17
2012
MMO Fan Shot: Two Solutions to the Mets Catching Problems
An article by 
One of the major weaknesses of the New York Mets is the catching position. Starter Josh Thole has produced nothing offensively and is poor defensively. Backups Mike Nickeas and Rob Johnson struggle just to hit over the Mendoza line. Newly acquired catcher Kelly Shoppach isn’t awful, but we would be kidding ourselves to think that he is a long term solution at catcher. And to make matters worse, there are no catching prospects in the minors that are even close to being major league ready.
So, what can the Mets do to solve their catching problems? I have two ideas. One is impending free agent Mike Napoli. He would instantly turn the Mets dreadful catching situation into a strength. Napoli is arguably the best power hitting catcher in the game. He has the most home runs among all catchers since 2008. He’s hitting .223 with 17 HR and 40 RBI in 92 games. His numbers are down a little this year because he’s been playing through a quad injury. But last year he was phenomenal, hitting .320 with 30 HR and 75 RBI in only 113 games. Napoli will not only fill the Mets need behind the plate, but he will also address the Mets need for a good RH power bat – Wright is the only RH power bat in the lineup, so adding Napoli would make the Mets lineup stronger and more balanced. He is also solid defensively. Ranger’s pitchers like Scott Feldman and Derek Holland have raved about his ability to call a great game and his good receiving skills.
Napoli won’t come cheap though, he will command a lot of money. He’s said that he’s looking for a deal somewhere between Victor Martinez’s 4-year, $50 Million contract and Yadier Molina’s 5-year, $75 Million deal. But I feel he will be worth every penny since he will make one of the weakest points of the team into a strength and will give us another RH power bat that we desperately need.
My other idea to solve the Mets catching problems is J.P Arencibia from Toronto. He could be available because they have another catcher, Travis ‘dArnaud, who is their organization’s top prospect. Arencibia is 26 years old and is now currently in his 2nd year starting. Arencibia has rare power for a catcher, he has the potential to be a 30 HR hitter. In his rookie season he hit 23 HR and 78 RBI, and this year has 16 HR and 50 RBI in 81 games. His average is low, only .242 this year, but I can live with that if he he’s hitting 20-30 homers a year. He also struggled defensively in his rookie season, but has made a lot of improvements this season. Blue Jays manager, John Farrell said the strides he has made defensively this year have been remarkable. His CS% percentage is one of the best in the league, and has twice been able to throw a runner out from his knees.
I’m not sure exactly how much Toronto would need to trade Arencibia, but I think we have enough ammo to get a deal done. We have a lot of pitching depth in the minors that we could trade (like Familia, Tapia, etc.). Or we could trade some of the hitters we have on the major league team like Murphy or Valdespin. I’d hate to trade any of those guys, but Arencibia will fill one of our biggest needs, and it’s very rare to find a catcher with his kind of power potential.
This Fan Shot was submitted by MMO reader, Vinny B. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 12 thousand Mets fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to GetMetsmerized@aol.com. Or ask about being a regular contributor, and share your opinions with an engaging community that loves to debate
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 23 | 18 | .561 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 19 | .548 | 0.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 22 | .476 | 3.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 23 | .410 | 6.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 31 | .262 | 12.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
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Napoli is the better player , but he costs more money then arencibia too. I like both of them but seeing Napoli at home plate in a mets uniform would be a big deal, a big impulse , the next big mets catcher , it would be awesome !!!
Angelo: tell me how much the Mets will spend in the off season? Without that information all we are doing is making up a fantasy team. Nothing more and nothing less.
i thought it aint about the possibilty in this one
Locking up catchers to long term deals is almost as risky as pitchers.
Dealing for JP sounds like the better option of the 2. One sticking point would be that Toronto has one of the best farms in MLB and they could be picky as to who they’ll take.
OVERALL THE METS HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH 2 VERY PRODUCTIVE LONG TERM EXPERIENCES WITH PRODUCTION OUT OF THE #2 POSITION IN CARTER & PIAZZA.
I BELIEVE WE’D BE MORE LIKELY BETTER SERVED BY GOING THE ROUTE WE TOOK WITH BARAJAS & BLANCO, 2 SERVICABLE RECEIVERS EXPERIENCED EXCELLENT GAME CALLERS RATHER THAN THE UINEXPERIENCE OF THOLE & NICKEAS/JOHNSON MORE CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE 3 MONKIES “SEE,HEAR & SPEAK NO EVIL”
I think Joe sent a similar question to some writers and you’ll see I mentioned Napoli also. My worry with him is I’d rather have a good defensive catcher with below average #’s than a bad defensive catcher with average at best offensive #’s.
He’s not very good behind the dish… he had that 1 break out year, but how much of that was a fluke? Because if you look his numbers are more likely to be how they are now…
AJ Pierzynski is a veteran C I’d be curious about.
I like the JP idea but I do worry about his price tag.
I love Napoli but we have a fiscal issue with the money owed Santana and Bay. I am thinking that we just don’t have the capitol and Napoli will sign elsewhere. Arencibia sounds good but the points raised are valid. What would it take? Murphy and some good prospects most likely.
It seems, from the consensus of the comments about 2013, that we need a catcher, OF’s and bullpen help. I am thinking we can meet the bullpen needs from the farm. Familia as a closer and Mejia. Can we go for Upton? Someone named Jason Bay went two for five last night and is a bench player so we will not get to find out if he is coming out of the slump or is the benching working? Valdespin fits in the outfield. Are we looking at Duda/Bay platoon, K Nu/Torres and Valdespin next year?
We need help for FO to get a few acquisitions as we continue to rerebuild.
I have had this suggestion before regarding JP Arencebia. They could use a 3rd baseman or 1st baseman.
Murphy or maybe Duda plus a minor leaguer?
Great post Vinny, I had no idea this was you. Getting Napoli would be a huge move for this team and from what we know this front office don’t make big moves. They dont have the balls to be bold. Their big moves equate to Minaya’s little moves like finding talent in the dump like R.A. Dickey, only they arent as good as him in dumpster diving. Do you know we have more ex-Mets that Alderson signed in almost two seasons than Minaya had in his first four? Even they grow tired of the stink from the garbage they sign.
Between those two, I’d take Arencibia. I can’t trust Napoli defensively from behind the plate. There was a reason Scioscia, a man who knows something about defense, always played Mathis over Napoli at catcher. On top of that, you have to watch out for big time FA’s coming into their 30s. Napoli will be 31 this winter. Remember that guy we signed at 31 everyone wants run out of town?
Always nice to see nice and fresh post here… Vinny, the CORE salutes you. IMO, i think we need a C with defensive mentality first to help the young pitching staff we have coming up. Shoppach is a good option because he’d be cheap, which is what this FO likes, but i think JP would be a great fit for us. he’s young, he’s won’t cost that much in terms of prospects, i do wonder if toronto would ask for much, seeing that accross the league a lot of teams are starved for Catchers and they have 2 possible studs with D’arnaud, so i think with him being a “prospect” and JP already a stablish Major leaguer they’d wait as much as they can before trading him. he’s eligible for Arb the next 3 years, and earliest FA is 2017, so unless we blow them out the water with an offer right away i don’t see it happening to be honest.
Vinny, i’ll ask you, what about AJ Piersinkxlgj;jshy from CHisox? wouldn’t you like him??
Pierzynski would be a good option too, but I feel Napoli and Arencibia are better fits. He would probably be my fallback plan.
3 Studs at catcher in their system….
A.J. Jimenez is blocked by both in Double a……He is said to be better than both defensively and holds his own with the bat projected to be a .300 hitter with speed to steal bases and potential to hit for power. Unfortunately for him he is out after having Tommy John Surgery.
Napoli’s a bad job, Vinny. A terrible defensive catcher with a .259 lifetime average who’s one breakout year happened in Texas while only playing 61 games behind the plate. See what JP costs in a trade because of his defense but don’t touch Napoli with a ten foot pole.
JP would be perfect, but a good young catcher is a prize commodity 9as the emts well know, from the wrong direction), so the cost in players might be steep, but if it can be done, do it.
the mets do at least have a few interesting options at C finally, but they are in A ball. So if they can’t get a guy like JP, probably will end up trying to upgrade at the C tandem for the ST (Shoppach a step in that direction) until hopefully one of the young guys separates from the pack and reaches the top.
Like the JP option. Also the kid the Brewers called up when Lucroy went on the disabled list Martín Maldonado is one I’d be interested in.
Wait, you want Sandy to send money OR trade value for value?
FAIL!
This is the Mets, they don’t send money or trade players. It’s the scratch and bent bin at Wallmart for us.
I think Vinny was trying to convey what they SHOULD do not what they would do.
If he wanted to write up a prediction Vinny would have just said they will do nothing cause thats what they do best!
True , I know…just adding to sad state that is what the Mets are nowadays.
Was anyone else depressed when the Mets were playing the Braves and the announcers were talking about Michael Bourn and his pending Free Agency and they were talking about all the Teams in the NL east who need a center fielder and a lead off hitter and which team might be going after Bourn but the never mentioned the Mets.
Last time I checked…We Need A Center Fielder…We Need a Lead Off Hitter…how sad when we aren’t even in the conversation about a player that would fit some big needs of ours. (especially during a game that we’re playing in so the announcers didn’t just forget about them.)
I know that we shouldn’t just sign every FA because we can, but it was still nice to be a team that was always could a possible destination…it was nice having a team that had the power to make a big move if it was needed.
While the low BA concerns me the money sure doesn’t.
4 Years 50 Mil comes to 12.5m Per year…
If you can’t afford that then your really not in the MLB!
As for the notion that some say we have no catchers down on the farm well why the hell aren’t we doing what LA did and find the best batter we have that is playing a position we seem to have locked up and converting him to a Catcher?
Flores Hits and there is no way in hell he is breaking into the IF unless we trade Wright or let him go!
This is what the Minor Leagues are supposed to be for!
Training guys to play a position that can help the MLB team!
With 80.5 million already allocated to 6 players for 2013, Johan, Bay, Wright, Dickey, Niese and Fransucko, I wouldn’t expect a free agent signing of that magnitude until Bay and Santana are off the books. Arencibia would be the guy I would target.
I agree if you want catching talent knock on the Bluejays door they have been just stacking the deck with catchers they have JP Arencebia, Travis d,Arnaud, AJ Jimenez.
And on top of that they just signed Yorvit Torrealba and they actually just signed Jeff Mathis to a 2yr extension worth 3M with an option yr worth 1.5M so he is locked in as there backup catcher for the next 2 years.
So either Arencebia or d’Arnaud will be available this off-season but I still dont see this FO doing anything but watching everyone else make moves in the off-season and when all the big moves are done come in a salvage all the leftover scraps.
Ron Hodges is rested and ready to come out of retirement….
We already have a bunch of Ron Hodges don’t we? Seriously, Catcher should be the number 1 priority for rebuilding, I’ve always believed in building up the middle with both good offense and defense. You can mix and match in the outfield and sometimes can catch lightning in a bottle with Alderson’s budget concious approach. But the catching position to me, is just nightmarish with our Metsie’s right now. It makes me think of guys like Duffy Dyer, Hodges, and Charlie O’Brien. They’d all be upgrades….