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2012
MMO Mailbag: Does Dickey’s Return Ensure That Thole Will Be Back?
An article by 
Anonymous asks…
I think that if the Mets sign R.A. Dickey to that extension, they are almost certain to bring back Josh Thole as his personal catcher. True or false?
Sean replies…
As good of a rapport as Dickey and Thole have developed, their fates are not as linked as one would imagine. Thole is just inexpensive and fits into the Mets plans as a cost-effective backstop who will be arbitration eligible and is expected to receive a contract for below one million dollars. It makes Thole a perfect candidate for a platoon with a partner who could bring some power. There’s also the hope that Thole can return to his 2011 offensive output.
Thole does have some value as R.A. Dickey’s catcher, since he has the most experience catching the knuckleball, but he is no gold-glover behind the plate regardless of who he is catching. Barring a trade, Josh Thole will be with the Mets next season in some capacity, and with the farm system devoid of any better major league ready options behind the plate, he might still be around in 2014 if the price is right.
As a side note – Tim Wakefield had Doug Mirabelli as his personal catcher because despite his tremendous offensive potential, Jason Varitek was never a strong catcher on the defensive side of the ball. ‘Tek was more valued for his offensive ability out of the catcher spot and his leadership qualities.
About the Author: Sean Kenny
Sean Kenny is a student/writer currently attending school at the City College of New York. For more Mets news, notes and thoughts follow him on twitter @TheSeanKenny
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I agree because Thole is the only option the Mets really have. The minors has no catching talent anywhere near big league ready. Hopefully, a strong right handed catcher comes in who can make a difference. Shoppach obviously didnt excel for the Mets.
If Juan Centeno has a strong spring training, he may win the starting catcher role for 2013..
What options do they have over Thole? None. You need two catchers and they don’t even have one solid MLB catcher.
Unfortunately, star MLB catchers are very hard to find. Most either hit well, or are good defenders, very few can do both and most catchers have to deal with injury problems and break down very quickly and have short MLB careers.
On top of that, just being a good “defensive” catcher does not mean that your a good game caller… handling the pitching staff is a completely different skill that only the pitchers and pitching staff truly have a good feel for.
I think Thole is an average defensive catcher, his games with RAD skew his numbers there and can have an effect in him catching the “normal” pitchers on the staff. I think that his game calling has gotten much better. I seem to remember rumors of the pitcher not liking him two years ago and now it seems that Thole has done a lot to fix that issue. I still think he’s got some work to do there, but there is an improvement.
Do I want Thole being a 120 game catcher next year? Unless he proves he can be consistent with the bat and show more improvement behind the plate, then NO. Would I be OK with him being part of a 50/50 platoon? Yes, but the other catcher in that platoon needs to be a solid vet with the ability to hit and hold their own behind the plate.
Sadly, his being on the team has more to do with lack of better options than the skills Thole currently has displayed.
“handling the pitching staff is a completely different skill that only the pitchers and pitching staff truly have a good feel for.”
very true…
This is where proper tutelage comes into play…
Josh broke into the bigs with Rod Barajas as his “mentor”…for a few months….then he is traded…
2011…who did Josh have as his mentor?
Ronny Paulino
2012?
No one…
Sandy Alderson could’ve spent a little bit of money on Pudge Rodriguez to serve as a mentor/backup catcher…
The Nats did that with him to help mentor Wilson Ramos along…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/23/rodriguez-left-imprint-nationals/?page=all
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The Giants made sure they hung onto Bengie Molina long enough to show Buster Posey the ropes before they traded him..
“What a great character he was in the clubhouse,” Giants closer Brian Wilson said. “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here. He helped me hone my skills.”
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/24/sports/la-sp-1025-nlcs-bengie-molina-20101025
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The Braves signed Todd Pratt to serve as a mentor to Brian McCann…( Todd also was good friends with their top catching prospect at the time Jerrold Saltamachia )
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051209&content_id=1280066&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
http://www.milb.com/gen/articles/printer_friendly/milb/y2006/m03/d16/c48231.jsp
The Braves signed Pratt to come in and mentor these kids…
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Time and time again…most organizations sign a veteran catcher who is good at mentoring young players, both pitchers and younger catchers…
Florida did it with Pudge
Detroit did it with Pudge
Nats did it with Pudge
When Pudge said he wanted to play for the mets in 2012…what did Mr Sabermetric Wizard tell Pudge what 3 other smart organizations did not?
http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2012-02-29/new-york-mets-pudge-rodriguez-ivan-gold-glove-3000-hits-catcher
“Rodriguez contacted the Mets about the possibility of serving as their backup catcher this season. However, he was told that adding another catcher to the roster is “not currently a priority.” Mike Nickeas projects as New York’s backup to starter Josh Thole.”
So the guy who mentored the 2003 Marlins…the 2004-2007 Tigers…and the 2010-2011 Nationals…was available…CONTACTED SANDY….and sandy said Thole and the staff would be better off with Mike Nikeaus to help things out…
Again…aside from wearing really expensive suits from the 1980′s and whipping out words you would use in Scrabble…Sandy has done jack-sheet as a GM…not because he is a bad GM…but again….this was never a job he wanted….this is a chore…and he treats it as such…
have a good day folks
Remember when Sandy said next years team will be dramatically different from the team we have now? How is he going to accomplish thus? It just seems like we’re locked into every player because they make too much or because they are so bad and have no value to us or other teams. Under normal circumstances would we even be considering Thole coming back? He stinks.
maybe he meant their uniforms
As far as all-time best Met catchers go; I think Thole ranks a few notches below Ron Hodges and Alex Trevino but on a par with Mackey Sasser on a bad throwing back-to-the-pitcher-day.
That’s all I have to say about that.
Ron Hodges? Mackey Sasser? Alex Trevino? There’s a blast from the past. A worse triumvirate of Mets catchers would be hard to find. Then along comes Thole.
The only threat to Thole right now is Shoppach and it’s not even a big threatat that!
There are no other options there, None!
None of the guys mentioned as potential trade possibilities are any better than thole and where they have better defense thier offesnse is worse.
Thole will be back because he’s cheap and hits lefty and will likely platoon with Shoppach unless Shoppach wants too much.
And yes he caught Dickey a lot but he also caught Santana’s No No which says to me he’s fine when the pitcher doesn’t need a catcher telling him what to throw and where!