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!

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

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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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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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

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.