11
2013
Mets Catcher John Buck Is More Throwback Than Throw-In
An article by 
When the Mets sent R.A. Dickey to Toronto earlier this offseason (along with Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas), they received two of the Blue Jays’ top prospects in Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard. Toronto also threw in veteran catcher John Buck to complete the deal. Buck is expected to begin the season as the Mets’ No. 1 catcher, eventually deferring to d’Arnaud when he is deemed ready to play every day at the major league level.
Although Buck’s time as a starter may be a short one, he isn’t acting like a player who was considered to be a “throw-in” in the multi-player swap. In fact, recent statements by Buck make him look more like a throwback at the catcher’s position than a throw-in.
In 2012, Johan Santana started off the season strongly after missing the entire 2011 campaign. But after his historic no-hitter on June 1, Santana’s feel-good season crumbled faster than a late-inning lead. The general consensus was that Santana’s horrid stretch – he became the first Met to allow six or more earned runs in five consecutive starts – was due to nagging ankle and back injuries, as well as fatigue from the long layoff following his 2011 shoulder surgery. But John Buck doesn’t see it that way.
In an interview with Kevin Burkhardt, Buck claimed that Santana might have been tipping his pitches last year. Buck will work with Santana in Port St. Lucie to “tighten some of those things up” and considers the matter all clear.
In addition, Buck has also been offering advice to Matt Harvey, who will be entering his first full season in the major leagues in 2013. Harvey was brilliant in a ten-start tryout for the Mets in 2012, recording a stellar 2.73 ERA and striking out nearly 11 batters per nine innings. His new catcher was impressed by his “heavy stuff”, but has some advice for Harvey if he wants to be more successful at the big league level. Buck said:
“My focus with him is to hone down what he needs to be effective as a power pitcher. If you get up there as a power pitcher and just aimlessly throw pitches, sometimes, as a hitter, you can wait on that. But if he uses his stuff effectively in those power situations, then you’re not only being a power pitcher, you’re keeping the hitters off-balance.”
John Buck figures to get the bulk of the catching duty for the Mets while Travis d’Arnaud gets more seasoning at AAA-Las Vegas. But even after d’Arnaud gets his eventual promotion, Buck figures to be a key member of the team. He won’t be calling pitches from behind the plate, but he will be coaxing his pitchers to perform better from the bench, serving as the team’s unofficial second pitching coach and manager.
Many former catchers have gone on to become managers after their playing careers were over. But new Mets catcher John Buck isn’t waiting for his playing days to end to serve as a mentor both on and off the field.
Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard may have been the key pieces in the deal that sent R.A. Dickey to Toronto. But don’t call John Buck the throw-in in the deal. Rather, call him a throwback to the days when catchers served as the team’s on-field manager. The Mets hope Buck’s experience and insight will help the young starters and the veterans to pitch to the best of their abilities. If they do, then the throwback might just allow the team to look ahead to better days at Citi Field.
About the Author: Ed Leyro
Ed Leyro was hatched in the Bronx, but spent most of his youth in Queens at Shea Stadium. Apparently, all that time spent at Mets games paid off as Ed met his wife (The Coop) for the first time at Citi Field during its inaugural season. Guess the 2009 season was good for something after all. In addition to his work at Mets Merized Online, Ed also owns, operates and is head janitor at Studious Metsimus, where he shares blogging duties with Joey Beartran. For those not in the know, Joey is a teddy bear dressed in a Mets hoodie. Clearly, Studious Metsimus is not your typical Mets blog.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
Last updated: 06/19/2013
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good point….so if Buck is having a quality season…how does Travis get any burn this year ?
we will have to use 1 year for Travis to stay on the bench and learn from a veteran catcher.
at least thats the proper way to do it…
damaga,
The way to do it according to who? Waste a year of control on a fine young talent to sit on a bench and learn. Thats very good. Of course Buck could mentor the kid while he was actually playing the game. I think THATs the way to do it.
I dont want to get to far ahead of things with an unproven prospect. Things are not written in stone here. If Travis D starts out slowly (say .230 by late April) then how inclined will the Mets be to call him up?? It will make it an even harder choice if Buck is hitting. Just food for thought.
Buck and TAD (when he comes up) might be the best catching tandem we’ve had in a long while.
What a great problem that will be if Buck gets off to a solid start as Mets catcher in 2013 and d’Arnaud picks up right where he left off before he ended his season last year ready to be called up. In fact now that I think of it that is not a problem at all but rather great news.
if the wilpons are patient – its a great problem
if the wilpons are trying to boost attendance…Travis is a bigger name than Buck…so byebye patience
If like I said Travis is knocking at the door to a promotion having continued right where he left off last year since he is also the future that is great in my opinion any way you cut it. I just hope that is indeed what happens. Others can worry about the Wilpons my focus is seeing Travis hopefully like all our prospects deliver on their potential.
promotion is fine…but i would rather he learn on the bench than throw him in the fire like that…
1 whole year learning should be fine…
of course that is if Juan Centeno doesnt Wally Pip him
and Androstenedione is a 19-carbon STEROID hormone produced in the adrenal glands and the gonads as an intermediate step in the biochemical pathway that produces the androgen testosterone and the estrogens estrone and estradiol.
Andro RAISES testosterone levels…it is A STEROID and PIAZZA has admitted to doing STEROIDS
along with amphetamines !!!
and still couldnt throw out runners to save his life !!!
lmaooooo
jdd,
Thanks for the chemistry lesson. So now its piazza your after. very good I guess it feels good to take a break from busting David Wrights aka snow white gonads.
Andro was available at GNC unlike the steriods Aroid and other players took. Nice try though. amphedamines? what a joke – every player took them like jellybeans so what? I usually skip right over your inane posts but you caught me on a good day today.
Your point is?
point is: piazza was on a LEVEL playing field with his counterparts…
personally i dont feel players should have it held against them, esp since it was known that players were doing drugs that are now illegal.
the amphetamines goes all the way back to the 60′s….
I personally think Nolan Ryan, Cal Ripken and a bunch of other folks extended their careers/played through injuries with a lil extra help. For them ( including Hank Aaron ) to try to act all high and holy is BS.
1 – Bench
1a – Pudge
3 – Fisk
4 – Yogi
5 – Piazza
Had Piazza not been so stubborn, stat-hungry and selfish, maybe we go after Pudge in 2004….
Instead Pudge goes to Detroit…turns around the worst team in baseball after helping FL win a WS…
our consolation prize instead was selling a few more tickets in 2004-2005 as Piazza broke the HR record…ensuring ( or so we thought ) a place in the HOF wearing a Met cap…
this is WHY we never win consistently…we are constantly thinking of short term sales and fluff fluff instead of wins and rings
Pudge at Catcher from 2004-2007, along with Rick Peterson as pitching coach and who knows how things turn out..
just the fact that we were scared Piazza would accept arbitration in 2005 ( thus preventing us from getting a pick ) tells u where this team has always placed its importance…
Had Piazza accepted arbitration, we could’ve just traded him, ate some money and moved on…
all that madoff money…all the money from increased attendance…and we were STILL penny pinching…
this is the type of PENNY PINCHING that has doomed us and prevented us at making the best BASEBALL decisions.
Nothing against Piazza, but he was always one-dimensional in a position that stressed a great importance on defense. its like having a center who can score and hit 3-pointers but sucked at defense and rebounding. yeah its a PLUS, but if other teams are running on u at will, ur gonna have a overall negative effect on the game. Pitchers will be throwing to 1B alot more….more chances for errors….when u throw to 2B, an increased chance for errors…so on and so forth…
had Piazza played another position his 400 HR are not a big deal…
Pudge on the other hand was a perrenial GG winner, WS winner and seen as a mentor to YOUNG pitching staffs. athletic enough to play 2B, steal bases, was a stud behind the plate…
I just considered Piazza inferior to him…so when we had a chance to get him…and passed up on it so Piazza can break the HR record for catchers…I was disgusted…but its BAU
that is all
I actually meant it a little tongue in cheek because the article was about Buck, not Piazza. Sorry if that didn’t come thru, inflection is very difficult on the internet.
Andro is a joke, I cycled it a few years ago for stamina & I had zero effects of ANY kind, Ive also spoken with others who have done it with the same dissappointing effect.
Alot of the things players ingest TODAY are really hyped up concoctions. They cant be on true STEROIDS because they’re too hard to mask in the blood/urine profiles and they would get caught, so they resort to shark fin, cats nail, & other folklore poop.
The ones that do risk it with stronger chemically proven stuff get busted, like Manny on tittie juice(estrogen or what not).
If anyone believes that McGuire got jacked on Andro like he admitted to, Ive got some great land near the Everglades to sell them, its just G-U-L-L-I-B-L-E .
I hate to be the pessimist here, but since Citi Field how many hitters have resurrected their careers here? And if anyone is thinking Hairston, think again. Despite his solid numbers against LHP in 2012, his OPS was still lower than his career split.
I’m not as concerned about his hitting – or lack thereof. I’m more looking for a veteran type catcher with decent defense, who can throw runners out, call a good game while helping out some of our young pitchers.
Lack of offense at the plate is kind of a given, IMO.
Every hitter is going to see their numbers suppressed hitting at Citi for half his games. From the looks of it Buck was just a little unlucky last year, his BABIP was 30 points lower than career norms, none of his other rate stats were all that different. He’s not going to be an offensive juggernaut in Citi, but putting up numbers in line with his career norms (at least adjusted for citi) is distinctly possible.
Buck is a big league catcher. Even having one all star year. He was not a throw in, but rather a salary dump. First by the Marlins then by the Blue Jays. Buck is not the six million dollar man that his contract calls for. Were he a free agent this winter would he have signed for more than three million? I expect that he will be a big improvement behind the plate. Our pitching started well last year but the league largely caught up with us. I look for Buck to be a better game caller. By the sound of it Buck is not planning to roll over for Travis. I expect Buck to be the man ALL season.
As to D”Arnaud: While I look for him to have a long and successful Mets career; Let him earn his way to the Show. As Mets fans all we have is hope, however the reality is that Travis has only played in the minor leagues. This off season’s addition of several veteran pitchers will keep most of our young and presumably future pitchers in the minors. Where better for Travis to learn than with our studs in Las Vegas?
My money is on Buck and Powell. I look forward to seeing D’Arnaud in September, after the 51′s win the PCL championship.
Yes, even the Blue Jays GM said that for the deal to work the Mets had to take Buck and his salary.
The Blue Jays have some big contracts. I hope they do well and sell out a lot. I’ll be rooting for my ex Mets.
Yea, watching them stick it to the Yankees is something I look forward to. My dream (emphasis on dream) for now is a Blue Jays Mets 2013 World Series.
I have a new favorite AL team myself.
For curiosities sake can I ask what was your old favorite AL team?
Orioles. In the post Cal days, I worked in Baltimore. They all but gave away the tickets. Only the Yankees and Red Sox could fill the stadium.
Not a chance TDA spends most of the season in Vegas unless he just has a horrid April and May. He is basically major league ready although he does need to get back to game speed. A trip to Vegas allows him to do that while pushing the FA clock back a year. Look for him mid-June regardless of how Buck is doing.
Everyone will have a certain opinion on this, but the one fact I see at least on paper is the Mets are much improved behind the plate in the short and long term then they have been in many years.
Thole/Nickeas vs Buck/TDA (when he is called up)….hmm tough choice but I will have to lean with the latter.
Actually it’s 3 years. The last solid, professional, major league catchers they had were Rod Barajas & Henry Blanco. And the combination of Omir Santos & Brian Schneider wasn’t great but I would take it over Josh Thole/Kelly Shoppach of last year.
So Sandy didn’t “invent” good moves in order to get a catcher, it’s been done a lot and the last time was with Blanco/Barajas which wasn’t that long ago.
Perhaps some perspective is in order here…..
Toronto FORCED us to take Buck and were willing to get BOTH Thole and Nickeas in return….
That should tell you something shouldn’t it?
Yeah, they did us a favor.
Did they now?
Only if Snydergaard doesn’t take 5 years to become a MLB player and win a Cy Young will that actually be true.
Yes, they did. Anytime you offer to take away Thole AND Nickeas, that’s a huge favor. At most, Syn will be in the big leagues in 2015. Future Cy Young winner? Remains to be seen, but he has the stuff to do it.
Takng away a .234 hitter and replacing him with a .192 hitter is what you call addition by subtraction?
Where SUBTRACTION is .042 points of BA?
Is this the SUBTRACTION of which your speaking of?
Cause your sure not talking about Salary where we ADDED 5.5 Mil to get the -.042 of BA!
Again with the focus only on statistics and offense. When will you learn?
Right around the time you learn it when talking about Tejada…..
What does that even mean?
Knew mentioning something from your past evaluations of COMPLIMENTARY PLAYERS ONLY would make you run away from this line of conversation…
Let me know when Mr Know it all figures out how he stepped in it…
Past evaluations like how much I love Tejada and think he’s going to be a star? Sorry. You lose again.
I knew calling you out on another lie would make you run away from this line of conversation. I just wish you didn’t feel the need to do so.
Yeah you like him but you think he and Ike are nothing more than complimentary players….They are not core to build around….
What goes through your head before you blatantly lie like that?
I wouldn’t know as I try never to do it…
What goes through yours when you do?
You just lied and everyone saw it.
Is this all you got? Really?
Prove it or move on there slappy…
Or go back to recruiting spoofers to try and incite Bayonne so you can try to get him banned again…
You have so many hobbies here almost none of which add to the baseball conversation…
Just badgering posters with your little Smug Brother snarky attitude!
Go ahead an prove whatever you said about Tejada and Ike or admit you lied. I’m not even sure what Bayonne has to do with anything but it’s probably another lie. Unless the next comment is either proof or admission, then I’m done going around in circles with you.
I got a better idea….
Why don’t you go write a piece about how those two are the players that should be untouchable because they are KEY pieces to the core that Sandy is building…..
then you will prove me wrong won’t you?
I get better things to do than to go through the transcripts of all the crap you say you never own up to….
Thought so. Run along and find someone else to lie about. I don’t stand for it.
So you won’t stepout and write the piece will you?
I don’t have to prove your full of it everyone pretty much knows it already….
Run along doggie!
The rest of us don’t stand for your duplicity….
Difference is, are we gonna see that .192 hitter be the #1 catcher all season? Of course not. Unlike Thole, at least you can count on some actual DEFENSE, which is the most important thing you need to value in a catcher.
Thole’s claim to fame?
“He can catch a knuckleball”
Whoop dee doo! What else?
*crickets*
Ok then defense….FP of Buck .991 Thole .992
OOPS!
So one minute, fielding % “doesn’t tell the whole story”, but with Thole it does?
Okay, we’re done here.
Please show me a link to a quote of me ever saying FP shouldn’t be used Hitman…
Thats your feelings not mine….
All I’m saying is there is no evidence that Buck is any better defensivly than Thole is taking last year’s numbers into consideration.
And Buck didn’t have to catch a Knuckleballer which you folks seem to put so much on for them taking Thole.
Using a stat that highly variable year to year and dependent on luck is a silly way to judge a deal. Buck had a .284 wOBA to Thole’s .257, 1.2 war to .1, granted my math isn’t great but I do believe they’re both higher with the added benefit of having context. Both players secondary pieces in a deal and both teams got what they needed. The Jays got a backup to Arencibia to catch Dickey and the Mets got a mentor to a young catcher and a bunch of young pitchers.
Oh wOBA….What a great stat!
Maybe he had a lot of RBOEs as they are counted as better than Hits in wOBA….
Is weighted on base average hard to understand? It’s how many times you don’t make an out combined with the quality of those non outs, it’s not rocket science, it’s barely first year statistics.
I never get the absolute ignorance that some people are so proud of when it comes to stats.
I guess it is Vig since you don’t seem to understand how it’s weighted do you?
Tell which is WEIGHTED higher in wOBA Vig….
a Hit or an RBOE?
Is a HR weighted 4 times what a hit is?
Then tell me who understands wOBA better….
Don’t know who this Vig guy is but if you really want a primer on wOBA it’s here:
http://www.fangraphs.com/library/index.php/offense/woba/
True I’m not a statistician and maybe you understand formula’s better than I do (I tend to get a little lost after non homogenous second order recursion relations), but I’m also not dumb enough to use batting average to try and make an intelligent argument. I mean did you really think no one call you on that b.s.?
Hi Guys,
Look away from the stats for the hidden tendancies of both catchers, Buck and Thole.
The huge problem we had last season was with Thole’s intimidation blocking the plate with the runner coming on full speed. Though physically recovered, it seemed he never recovered emotinally from the experience of that concussion. He was never the tough one necessary the position ever since.
He had been in the majors too long to say it was a lack of experience which caused him to remove his catcher’s mask on that play to begin with.
I always liked Thole and still think he can return to the dependable hitter he was and will be rooting for him. I just hope he has gotten over the intimidation factor.
Buck hit 48 homeruns over the past 3 years, Thole AND Nickeaus combined hit 9.
While not one of them have batting titles probably not in any of their futures, but we all, (sorry most of us know) that Buck is here as a stop gap and I’ll take a little pop over nothing any day.
So the whole FORCED argument, well, ok – good for them…….
Most of which were three years ago…..
Hasn’t had an OPS above .683 the past two years….
Thole had a .690 in 2011…Dropped to .584 last year….
Now to ALL of you P###Pumpers desperatly trying to make a guy who got DUMPED on us look like a good and exciting move by Sandy….
No one is saying Thole was a good Catcher but truth is these guys are about as bad as each other except one cost 5.5 Mil more and is older….
But you guys just can’t help yourself when it comes to pumping up a guy’s potential contribution merely for being part of a deal Sandy made….
This guy sucks!
Hasn’t been good in two years and lost his job to Arenciba!
So Bad that when they traded away thier BEST Catching prospect they thought it neccesary to DUMP him like Boston dumped Crawford on LA!
So stop with the crap already and trying to make Turd Pie taste like Apples here!
You have some serious issues. No one is making him out more then his is, a stop gap until D’naud is ready, and we hope, he’s all he’s hyped to be by many in professional sports (far beyond what just the Mets even say).
Thole sucked, Nikeous sucked, but you’re going to argue that Thole had a BA of about .30 higher making him better? Simply for the fact that Sandy didn’t bring him in and Sandy was the guy that made the deal to include Buck. Maybe if you take your hate blinders off and realize that not one person is making Buck out to be more than he is, but yet YOU, spend time making him worse, to to perpetuate a childish Sandy Sucks argument. Life that empty?
He hit 20hr, followed by 16, then 12. so the worst year with 12 is STILL more then 9 homeruns it took TWO catchers to hit collectively.
So you are talking about 3 lousy catchers that can’t hit for average and you want to argue one that hit a few more points higher than Buck, but fail to mention that Buck has some pop which would make his lousy average at least a little more productive.
A catcher that hopefully by AS Break will then be the back up catcher……wow
Another gutless moron with internet muscles hiding behind a fake screen name. Thanks for showing your lack of intelligence.
Are you a 70 year old mommies boy who has never been kissed? I bet you are. Kay is a gem so smarten up.
Or, you know, they could have given him to the mets because they already had arencibia, Thole, and Mathis and would rather give up a mediocre catcher than a low level prospect with actual upside in a trade for dickey. Just maybe.
It was Salary dump!
If he was worth keeping to groom someone they would have kept him for Arenciba and Thole.
They were taking on another BIG paycheck by signing Dickey after taking on a bunch of big paychecks from the Marlins in the previous trade and found a way to dump one of those salaries on us.
Thats all the inclusion of Buck is about.
Is he going to start until d’Arnaud comes up?
Are you even SURE he WILL come up? What if he hits .250 Ks a lot or has further knee issues since he was not operated on just RESTED?
Is he a stop gap then?
In the end he isn’t an upgrade of Thole, his Defense is not that much better that it is worth 5.5 Mil more in salary and he will be gone as soon as Sandy can find a way to dump him be it D’Arnaud comes up or the season ends.
metsie,
You should remember this: Dave Schneck and Don Hahn go with Tug Mcgraw to the Phillies. Both were hangers on with a bad 74 mets club, both were quickly cast off on a quality phils team. I look for the same result. Buck has killed the mets with big home runs over the year and i dont care about his average. He will be a welcome power bat off the bench as well as his other contributions to the club.
6 Mil is still 6 mil that could have been used to get an OFer though isn’t it?
Would have done a lot more than Buck will off the bench….
Can’t say the guys we gave the Phillies did anything for them…
They were gone (all but McGraw who was who they wanted in the deal) by the time they started making playoffs….
And the deal did pretty much nothing for us.
The Mets got Stearns back for him and He was pretty good. I think he went to 4 all star games as a met. Too bad he was injured so often because of the way he played the game. I will never forget when Big Dave Parker tried to run him over at the plate and John Dropped a shoulder on him and broke his jaw. The original DUDE.
Well Stearn was catching one of the worst teams and Pitching staffs in the league….
I think he made those All star games merely because they had to have a Met Representative!
LOL
Metsie,
Don’t get so hung up on the .192 avg. and salary. Even with last year’s stats, Buck upgrades the Mets C position. This is a guy that will handle pitchers, and he knows the NL East. He also adds some much needs RH pop. He is a good match for both a young staff and young battery mate.
That makes no sense. The only reason catchers were included in the deal was because Toronto needed someone who had some experience catching a knuckler.
SO’s your belief they wanted Thole for his defense….OK….
Anthopoulos wanted him and specifically asked for him because they wanted at least one player who has experience catching a knuckleball if they couldn’t add Blanco.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/01/anthopoulos-talks-oliver-thole-extensions-1.html
And what does that mean Vig?
It means they wanted Thole because he would be a BETTER DEFENDER for the Knuckleball!
If he can catch a Knuckleball better than Buck then he must easily be able to catch the much easier pitches now can’t he?
POOF goes the Buck is better defensively line we are being fed here now isn’t it?
Very few catchers have experience catching a knuckleball, Thole does, so Anthopoulos wanted him included in a deal. Buck was a trade-able commodity for the Jays because he and Arrencibia have a similar skill-set, Thole added a skill that they were lacking making a swap of catchers a smart move. None of that speaks to who is the better all-round catcher (though it is Buck, at least until Thole can prove he’s recovered from his concussion), but to call it just a straight salary dump ignores the basic facts of the situation.
I have no idea why this is so important to you, it’s a smart move for both teams giving the Jays catching depth and the Mets stability and a nice veteran presence for their young pitchers and their heir apparent.
Only thing it really tells me is AA wanted to stockpile any catcher who’s ever caught Dickey’s knuckleball.
Jays also signed Blanco as well, who Dickey admittedly said was the best catcher of all, who has experience catching his knuckleball.
Damaja…
If Piazza was Latino you’d be screaming he was clean. Your hypocrisy is vomit inducing.
No…and I said that I dont think the whole steroids thing is that big of a deal….
not sure why you think race has anything to do with it
Ask the avg met fan who the best 3 met players of all time and they will mainly say
1 – Seaver ( no argument here )
2 – Piazza
3 – Wright ( will soon pass Piazza )
u can pretty much flip-flop Piazza and Wright depending on how u feel that day…
tell a Met fan that Beltran was better than Piazza and u might get shot
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/7/29/2300013/carlos-beltran-one-of-the-best-ever
look at the response folks gave this one writer…
sorry sucka…but IMO, when it comes to hitting, fielding, baserunning, leadership, Piazza is a top 10 met…not a top 5 met..
so if me knocking him off that pedestal makes u feel like i drop kicked your new born baby off a high chair, sue me
So because he does a few good interviews, all of a sudden, he is this great player?
His stats seem to suggest that despite being a RH, he hits better against RHP meaning I expect him to platoon with Decker and eventually D’Arnaud until he becomes the every day guy.
Lets hope he isn’t catching regularly in May….. Maybe one of the five worst players in the game the last few years
Buck’s not the second coming of Carlton Fisk or anything but let’s not get ridiculous. He is what he is, a league average catcher with a little bit of pop and the ability to take a walk. Health permitting, TDA will be the starter eventually, but there’s no need to rush.
Dickey was due 5mil,buck makes 6 really only 1 mil difference and buck in his short. Playing time this year will have more homers than thole did the past 2 years
They’re different players, Thole would never be the type to hit homers but he have other things to offer, at least before the concussion. Buck’s a better fit for the Met’s right now and adding a little pop can’t hurt.
Before u start buying your Travis jerseys…consider that he is only 1 year and change younger than Josh Thole..
This is Thole’s 5th year in the bigs..
When Thole was 22, he was facing MLB pitchers
When Travis was 22, he was facing AA pitchers
plus his weight, and height work against him behind the plate, Travis more than likely will be a 1B before he hits 30
At 22, Thole had barely a year’s experience as a catcher. The comparison doesn’t work.
“When Thole was 22, he was facing MLB pitchers”
Yes….in a year when everyone was dropping like flies and we had the likes of Santos, Schneider and Castro. Not much of competition there.
“When Travis was 22, he was facing AA pitchers”
While winning MVP & Defensive Catcher of the Year honors. At ANY level, could you say the same about Thole, who has proven to be nothing more than a #2/#3 catcher?
The mets brought up a converted catcher up at age 21 to the big leagues. Then once he started to get some playing yime in 2010. Sandy makes him a platoon player in 2011 so ronnie ped paulino can play. If u cant see how that stunted his growth yhats ur problem
He is bad. Hit .192 last year. How is that league average. .297 obp and .644 ops. Strikes out all the time. He has had one good year htree years ago.
I’m not disagreeing or agreeing here just want to say a couple things about the term “league average”
The term “League average” Is the biggest crock of BS floating around now. The only thing that is important in any player your team acquires is the does he have the ability/tools to help make your team better relative to what your needs are. What good is a players “league average” in relation to what any team needs to win at anytime? If he’s a good fit for YOUR team than it’s the right move regardless of what his “league average” status is.