Catchers

by MixFMKyle on Jul 21, 2008 9:18 AM EDT

Josh Bard, Anyone?

San Diego is expected to activate Josh Bard from the DL this week, and will immediately place him on the trading block.

Bard struggled this year, but was pretty good the last couple of years (atleast with the bat). He is a switch hitter, but his splits this year indicate he is better from the left side.

Negatives are he is not that great throwing out base stealers, as he has only thrown out 19% runners on his career, but that is a bit skewed by a terrible 2007 number of only 8 %. He is also 30, maybe older than the Reds would want to go if they are going to trade for a catcher.

All 3 of our catchers are Free Agents after this year, and I don't really expect the Reds to resign any one of them to be a starter, maybe one to serve as a back up. (Most likely Bako).

Of course, Texas has 3 really good young catchers on their MLB roster right now. Taylor Teagarden, Max Ramirez, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. It would take atleast Homer Bailey and maybe another piece like a Chris Dickerson to make that happen.

I fear if we don't trade for one, we will be stuck with Michael Barrett next year.

Poll

What Catcher should the Reds target for next year and beyond?

Taylor Teagarden

11 votes

Max Ramirez

5 votes

Jarrod Saltalamacchia

16 votes

Josh Bard

1 votes

Michael Barret

2 votes

Other

10 votes

45 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 34 comments

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Comments

I don't know our minor leaguers as well as some

Would Ryan Hanigan be part of the discussion for next year? Could he possibly play in the bigs? Or maybe I should ask, would he really be that much of a downgrade from what we’ve got now?

by Brendanukkah on Jul 21, 2008 9:24 AM EDT 0 recs

Good point

I don’t think he would be a downgrade from Bako or Ross. Ross is kind of hard to figure out, he is pretty inconsistent. I watched Hanigan on the Triple A All Star game, he had a hit and made a nice play gunning out a base stealer. Can we even consider Valentin a catcher anymore? I don’t think he has caught in more than a month.

Find me on MySpace- http://www.myspace.com/mixfmkyle

by MixFMKyle on Jul 21, 2008 9:29 AM EDT up 0 recs

Bard is a free agent next year too

I wouldn’t trade any players to get him right now, but I’d consider him as an option next season.

It's a lousy night to be an atheist!

by Slyde on Jul 21, 2008 9:32 AM EDT 0 recs

I was mistaken

Bard is not a free agent. He has one year left of arbitration. I looked at one place and saw he wasn’t signed for 2009. I looked at BR.com and saw that he has played in 7 different seasons and I assumed that he would be a free agent. Just turns out that he barely played in a couple of those seasons and therefore still has under 6 years service time.

It's a lousy night to be an atheist!

by Slyde on Jul 21, 2008 10:15 AM EDT up 0 recs

i want to see how ross does the rest of the year before i make any decisions ....

he seems to be working better at the plate and not trying to crush everything out of the stadium. he calls a good game and is good at throwing out runners. if he can keep up the pace this year, why not keep him.

by joshuar9476 on Jul 21, 2008 9:36 AM EDT 0 recs

Ross did have his back problems earlier in the year

That might count for some of his poor performance to start the year, but we should also be wary that those back problems might be lingering.

by Brendanukkah on Jul 21, 2008 9:46 AM EDT up 0 recs

I want Teagarden

Just for the naught joke potential.

sig lines are for suckas

by jch24 on Jul 21, 2008 9:41 AM EDT 0 recs

imo

I am more concerned with having a catcher who can work well with the young pitchers then one who brings in a nice bat. Finding a guy who does both would likely cost a pretty penny. And I hope the day never comes where we trade a decent pitching prospect for a catcher.

by jacob brumfield on Jul 21, 2008 9:48 AM EDT 0 recs

Working well with young pitchers

Isn’t that Bako’s contribution to the team? That would be a notch in his favor to keep him next year over Ross. Is there any compelling reason to keep Javy around next year (or even past July 31)? All pinch-hitting arguments will be met with scorn.

by Brendanukkah on Jul 21, 2008 10:04 AM EDT up 0 recs

I think it would be worth it

If it was a good, young catcher.

Good catchers are scarcer than good pitchers these days.

All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?

by BubbaFan on Jul 21, 2008 5:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

09 FA catchers

Catchers(age)
Rod Barajas (33)
Michael Barrett (32)
Johnny Estrada (33)
Jason Kendall (35) – club option for ‘09; vests with 110 games played in ‘08
Paul Lo Duca (37)
Miguel Olivo (30) – $2.7MM club option for ‘09 with a $0.1MM buyout
Ivan Rodriguez (37)
David Ross (32)
Jason Varitek (37)
Gregg Zaun (38)

by jacob brumfield on Jul 21, 2008 9:48 AM EDT 0 recs

Jason Varitek is an All-Star!

I’d kind of like to get him, just to see how many All-Star votes he would get having a comparable season in Cincinnati.

by Brendanukkah on Jul 21, 2008 10:05 AM EDT up 0 recs

What would be the feasibility of getting a Teagarden or Salty?

I think snagging some of that young catching talent would be awesome, but wouldn’t the Rangers be more likely to give up Laird to make room for one of the young guns?

"My wife ain't never ran and got me no pheasant." - Fistbands

by BK on Jul 21, 2008 10:13 AM EDT 0 recs

Laird has been hurt, so they might not get much for him

but if the Reds offered Bailey or Thompson plus a minor prospect, they might be more willing to part with one of the young guys since they are trading from a strength to fill a weakness.

It's a lousy night to be an atheist!

by Slyde on Jul 21, 2008 10:16 AM EDT up 0 recs

If the Rangers had any more A pitchers lying around that they might want to toss in

I would be in favor of that.

by Brendanukkah on Jul 21, 2008 10:18 AM EDT up 0 recs

no way im trading a pitcher for a catcher

i see your point, i mean, we seriously need a decent catcher, but not at that price. here’s a scenario: the Rangers think they are still in this thing next week and we ship them Arroyo, and one of Affeldt/Fogg/Weathers for Teagarten and an A-level prospect. im just spitballing, but it looks decent from here.

please dont shit on my dreams. i dont want shit on my dreams.

by Charlie Scrabbles on Jul 21, 2008 12:27 PM EDT up 0 recs

umm...

i know that looks totally contradictory, but i meant a prospect pitcher in the subject line there.

please dont shit on my dreams. i dont want shit on my dreams.

by Charlie Scrabbles on Jul 21, 2008 12:28 PM EDT up 0 recs

I was just trying to refer to Volquez

Since he worked out all right for us. And yes, referring to him as an A ball pitcher is disengenuous since he was their top prospect, but whatever.

Work with me, people!

by Brendanukkah on Jul 21, 2008 1:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

oh yeah i picked up on that.

i was talking about the Bailey/Thompson for a catcher bit. but we could really use another guy like Volquez right about now, couldnt we? golly, that would be swell.

please dont shit on my dreams. i dont want shit on my dreams.

by Charlie Scrabbles on Jul 21, 2008 1:11 PM EDT up 0 recs

I would trade a pitching prospect for a catching prospect

if the catching prospect could play decent defense AND hit. I would say those guys are as rare as pitching prospects, especially if they are still under 24 like all of the Rangers catchers are. I think catcher is one of those positions where the Reds can make a serious upgrade without spending big bucks, if they can make a good deal. If they could get .260/.350/.400 out of their catchers, that would mean they wouldn’t have to pay for such a huge upgrade in the outfield to make up for the loss of Dunn and Griffey.

And while I’m not excited about trading a pitching prospect, the Reds have a solid 4 starters right now and I can tolerate a mix of question marks at the 5th spot. They are going to have to find creative ways to improve the offense though since I don’t think they are going to spend money on a big bat in the off-season.

But I agree that I’d probably offer Arroyo first if I’m making a deal, especially at the trading deadline. His problem is that his question marks involve future money – a risk some teams might not be willing to take.

It's a lousy night to be an atheist!

by Slyde on Jul 21, 2008 4:14 PM EDT up 0 recs

I think Tom Hicks will spend money though

See if we can get him bidding against himself, a la A-Rod.

by Brendanukkah on Jul 21, 2008 4:17 PM EDT up 0 recs

Maybe he will

it will be interesting to see what happens if the Rangers pick up a couple of games in the Wild Card over the next week. They are 5.5 out right now with 4 teams in front of them. I would bet they think of themselves as contenders, but they’ve allowed a full run more a game than the next worst team in the AL. Every team with pitching to trade has got to be talking to them.

It's a lousy night to be an atheist!

by Slyde on Jul 21, 2008 4:36 PM EDT up 0 recs

I think they'd do that deal, actually.

Everybody’s looking for starting pitching now, and Arroyo, by process of elimination, is becoming one of the better guys on the market. They’re not giving up Salty, and would get a solid guys to eat innings in Arroyo and a veteran reliever in Weathers. They still have lots of depth at C. If I’m Walt, I’m on the phone with them.

"My wife ain't never ran and got me no pheasant." - Fistbands

by BK on Jul 21, 2008 12:33 PM EDT up 0 recs

I'm guessing Walt is taking a nap right now

The Dusty Path to the World Series!*

*Note this is not an endorsment of Dusty Baker.

by justin007000 on Jul 21, 2008 1:27 PM EDT up 1 recs

nice

by jacob brumfield on Jul 21, 2008 2:14 PM EDT up 0 recs

He and Dusty sack out on the couches in the executive offices at Castellini Produce.

Everyday from 1pm – 4pm.

I don’t think we can a get a better catcher than Ross/Bako without giving up too much in the way of prospects. I wish we were growing our own catcher in AAA right now. I could live with the Ross/Bako combo for another year if Walt/Bob stay sane and keep this team pretty much together w/ the exceptions of Patterson, Griffey Jr. and half the bench.

My Indian name is "Runs For Beer'

by Madville on Jul 21, 2008 2:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

Question...

Why isn’t Ross at least a bit more highly regarded?

I hate to sound like shortstop here, but the guy isn’t hitting badly for a catcher, and he seems to have cut down on the strikeouts lately.

Hey Dusty...Are you sure you're OK? You might need an MRI.

by Paul Householder on Jul 21, 2008 2:27 PM EDT 0 recs

on mlbtraderumors.com, they have the japanese free agents available to the US next year

* Koji Uehara, SP/RP – NPB Tracker profiles him here. * Tomohiro Nioka, SS – We wrote a little bit about Nioka in October of ‘07. * Kenshin Kawakami, SP – East Windup Chronicle profiled him for us last year. * Hitoki Iwase, RP – That same post also covered Iwase. * Masahiro Araki, 2B – Hit .263/.296/.302 in ‘07 – not much with the bat. * Hirokazu Ibata, SS – Hit .296/.368/.393 in ‘07. * Ryoji Aikawa, C – Hit .302/.369/.353 in ‘07. * Tatsuhiko Kinjoh, OF – Hit .284/.349/.427 in ‘07.

that catcher looks awfully enticing ….

by joshuar9476 on Jul 21, 2008 3:13 PM EDT 0 recs

Anybody think that Bob will actually look to Japan for talent? Or that they would want to come to Ohio?

That slugging % seems pretty low, but the average and OBP look pretty decent for Aikawa. Anyone heard anything about his defense/arm? I’d kind of worry about having a Japanese catcher trying to handle all of these young Dominican pitchers, to be honest.

I like what I’ve heard about Uehara, Kawakami, and Iwase so far as well. Certainly we could make room on the pitching staff for one of them, right?

"My wife ain't never ran and got me no pheasant." - Fistbands

by BK on Jul 21, 2008 3:24 PM EDT up 0 recs

here's his career stats at japanesebaseball.com

link

by joshuar9476 on Jul 21, 2008 4:11 PM EDT up 0 recs

When George Jr. was a baseball exec he have to all the way to Japan

you may remember when he signed Paheli Ruhk (pictured) from the Punjab Panthers…better known as ‘Uncle Pookie’ he never made it past the frontier league. But there must hundreds of other catchers from the cricket leagues out there

My Indian name is "Runs For Beer'

by Madville on Jul 21, 2008 4:55 PM EDT up 0 recs

I don't think the cricket league in Japan is doing so well

by ken on Jul 21, 2008 7:49 PM EDT up 0 recs

Possibly

The Cardinals did sign Taguchi under his watch. For the most part I think the Japanese players are simply looking to play in MLB and are fine with playing in Middle America. Some may even prefer it to the fishbowls on the coasts.

Pass on Aikawa. He just turned 31 and didn’t hit before ‘07. Uehara is more intriguing. But he’s had health issues and has given up a lot of HRs while pitching in the Tokyo Dome (which I think is a pitcher’s park).

by ken on Jul 21, 2008 4:41 PM EDT up 0 recs

catchers

I’m not really interested in the Reds trading Bailey for any Texas catcher but Max Ramirez, and it might take more to net Ramirez.

With that said, I do like Teagarden a lot as a great defensive catcher with some potential for good offense. Big time prospect for prospect trades don’t happen very often.

FIRE DUSTY BAKER

by Blue on Jul 21, 2008 4:33 PM EDT 0 recs