Catching Depth

[Rosterman]

Will, the Twins just inked former Australian prospect Allan de san Miguel to a minor league contract. He spent a couple of lackluster seasons with the Orioles system, before bottoming out in the Frontier League last summer. He may offer depth at Rochester, depending on the status of Herrmann, Pinto, Fryer and Rohlfing.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=desanm001all

 

They also grabbed Carlos Paulino from the Pirates system, who most likely will fight for a job at Chattanooga. Paulino was originally drafted by the Marlins.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=paulin001car

[jokin]

What's changed on San Miguel from his first 7 Butera-esque years as a Twins farmhand? As far as "bottoming out" goes...  I'm willing to bet that he was probably the 3rd best catching option for the Twins to consider on his Frontier League team- and the numbers at the plate seem to support it:

 

Keith Castilo  Age 26 Bats Both College USC  Minor league slash- .254/.344/.373/.717 Indy League (one year)- .265/.352/.372/.724

 

James Skelton Age 29 Bats Left Drafted 14th rd. Detroit  MiLB Slash- .252/.390/.371/.762 Indy League )one year) .268/.373/.330/.703

 

Allan de San Miguel Age 26 Bats Rt. Signed out of Australia  MiLB Slash- .212/.325/.326/.651 Indy League (one year) .203/.289/.332/.621

 

I guess he might be a comfort in ST around fellow Aussies- Lewis Thorpe, Todd Van Steensel and Josh Guyer.  And he did do better in the ABL this winter- .266/.369/.363/.732.... but it seems like the Twins can do better for quality catching depth.

[jorgenswest]

It is common to have an experienced minor league that moves between levels and provides organizational depth. It is often a player assessed to be talented in working with pitchers and catchers. The value lies in that skill.

[jokin]

It is common to have an experienced minor league that moves between levels and provides organizational depth. It is often a player assessed to be talented in working with pitchers and catchers. The value lies in that skill.

 

All good points, but how likely is it for an Aussie (Australia is a small population country where baseball is probably not even in the Top 10 in popularity) to have a vast cultural and experience advantage, plus equality or superiority in that "skill", over the literally 100s of available North American and Latin Americans?  And if he was so valued, why was he let go after 7 years with the club originally? 

 

I'd always prefer to err on the side of potential untapped upside or established veteranness in these types of signings.

[Old Twins Cap]

You can never have enough veteran minor league catching options.

 

Wait, did I just say that?

[Seth Stohs]

De San Miguel is not going to be around for his bat. That just can't be the one thing that people look at when talking about catchers. Also, the odds are that he won't get out of spring training. There are a lot of catchers in that same boat this spring, but they do need catchers. 

 

I don't think it's an Australia thing,though that doesn't hurt. He's just a superior glove guy and very knowledgeable. He will help out young pitchers. 

[Thrylos]

Now the Twins have 15 catchers in the organization (save for the ones in the Dominican and the majors.)  Get GSL out for now (those would be the new picks or DSL) and you got three per affiliate, which is how it should be.   de San Miguel will play likely at New Britain Chattanooga even though listed in the Rochester roster currently.   Also, Alex Real who played in E-town was hit with a 50-day, so they might even need another catcher at some point...

[Halsey Hall]

Right now there's only 3 catchers working out and that's not enough.  This next week it sounds as though pithers will be throwing from the mound and Joel Lepel was mentioning he only had 3 in camp.