4
2011
The Mets Catching Situation
An article by 
In a Mets offseason that will be dominated by one huge name—Jose Reyes—other major needs may go overlooked.
That’s partially because the Mets will try hard to keep Reyes and also because the team is still not financially sound.
When we think of the Mets roster, we immediately say we need pitching, pitching and more pitching.
However, a strong catcher is key to a good pitching staff.
If the season started tomorrow, Josh Thole and Ronny Paulino (assuming he’s offered arbitration) would once again split time behind the dish. Mike Nickeas would be the right-handed hitting option if the team moved on from Paulino.
The main factor here is Thole. In his short career, he has garnered a reputation as being an incredibly streaky player.
He goes through stretches at the plate where he just doesn’t make outs, and then he’ll strike out four consecutive times.
Defensively, he’ll call a great game one night, and then drop routine balls the next. One thing he certainly needs to work on is throwing out base stealers.
When looking at the numbers, Thole hit a very respectable .268 on the year. He’s not a power guy or a run producer, but he’s a strong contact hitter.
As for Paulino, it was really a lost season. He missed games due to his suspension for performance enhancing drugs and due to injury. He drove in just 19 runs in 78 games.
Based on the Mets pressing needs in other areas and the lack of any dynamite catchers on the market, the Amazins’ might be best off just letting Thole, who is still only 24, continue to work through his mistakes.
Defensively challenged Ryan Doumit, the aging Ramon Hernandez and Jason Kendall, and the ancient Pudge Rodriguez highlight the catcher’s market. Most of the other free agent catchers are basically all backups.
The thing with Thole is that he’d be a perfectly respectable option for a team with a strong lineup. When Jason Bay is batting fourth for your team, guys like Thole are expected to be offensive forces, which they simply are not.
So while we may not hear too much from the catching front this offseason based on the situation, the position could use an upgrade.
But for now, Thole is our guy.
About the Author: Jim Mancari
Jim Mancari hails from Massapequa, N.Y. He recently earned a Master's degree in Journalism at Hofstra University. He is a devout Mets fan and takes pride in his team, despite their lack of success over the last few years. Like all Mets fans, Jim has plenty of hope. He also writes as the sports reporter for the Brooklyn Tablet newspaper and the senior editor of metroBASEBALL Magazine. Click my name to view my personal website.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 28 | .600 | - |
| Nationals | 34 | 35 | .493 | 7.5 |
| Phillies | 34 | 37 | .479 | 8.5 |
| Mets | 25 | 40 | .385 | 14.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 47 | .319 | 19.5 |
Last updated: 06/18/2013
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henry blanco agrees to deal with dbacks for $1.2 mil
Well there goes Blanco. Not bad price too and he would have been an upgrade over the defensively challenged Paulino. Blanco not only would have been a nice veteran righty to work with Thole but would have helped the pitching staff like he did last year and be.
Boy Alderson is just sooo smart. He’s really ahead of the pack.
haha, you know you are BEGGING to be critical when you start a post with “Well there goes Blanco”
He’s 40 years old………..
and 2 years ago with the mets he could only play 1-2 games per week. More of a glorified coach than anything else for a while there.
But hey, he’s good enough for the 1st place D-Backs but not good enough for Mets.
yeah okay. Nevermind he may HELP Thole play better and play more and may be needed for only 1-2 games a week anyway. And they usually play 5-6 games a week so it’s not like it’s much less than playing every other day so yeah, you can pencil him in for close to 200 ABs give or take. So?
Now that Boston has a strong rookie catcher, I wonder if Saltalamaccia could be available?
Can’t say Salty would be a marked improvement for us.
Yep, 40 year old Blanco who is good enough to handle the 1st place Diamondbacks pitching staff and helped handle the Mets staff of 2010 evidently is not good enough to help the Mets for one season at 1.1 million.
Handling their pitching staff? He had 112 PAs last year. He started 31 games.
It is one thing to prefer Blanco to Paulino, but don’t be ridiculous and build Blanco up as some kind of game changer.
In what world do you live in where a 40 year old who played in less than 40 games at catcher is a guy who is “handling the pitching staff”?
You understand the DBacks don’t NEED him to play right? They have this catcher named Miguel Montero, maybe you heard of him? The DBacks backup Catcher is a BACKUP catcher, not a platoon type player or a guy who may need to start like the Mets need.
Blanco is getting paid to play when Montero needs a day off, he had 112 plate appearances in 2011! What is your obsession with every single player having to be signed by the Mets? Really you’re making a stink about Henry Blanco right now? Really?
Through June 30th, Paulino had 36 hits which is MORE than Blanco had through September! The difference between them? Paulino got paid to play, Blanco gets paid to rescue. If you’re telling me you think Thole is a 145 game starting catcher then fine go pout about Blanco. But we all know he’s not.
Paulino played in 78 games in 2011. The last time Blanco played in 78 games was 2004!
Seriously man… Henry Blanco?
What do you expect Jessep.Consider the source.
Rah Rah sisk boom bah go jessup go jessup blah blah blah!
I bet you and donal look cute in frilly dresses and waving pom poms!
Getting a “stud” catcher or prospect is not going to happen unless we put our better prospects in the deal. We might be better off at this time having Thole and Nickeas do the catching. They might not be Gary Carter or Mike Piazza, but a Jerry Grote or J. Stearns types would do.
At this point, I’d be happy with Barry Lyons and Mackey Sasser.
Wow you sure do know how to insult a couple of good players. Thole and Nickeas being compared to Grote and Stearns is laughable. We could only hope they were half as good as them.
Blanco for 1.1 million would have been a decent investment IF you believe that Thole can eventually become a catcher. Paulino STINKS defensively, bad defense and bad handling of pitchers costs the Mets more games than his bat ever helped win. Blanco and his defense would be responsible for more wins by helping whenever he can than Paulino giving us 350 ABs.
Are you just making stuff up now?
Henry Blanco is a 40 year old backup to one of the best catchers in the entire league right now. He’s getting paid to be an old man who plays whenever the young stud needs a day off. Josh Thole has yet to prove he can even play 130+ games.
Yet you want a backup catcher who has to be woken up from a nap to play because he proved in less than 40 games played in 2011 that he can be a starter for the Mets?
By the way, when Blanco had at least 3 Plate appearances for the Division winning DBacks, they went 10-15.
What Bayonne is saying is that if the Mets feel Josh Thole is the catcher of the future that Blanco would be a great mentor for him…..and not only to Thole, but to the rest of the Mets young pitching staff.
Last year, the Mets pitchers were raving about how good of a catcher he was.
Mike Pelfrey on Henry Blanco:
“He’s pretty unbelievable back there. I’m probably not as good as he made it look, but, he did a good job. Another thing about him that was huge is he came over to me between innings… we communicated, and I think that’s huge for learning.”
“Henry Blanco really is a student of the game,” says Met pitcher Mike Pelfrey who is off to a 3-0 start, “and it has meant the world to me.He is also a meticulous preparer as he will tell me what hitters in the lineup lunge on 0-2 counts, for instance, and it has already helped me on numerous occasions. Blanco also possesses the ability to cut down base stealers and in two instances this year, has short-circuited potential big innings with absolute laser beam throws nailing potential thieves.”
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/1272/barajas-and-blanco-get-rave-reviews
http://www.metsblog.com/2010/04/16/quote-mike-pelfrey-gives-credit-to-henry-blanco/
And I believe Pelfrey called Sandy Alderson last offseason to tell him to keep Blanco because he helped him so much.
So I don’t know why your making fun of Bayonne for saying it would have been a nice to have Blacno back, because he would help Thole and the rest of the Mets pitching staff.
Pelfrey’s the guy who stands up for Warthen, right?
And its not that Bayonne thinks Blanco would be a good pick up, it’s why he thinks it and how badly he’s over selling it.
Do you or jessep have any better ideas for catcher? Or are you just going to sit back and laugh at somebody who does?
And I’d rather have Thole play 130 and Blanco 32, than Thole and Paulino each playing 81.
Vinny, is your own fault for actually replying to anything these 2 dbags have to say.. by now you should’ve known they are the know it all of this blog, if you don’t agree with them on what they’re saying about baseball you’re uneducated, they call you a fool or they go and send you to learn english…
i wish i can meet jesse face to face.. i’d like to see how arrogant he is when facing a person face to face…
He wouldn’t be,
the Slippery Eel is like the Dr. Smith of MMO.
Remember the show Lost In Space with Will Robinson and the robot going “Danger, Danger’
jessep would be Dr. Smith – the slimy guy you wouldn’t trust for a nannosecond and who would weasel his way out of any situation even if it meant ratting out his friends.
I couldn’t care less if Blanco replaces Paulino, if Thole is going to give us 130+ games. But, how likely is that? His splits are terrible.
The issue here is drama queens rending garments over not jumping on a 40 year old bench coach with shin guards.
The Diamondbacks also re-upped John McDonald. Are we crying over him too?
Besides, we have no idea if Paulino will be back. He’s arb eligible this year and may be non-tendered.
It’s not just Pelfrey that loves him:
http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/backup-blanco-is-the-perfect-catch-for-mets-1.1773683
“Johan Santana credits Henry Blanco with helping him win his first Cy Young Award in 2004 with the Twins.
Geovany Soto insists it was Blanco’s guidance that made it possible for him to earn the 2008 Rookie of the Year award with the Cubs.”
“He encouraged me to believe in myself,” Santana said. “I remember one time when he told me, ‘Don’t be afraid to throw the ball anywhere. I get paid to catch the ball. You get paid to throw it, so you better do what I tell you.’ I was like, all right, let’s go.”
Nifty, let him retire and he can join the coaching staff.
He can still play – Who would rather have Paulino?
Yeah, that’s a much better idea.
He’s 40, how much can he really play?
Besides? Who cares? He had 112 PAs last season. We have plenty of old guys who where uniforms but don’t play. they’recalled coaches.
He’s still playing good D…and he actually hit pretty good last year.
Please tell us what catcher you’d like to see the Mets sign. Instead of judging other peoples ideas, and giving none of your own.
He hit pretty good? .250 in 112 PAs is supposed to impress us?
This is complaining for the sake of complaining.
he hit for a lot of power…..but of course you don’t mention that.
And his hitting isn’t suppose to impress you. You sign him to mentor Thole and the pitching staff, and to provide good defense when Thole’s not playing.
Because it was 112 PAs. That pretty much trumps any type of sort of argument you can make about his production.
And he’s not going to play 60+ games. He’s 40. The only way he’s mentoring Thole is as a coach.
And it’s not complaning for the sake of complaning, it’s a very good suggestion.
To have an experienced, veteran, catcher like Blanco to mentor, a very inexperienced catcher like Thole, is a very good idea.
Players like Santana, Pelfrey, Montero, and Soto all praised Blanco, and talked about how much he has helped their careers….So saying to bring in a guy like Blanco to help Thole, isn’t something that should be mocked.
You don’t get it….we are saying to sign him as a backup, why don’t you get that? If we are going to sign him, we aren’t expecting him to play 60 games.
And I’m still waiting to hear your ideas on how we should get insetad – Who else out there is better than Blanco?
“who” we should get instead, not “how”.
“And it’s not complaning for the sake of complaning,”
Expressing a desire for Henry Blanco is not complaining for the sake of complaining.
Rending garments and demeaning the FO because some team resigned their 40 year old bench warming player/coach is complaining to complain.
“You don’t get it….we are saying to sign him as a backup, why don’t you get that? If we are going to sign him, we aren’t expecting him to play 60 games.”
And the Mets don’t need a back up they need a platoon guy…why don’t you get that?
“And I’m still waiting to hear your ideas on how we should get insetad – Who else out there is better than Blanco?”
anybody not 40? How about Ryan Doumit? His defense is average at best, but he’s younger and even with all his injuries, still had more games than Blanco lat year.
Hell, Jose Molina. He can play 60 games, hits well enough for a platoon guy and plays pretty decent defense.
Doumit is a terrible defensive catcher.
…..and wait, you don’t want Blanco because he’s 40, but you want Molina who’s 37.
What a great argument.
That’s just really funny.
You mock somebody for saying Blanco would have been a good signing, and then when somebody asks you “who would you rather have?”, one of the guys you come up with is Jose Molina. lol.
3 or 4 years is a lifetime for professional athletes. Also, Molina played more games than Blanco last year. He also hits better and plays good defense.
HAHAHA I’m sure it does seem like a lifetime to you!
Thats about right from the best I can tell from your posts!
4-5 years would most certainly be YOUR LIFETIME!
Vinny let me ask you. What are your thoughts on Pirates catcher Chris Snyder? I haven’t heard much on him as far as how his rehab is progressing but if he is doing well would you give him a look see?
I don’t like him – He’s a big injury risk, and isn’t that good of a hitter(.231 career average), and his defense isn’t bad, but it’s not great either.
Thx 4 da reply. I don’t really know much about him but I forget where that I saw something about him being good defensively. So with him being a Righty bat I wondered what others thought of him.
Vinny – Two things (well maybe more than 2)
A) Blanco is 40 years old. FORTY YEARS OLD. The Mets have a starting catcher who likely wouldn’t start on probably half of the teams in the NL.
The don’t need a guy to fill in for 30 games here or there, they need a guy to fill in for 65-70+! Blanco can’t do that! The Diamondbacks don’t need him to do that.
I don’t doubt he can be very educational, but you’re talking about a guy who will sit on the bench for 120+ games.
When he was here, Thole wasn’t even the starter.
In that interview you post here is a quote for you
“I just want a ring,” Blanco said.
So tell me right now that signing with the Mets in 2012 would give Blanco a better shot than signing with the DBacks?
He is a 40 year old catcher, and to even give a thought that the Mets made a mistake by not signing him is just petty and critical for the sake of being critical.
Any team that signs Blanco isn’t siging him to be a starter. The Mets would sign him to mentor Thole, and the young pitchers we have – I think it would have been a very good move if the Mets would have kept him.
Blanco could help Thole much like he helped Monetero this. Read this:
“One of the sometimes-forgotten aspects of Montero’s rise is the guidance he has received from the veteran Blanco, who signed in the off-season after spending 2010 with the New York Mets. Earlier in the year, when Montero was having trouble throwing out runners, Blanco helped him overcome that hurdle.
“I think it’s a perfect situation,” Sherlock said. “I think Henry’s like a big brother to him, somebody that has the experience and has done what Henry has done in the game, and he can share those things with Miggy.”
Montero says that Blanco has offered “outstanding” advice. It basically amounted to: You’re not going to throw everybody out, but when you cut down two or three in a row, things will fall into place.”
http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2011/09/15/arizona-diamondbacks-miguel-montero-making-huge-strides/
HUGE deal breaker find!
Didn’t he already mentor Thole?
Vinny, as I said above. I don’t doubt his ability to be a coach. But at the end of the day, Thole is not Montero and the Mets don’t have a catching situation that allows them the luxury of signing a 40 year old that they only need to play in 30 games.
That just is not the case here. If your telling me Blanco is there to mento then I answer with the question of what are the coaches jobs?
Would I rather pay Paulino 1.1 mil or Blanco 1.1m, you bet I would rather pay Paulino because he’s there to play not to dress in uniform as a formality.
But how is Paulino’s defense any better than Thole’s?
If I had a choice between starting a terrible defensive catcher for 162 Games(Thole and Paulino). Or starting a terrible defensive catcher for 130, and a very good one for 32(thole and Blanco)…..I’ll go with the 130 games of terrible D.
The Dbacks lost almost 100 games the year before Blanco signed with them.
So if Blanco only wanted to play for a good team, he wouldn’t have signed with them last offseason.
40 years old?!??!??!??!
Jeez better call the Coroner he must be dead by now!
I can’t wait till you hit 40 dude and when you go for a job you have expereience in some 23 year old who thinks like you hires some other 23 year old who has no clue how to di the job but gets it because your TOO OLD!
That day is coming for you man and by then it will be too late for you and us.
So Metsie are you now implying that a 40 year old baseball player is not ancient in his profession?
No Jessup I’m implying that SOMETIMES a 40yo guy with EXPERIENCE brings more to the table than some KID!
Are you implying a kid can handle our Pitching staff better than an experienced Vet can?
You don’t seem to care about experience at all!
Past 29 and he’s useless to you!
Yet the conversation regarding Catchers (and Blanco) was about having a guy who has the EXPERIENCE and KNOWLEDGE of how to call a good game for guys like Pelfrey and Niese who seem to need it! You know those KIDS you think are so much better than we don’t need any 40 year olds?
1) We are talking about professional athletes here. Most guys Blanco’s age with his job are retired.
2) 23 year olds are generally not in a position to hire people. At least, not at any company I’d work for.
Yeah and most kids your age are not allowed to post in the internet either!
We are talking about EXPERIENCE which some 29 year old doesn’t have!
We are talking about EXPERIENCE of a 40 year old to help a bunch of KIDS learn how to pitch in the MLB!
And I wouldn’t worry too about who is going to be your boss in the future. If the attitude you exhibit here in your posts is showed at the job interview Age will be the least of your problems where employment is involved!
“We are talking about EXPERIENCE which some 29 year old doesn’t have!”
29 is actually fairly experienced for a baseball player who has stuck around and played everyday. Most guys become full time at what, 24? If he’s playing everyday, that is 5 years on the big league level.
“We are talking about EXPERIENCE of a 40 year old to help a bunch of KIDS learn how to pitch in the MLB!”
We’re talking about a guy who cannot possibly fit the position as a platoon player. We have old guys in uniforms that don’t play. Coaches.
“Yeah and most kids your age are not allowed to post in the internet either!”
“And I wouldn’t worry too about who is going to be your boss in the future. If the attitude you exhibit here in your posts is showed at the job interview Age will be the least of your problems where employment is involved!”
More pearls of wisdom from the guy who defends Carl Crawford and thinks not making the playoffs is better than making the play offs.
“29 is actually fairly experienced for a baseball player who has stuck around and played everyday”
You go right on thinking that son!
And no the average entry age in the MLB is 26 which means at 29 he only has 3 years of experience!
Far cry from 14! nearly THREE TIMES the experience!
In three years you have not had enough time to understand yet how DIFFERENT TYPE Pitchers need to pitch to be effective!
Hey be respectful of the 40′s you’ll be there one day too!!!lolol
I have an idea – Jamie Moyer will be available we can have sign Moyer to throw just to Blanco and get a discount from AARP………
I’m glad that we did NOT sign a 40 year old catcher, no matter what Santana said 8 years ago and Pelfrey said (all of a sudden now Pelfrey has any credibility to listen to what he has to say?)
Well, he has more credibility than you, Jessep, and Donal have – That’s for sure.
And what about what Montero said just said about him last year? Montero was ALWAYS a bad defensive catcher, and this year he improved, and he credits some of that to Blanco….and I believe he can help Thole just like he did with Montero.
plus Blanco can still play – His skills haven’t diminished despite his age…he still has a cannon for an arm….and last year was probably his best hitting season in his career.
Vinny,
Those guys like the slippery eel and the parrot just look at numbers and things at face value, they’re not capable of looking at things from any baseball insight because they don’t know the game that well. They like it more because of being fans than actual understanding of the game.
If the team is planning on turning Thole into a serviceable catcher, because he is NOT one now, Blanco would be an asset for every reason you mentioned and like i mentioned before. His on and off the field presence, his defensive contributions and his work with Thole would be beneficial to the team and pitching staff.
And with the fences being moved in he can still help offensively. And relatively speaking for what we need I don’t think his age is going to be that much of a factor. He would have been a smart signing for only 1.1 million and the Mets could have moved on.
They just look at Paulino’s offensive stats but Paulino hurt this team more with his lack of catching skills then he helped with his bat i bet.
Those guys don’t know anything and all they’re good for is smart alec retorts.
i’m mocking the fact that we’re throwing our hands in the air, stomping our feet and blowing our nose in a hanky over the fact the Diamondbacks signed a 40 year old catcher to be the backup to one of the best C’s in the game right now.
As if the fact they didn’t sign Henry fricken Blanco is a sign that Sandy Alderson hates all things Mets and is determined to fail. It’s ridiculous… every time a player goes to another team we’ll read about “why didn’t the Mets get him?”
you’re right, we can always go and draft players like eamus from the rule V to fill a need. that is so much cheaper and smarter.
And I’m still waiting to see what your ideas are for the Mets catcher situation.
Why don’t you tell us who you want? instead of just sitting back and laughing at people who do have ideas.
actually one of the most important keys to any baseball teams’s success is a solid catcher. I wouldn’t even want to risk going into a season without a solid defensive catcher.
So it’s one of the more important decisions outside of Reyes that this front office can make.
Lock it up. I am suggesting complaining the Mets did not sign Henry Blanco to more than 1.15 million dollars in the winter of 2011 is the most petty and idiotic complaint I have EVER heard from Mets fans.
Seriously, how sad is life that you’re looking at the DBacks and Henry Blanco with envy right now? I mean are you kidding me right now?
He is 40 years old, plays less than 40 games and if anything ever happened to Thole you’d need to sign ANOTHER catcher because your backup is 40 years old.
Agreed. Blanco has AARP on speed dial at this point.
30 games a year is “solid”?
He played only 30 games because one of their best hitters is a catcher…..You expect the dbacks to sit Montero, to put Blanco in?
He can play more than 30 – with the Mets he played 50, and the year before that he played 67.
He maybe old, but he can still play, and his skills haven’t diminished despite his age.
Why do you think he can play 60+ games? He’s done it once in 5 years.
I didn’t say that – I said he could play more than 30, not 60.
Too bad, because that is what we’ll most likely need.
Nickeas and Paulino combined for 99 games 72 starts and 307 PAs.
You think Blanco can do that?
Thole could start 112, and Blanco could start 50.
That’s fine.
Not for the Mets he can’t.
Seriously, why are you fighting so hard for Henry Blanco? He’s old, not that good and on another team.
Why? Because your twisting and spinning what I’m saying into something completley different – That’s why.
No, I’m addressing it at face value.
What Bayonne said:
“Well there goes Blanco. Not bad price too and he would have been an upgrade over the defensively challenged Paulino. Blanco not only would have been a nice veteran righty to work with Thole but would have helped the pitching staff like he did last year and be.”
Now, here’s what your twisting and spining it into:
“OH, CALAMITY! WHY DID WE NOT SIGN HENRY BLANCO?! DAMN, MONEYBALL ALDERSON! DAMN YOU TO THE BOWELS OF HELL!”
That’s spinning and twisting what somebody is saying.
I’d take: Laird, Paulino, Barajas, Hernandez, Pudge, Navarro. Truth be told, I think there are more important things for the Mets FO to worry about then Catcher when/if they have Paulino still.
I do not think Paulino/Thole is any better or worse than any other realistic combo out there and if leaving that spot be means you can worry about the other real problems then so be it.
But you won’t ever see me stomp my feet and pout about the fact the Mets do NOT sign a guy who will play in 30 games and is 40 years old
I don’t know how you can mock somebody because they say Blanco would have been a good move, and then say you’d want Paulino back.
You can agree or disagree on Blanco, fine, but to make fun of somebody because of that, is ridiculous, and even more ridiculous when your guy is RONNY PAULINO.
Nobody is stomping their feet, and pouting about not signing Blanco – your exaggerating…here’s what he said about him.
“Well there goes Blanco. Not bad price too and he would have been an upgrade over the defensively challenged Paulino. Blanco not only would have been a nice veteran righty to work with Thole but would have helped the pitching staff like he did last year and be.”
He’s just saying it would have been a nice move…and at the end he was making fun of the people who defend Alderson – He isn’t as upset about this as your making it out to be.
Vinny, there is a difference between saying you’d prefer Blanco to Paulino and crying “OH, CALAMITY! WHY DID WE NOT SIGN HENRY BLANCO?! DAMN, MONEYBALL ALDERSON! DAMN YOU TO THE BOWELS OF HELL!”
“Nobody is stomping their feet, and pouting about not signing Blanco – your exaggerating…here’s what he said about him.”
Have you actually read Bayonne’s comments? Here and the shoutbox?
What Bayonne said:
“Well there goes Blanco. Not bad price too and he would have been an upgrade over the defensively challenged Paulino. Blanco not only would have been a nice veteran righty to work with Thole but would have helped the pitching staff like he did last year and be.”
Now, here’s your twisting and spining it into:
“OH, CALAMITY! WHY DID WE NOT SIGN HENRY BLANCO?! DAMN, MONEYBALL ALDERSON! DAMN YOU TO THE BOWELS OF HELL!”
So, yes, you are exaggerating.
No we are doing all that because THEY SIGNED SOMEONE!
And all we have accomplished so far is AVOIDING signing someone!
There have been 4 free agents signed since Tuesday. 2 by Arizona (Blanco and McDonald), and one each by the Pirates and Dodgers.
Are all 27 of the other teams “avoiding signing someone”?
I guess the CC sabathia extention doesn’t count here does it?
Semantical stupidity because they didn’t wait until he was FA to sign him is that what your doing here?
TYPICAL!
Fine. 26. Huge difference.
Fine. 26. Huge difference. That changes everything.
Yep 3 years of experience compared to 14!
HUGE DIFFERENCE!!!!!
NEARLY THREE TIMES THE EXPERIENCE!
what?
Yeah english is a tough one for newborns isn’t it?
And for the hard of thinking, too. But don’t worry, you’ll get it someday.
No, I was not comparing them as they are. Grote WAS the best defensive catcher we ever had. Stearns was a decent catcher with some pop and high energy. I said if they became that good, I would be happy.
Perhaps the Mets could make a run at Colorado’s catching prospect Wilin Rosario. According to scouting reports, he is a solid backstop with an outstanding arm. Can’t vouch for his work with pitchers, as he’s still young. But he may be someone we can bring along as Thole continues to develop.
If there happens to be a David Wright trade to the Rockies, you know Rosario is going to be in the deal
We have big problems with pitching and catching staff, as seen with Mike Pelfrey’s numbers. Teams last year ran wild on the Mets
Look at these numbers:
In 2009, Pelfrey had 16 SB, 6 CS, for 27% CS.
In 2010, Pelfrey had 12 SB, 5 CS, for 29% CS.
In 2011, Pelfrey had 29 SB, 2 CS, for 6% CS.
Between Mike Pelfrey, Dan Warthen, Josh Thole, and our other catchers, we’ve got to get this mess fixed. As background information, Henry Blanco in 2010 threw out 50% of the 22 attempts while he was catching for the Mets. In Rod Barajas’ 2010 season, he threw out just 15% of the 27 attempts while he was behind the plate. Henry Blanco has just signed with another team, but he could have helped. Barajas doesn’t have the good numbers.
Josh Thole had a CS% over the 2009, 2010, 2011 time frame of 33%, 44%, and 21% respectively. We need a big improvement over last year’s low number.
Is Molina #3 a FA? Don;t care if he cannot hit. I want a defense first guy back there.
According to Cots Baseball Contracts, the following catchers are available for 2012:
* – player whose current contract includes 2012 option
Rod Barajas LAD
Henry Blanco ARI
Ramon Castro CWS
Ryan Doumit PIT
Ramon Hernandez CIN
Jason Kendall KC
Gerald Laird STL
Jose Molina TOR
Yadier Molina STL *
Dioner Navarro LAD
Jorge Posada NYY
Ivan Rodriguez WAS
Brian Schneider PHI
Kelly Shoppach TB *
Chris Snyder PIT *
Matt Treanor KC
Jason Varitek BOS
Gerald Laird. That’s the guy. Very light hitting, but he can bunt, and plays excellent defense. That’s my pick. Gerald Laird.
With most of the pitchers right-handed, anyway, Thole should still start 120 games even if you find someone better with the stick to platoon him with. Blanco would have a bad choice for many reasons, Doumit would have been a terrible choice, Jose Molina would have been slightly better than Blanco, but still not good. Laird is 31 and can stick around for a while if he proves himself.
Gerald Laird has a lifetime CS% of 37% …. Pretty good.
Laird is available and had a contract with the Cardinals for $1.1M in 2011 with $0.3M in performance bonuses.
I really wonder how much better the pitching could be if the Mets had a good catcher. Thole would be a back up on any other team. The Mets need a catcher who can help develop young pitchers. One that calls good games.
I don’t see the mets competing for a playoff spot in 2012, let’s give the kid a chance to work out the kinks defensively, calling a game, throwing out runners etc. From what I’ve seen, I don’t expect his offensive statistics to improve too much, although he could work on being a little less streaky. Blanco did seem like a pretty good mentor, but I’m not about to claim I’m actually that upset that we didn’t pursue him. If anything, I’m still bitter about the Mets letting go of Ramon Castro. What’s that? He’s a free agent? Forget everything I said, sign him to play 161 with a 1 game return of the ninja turtle Robinson Cancel.
The catcher we need to sign if not one of the Molina brothers why not go for a one year deal with Pudge Rodrigue he can still learn from pudge and catcher coach.