I agree 100%. Catching development has been overlooked by this FO. I would love for someone who has access to interview Falvine, to ask if they would agree, and if so, why has it not been emphasized more? Catchers may be more prone to injuries, but that is all the more reason to hire the best catching development coach possible, and pay him well with a long term contract, so he won't defect to the Yankees after a year with the Twins. 

In the late 1990s to 2000, the Twins developed many C that several started for other teams, and a few were backups.  But I think I remember counting 6 or 7 C developed over a 5 year period.  (David Nilsson, Javier Valentin Rob Bowen, Damien Miller, Chad Moeller, and AJ Pierzynski These guys all came up between 1997 and 2000).  Then we developed Mayer and Wilson Ramos and Butters (Butera he actually came over as a prospect when we traded Luis Castillo to the Mets I think). It would be nice to get back to that.  It did seem like we were close with Garver, Jeffers, Revordt, and now Carmago.  But it appears there is not much else on the farm at this time.

10 hours ago, Brandon said:

In the late 1990s to 2000, the Twins developed many C that several started for other teams, and a few were backups.  But I think I remember counting 6 or 7 C developed over a 5 year period.  (David Nilsson, Javier Valentin Rob Bowen, Damien Miller, Chad Moeller, and AJ Pierzynski These guys all came up between 1997 and 2000).  Then we developed Mayer and Wilson Ramos and Butters (Butera he actually came over as a prospect when we traded Luis Castillo to the Mets I think). It would be nice to get back to that.  It did seem like we were close with Garver, Jeffers, Revordt, and now Carmago.  But it appears there is not much else on the farm at this time.

As of now, it's hard to visualize how our lower-catching prospects will turn out. But many are ranked much higher than Carmargo. Carmargo is totally off the radar in the negative sense on the evaluators' charts. I have no idea why. He could be an OK 3rd string catcher but IMO he'll take a while to adjust to MLB, With some of Vazquez's tutoring he could eventually become an OK backup. Overall our standard at catching has been set at OK, OK isn't good enough.

Mauer was a phenomenal catcher, a lot of it was natural talent & self-learning, but some of it had to be coached.

It seems there are two issues presented in the OP: 1) The Twins don't place enough emphasis on defense from the catcher position. 2) The club doesn't have the proper people to coach and instruct their catchers.

Catcher is a defense-first position IMHO. Unless you hit like Mike Piazza, a catcher has to be able to call a good game, get strikes called on marginal pitches, block low pitches and control the opponent's running game. I think, on balance, the Twins did all of those things from an average to above average level in 2023 and only used two catchers.

I don't think Hank Conger, a former catcher, is chopped liver. From what I could tell he was helpful in getting good performance defensively out of the catchers last year. I don't think that adding Jeff Mathis would miraculously improve the skills of the Twins current catchers. 

Just want the Twins need, another coach.

On 12/29/2023 at 10:48 AM, stringer bell said:

It seems there are two issues presented in the OP: 1) The Twins don't place enough emphasis on defense from the catcher position. 2) The club doesn't have the proper people to coach and instruct their catchers.

Catcher is a defense-first position IMHO. Unless you hit like Mike Piazza, a catcher has to be able to call a good game, get strikes called on marginal pitches, block low pitches and control the opponent's running game. I think, on balance, the Twins did all of those things from an average to above average level in 2023 and only used two catchers.

I don't think Hank Conger, a former catcher, is chopped liver. From what I could tell he was helpful in getting good performance defensively out of the catchers last year. I don't think that adding Jeff Mathis would miraculously improve the skills of the Twins current catchers. 

I never said Conger was chopped liver. he' s a perfectly fine coach if your standard is mediocre. Mathis was a better defensive catcher for a longer time, is a highly dedicated student  of the game throughout his career. RiverBrian stated & I agree that top catchers are expensive  & in demand. A pipeline of very good catchers is not only beneficial to our team but also comes in handy for trading for our needs

The interesting fact is that Catcher make great managers!  There are a load of catchers who have developed into good managers including a few recent managers: Bruce Bochy, Bob Boone, Joe Torre, Bob Brenly, John Gibbons, Joe Girardi, Gene Lamont, Jerry Narron, Bob Melvin, Johnny Oates, Mike Scioscia, Jeff Torborg, John Wathan, and Ned Yost plus a few old-timers like Al Lopez, Ralph Houk and Yogi Berra.

Many catchers call pitches and therefore spend a lot of time preparing for games.  Also they are in position to see the entire field during and game which helps them to know what all the other players are doing (much like a manager or coaching staff).  They probably control the game more than any other position player on the field and since most catchers do not play every game, are in the dugout listing to conversations about game strategy and potential moves.

Catching is a specialty position and therefore there should be a coach totally dedicated to working with the catcher on the team.  I think adding a successful defensive catcher is a great idea, as long as he can teach and communicate.

I absolutely want the Twins to work harder on developing catchers. That means drafting them, signing them on the international front, and, of course, developing them. And Mathis might be a very good idea to bring in as a coach, certainly wouldn't dispute that.

But if anyone believes the current FO have ignored the catcher position, they would be incorrect. Tanner Swanson was the Twins catching coach from 2017-2019 before being hired away by the Yankees. He was given a lot of credit for his work with Garver and initial work with Jeffers, both of whom were considered offense first catchers at the time. 

In 2017, when the draft was still 40 rounds long, the Twins selected 4 backstops, though none early. And honestly, I don't know that any of the 4 are still in the system any longer.

In 2018 the Twins snagged Jeffers in the 2nd round, and Chris Williams in the 8th round, both as bat first catchers. Jeffers has turned out nicely while Williams is reputed to be very smart behind the plate, but not a complete catcher, more of a bat, and would seem to have a limited future. They also selected 4 additional catchers that year, amongst their total of 32 picks, the most prominent being Trevor Casanova. Again, I don't think any of them are sitll in the system.

2019 saw the Twins draft Alex Isola and Kyle Schmidt. Isola began to add power in 2023, but has played a lot more 1B and DH than he has catcher. Schmidt's been an organization guy at this point.

2021 brought in 3 young catchers, Noah Cardenas and Pat Winkel...who have looked solid so far...and late round pick Dillon Tatum, who really hasn't done much to this point.

2022 saw the arrival of Andrew Cossetti, a very intriguing prospect, and Nate Baez, a tremendous athlete who's new to full time catching and has some injury set backs, but has tons of ability.

They've also added a couple catchers via trade, most notably, the aforementioned Jair Camargo.

They've stressed coaching. And they HAVE been looking for catchers. The problem seems to be not drafting a single catcher before the 8th round (Cardenas and Williams) other than Jeffers. Now, do they believe they haven't needed to at this point since they have Jeffers? Have they felt there just haven't been any backstops available to them that were worth the draft slot? Do they just feel a catcher is to be developed, and not necessarily just picked?

By all means, bring in as many good coaches as you can. And Mathis might be very good. But Cossetti, Cardenas, Winkel, and Camargo all show some potential and have been largely successful with their bats so far. I'm really, really anxious to see what Baez can do in 2024 if he's fully healthy. The guy played all over the field in college and had a solid bat. Where I DO have some issue with the Twins is maybe not taking a shot or two early in some of their drafts, besides Jeffers, to see if you might find a a better prospect to work with and see what you can develop...even if you select them a couple rounds earlier than projected.

Is Ricardo Olivar also in the mix as a future backup backstop who can play other positions?

Schmidt, after being one of the msot-moved-around-the-system guys of late, is now gone.