with Miguel Olivo with a buyout under 1M.
So looking at those names, who do you think would be a fit. I don’t expect Napoli to leave. In fact the rumors are they have already agreed in principal to a deal. I also expect the Braves to re-sign Ross with McCann maybe needing shoulder surgery and see no reason that the Rays won’t keep Jose Molina. We know they Mets won’t go back to Barajas, Blanco, Schneider or Paulino. That leaves:
Laird, Martin, Pierzynski, Quintero, Shoppach, Snyder, Torrealba and Treanor.
Out of that group picking a starter?
Russell Martin’s BA even in the mockery of Yankee stadium has still gone down each year. He turned down a 3/20 deal and now many reports have him being forced to settle for a one year deal around 7.5M. That alone is most likely still too pricey for the Mets considering the production, or lack there of.
Kingman’s favorite Pierzynski will be a hard one to pry away from the White Sox. The NY native will be 36 this off-season and is having his best season since 2004. I would expect him to be looking for a 2-3 year deal to finish his career. He’s spent the last 8 years in Chicago so I would expect them to make a hard push for him returning. I would expect him to get an offer around 2/15 from the White Sox and would have to turn that down. While it might be a great idea if the Mets intended on competing in 2013, I don’t see them spending that much for A.J.
Quintero would actually have to take hitting lessons from Thole, so strike that name off. Snyder is certainly not a full time option nor is Treanor and Torrealba actually played for 3 teams this year alone.
So to me that narrows the list down to Shoppach who most do not view as a starting candidate and Laird who has not played a full season in quite some time. Personally I have always like Laird. He’s a RH catcher who traditionally hits LH pitching well and has been known as a good defensive catcher. At 32 he is actually one of the younger FA catchers. The question still remains could he handle a full load. However, keeping Thole to catch RA and the occasional starts versus RH could produce something along the lines of a 100 game to 62 game split between the two.
I have heard the options for trade and I have not been impressed. Most of the ones mentioned numbers actually match up well with Laird and at this point I can’t see trading actual talent for a mediocre catcher, and if trading for a good catcher in this market you would need to back up the truck.
So all this to say my two options would be Laird or Shoppach with Thole as the backup. Certainly not a championship caliber catching tandem. Good luck with that Sandy.
12 comments
SaltyGary
10/9/2012-10:18am at 10:18 am (UTC -4)
“inadequate for a championship level team” LOL!!!
Sure what we have is not the answer but the problem is most of the roster is not championship level. Since catching is so putrid across the MLB, they are going to get a better bang by trying to acquire talent to upgrade other positions.
I just wouldn’t hold my breath…
TRS86
10/9/2012-10:23am at 10:23 am (UTC -4)
I agree. That is why I find the fact that he said he is going to focus on the catching position odd. Granted many are reading too much into any of his comments right now. Like I said maybe there is a trade that could work for a guy like JP but honestly catching is so awful all around that even to get a mediocre catcher like JP you are going to have to pony up and the Mets need so much , I can’t even bare the thought of ponying up with any talent we have to trade in order to bring in .233 .275 .435 .710
srt
10/9/2012-11:20am at 11:20 am (UTC -4)
They might be focusing on trying to upgrade the catcher position – doesn’t mean they’re going to be successful.
That list is blah…either no better than what we have or the few that are, likely to cost big $$s. Something it looks like we’re not going to spend this off season.
Trying to make a deal to upgrade for the future would be welcome though. I don’t know everyone’s minor league system but maybe they can pick up a catching prospect who actually looks promising.
srt
10/9/2012-11:23am at 11:23 am (UTC -4)
Have to chuckle a bit though as we’ve actually had 4 of those catcher’s on our roster at one time.
Five if we’re counting Shoppach.
Seix if we’re counting Torrealba who we signed and then went back on.
Ceetar
10/9/2012-11:37am at 11:37 am (UTC -4)
Of course, the trick is to figure out who’s going to be productive next year, not sign who was productive this year and hope.
Thole will be 26. There’s no way they give up on him, and the Thole of prior to 2012 is useful. It’s worth evaluating why (concussion?) he was so bad this year and what needs to be fixed to get back to 2011. He started very strongly this year.
But signing a guy to get some of the Right-handed playing time isn’t as difficult as trying to find a regular catcher, and can also mean you can go a little older if you’re only looking for a guy for 40-50 games.
I wasn’t impressed with Shoppach, at all. Defensively or offensively.
Paul Festa
10/9/2012-1:24pm at 1:24 pm (UTC -4)
None of these guys really excite me. They’re all over 30 (save for McCann, who’s 29), and all are flawed.
Someone’s going to overpay for Napoli – I like him, but how do we know he’s not going to break down after a year and a half?
I like Pierzynski for a year, but he’s not a long term solution.
Robinson Cancel, anyone?
kingman 26
10/9/2012-1:37pm at 1:37 pm (UTC -4)
Totally agree with Paul. If affordable, Pierzynski for a year.
Some production, and possibly the first tough player this team has seen since the 1980s.
Seriously—change is desperately needed, and a player who has been on good teams and does not avoid contact like his life depends on it might be the very best thing for this sorry group.
Ceetar
10/9/2012-3:09pm at 3:09 pm (UTC -4)
Change for changes sake. The new moneyball.
darknova306
10/9/2012-3:44pm at 3:44 pm (UTC -4)
Josh Thole, even in his 2011 before coming into 2012 and getting the concussion, is trash. His value last year was his slightly better than average OBP, and the fact that he wasn’t the kind of disaster that Nickeas was. The problem is that the list above is full of either trash, players old enough to likely be trash soon, or guys that would cost more than the pennies scrounged in the Wilpons’ couch.
We have to pray that the Magical Unicorn of Unexpected Breakout Seasons smacks Josh around and gets him to play way over his real talent level. Just gotta accept that after Wright and Dickey have been traded and some piece of garbage reliever has been signed, the FO will be doing body shots off of Mexican hookers all winter.
Stickguy
10/9/2012-4:03pm at 4:03 pm (UTC -4)
that is a load of crap. That is why (along with not being active in FA) that I thought he was implying they were going to try and trade for someone. Ideally a young guy, just starting on the ML path, that they could build with as part of the foundation.
either that, or hope the polish guy moves up really fast!
though if the internal options are the hope, than guys like laird/pzerinsky (with Thole as the backup) for a year make more sense.
gategem
10/10/2012-12:31am at 12:31 am (UTC -4)
It would be outstanding if somehow the Mets could pull off a trade as they did back in October 19, 1965 when the proverbial player to be named later (Tom Parsons) and cash were sent to the Houston Astros for Jerry Grote. Grote developed into an outstanding defensive catcher, was brilliant handling pitchers and calling a game and contributed some timely hits. He was also one mean SOB.
Hazmet
10/10/2012-7:01pm at 7:01 pm (UTC -4)
I’m an advocate of using a pitch back. It saves money and might just have a better percentage throwing out runners.
Signed,
Your Friends “the Wilpon’s”