Should the Twins sign another catcher?

[Willihammer]

Matt Wieters, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Chris Iannetta, Geovany Soto, and of course our old buddies Kurt Suzuki and A.J. Pierzynski are still unsigned (full list here). Castro is most likely going to be the highest paid catcher this year at 24.5 million. Basically, its a buyers market and the Twins are still very thin organizationally behind Castro IMO. Should the Twins sign another catcher?

[Cory Engelhardt]

I'd be up for a 1 year deal for a guy who can hit lefties well and platoon with Castro, while also providing above average defense and framing capabilities. I don't think Wieters would be a good option as he bats left handed, and I don't know how the others fair on the defensive side. I want to lean Garver or Murphy, but absolutely, if they are not ready, I'd be ok with exploring the options.

[Linus]

No. He's going good to get 2/3rds of the at bats as is. Spend money elsewhere.

 

Also the $24 million is for three years.

[Vanimal46]

I'm surprised, frankly, that Wieters has not been signed yet. Even if he breaks down physically, he still has the bat to transition to 1B or DH later on. 

[gunnarthor]

No, use the money on pitching - either the pen or the rotation.

[Lonestar]

Yes. Sign Willians Astudillo to a minor league contract with NRI

[Seth Stohs]

No reason to add any more catchers. Should a wayyyyy down the priority list. 

 

They have their starter. Murphy can be the backup and if that doesn't work out, Garver's as ready as ever. 

[Mike Sixel]

I also vote no. Murphy and Castro and Garver should all get time to show what they are....

[Thrylos]

They have already signed 3 FA Cs this offseason:

Jason Castro

Dan Rohlfing

Eddie Rodriguez

 

Add JR Murphy & Mitch Garver  and you have 5 for 2 levels.  

Lower levels:

3 more, AJ Murphy, Brian Navarreto & Keving Garcia @ AA

2 more, Rainis Silva, Bryant Hayman @ A+

and 9 more who played at various rookie levels last season

 

As far as prospects go in the lower levels you got Rainis Silva and Ben Rortvedt with high ceilings.  Silva's glove, game calling and framing is MLB-ready, his bat sucks...  Either could replace Castro as the starter after his 3-year deal is done, but there are lots of questions there.

 

Can they afford one or two more good C prospects at High A and below as another potential Castro replacement in 2-3 seasons?  For sure.  If someone falls on their lap in a trade, they should go after him.

 

Can they afford another MiLB FA for AAA or AA?  Certainly.  If someone on that list with good game calling skills (eg. Dionel Navarro) is willing to accept a MiLB contract to catch at AAA to help develop the Twins' pitchers, will be good.  But that's about it...

 

But it does not make sense to add an aging veteran to a rebuilding team.  If one of Murphy or Garver emerge this season or next, then you got a nice problem on your hands regarding who the starter will be, but you got to give those guys some MLB time behind the plate.

[Rosterman]

Plus, I would bet we do get Stuart Turner back. So should be good at the minor league levels. It is up to Murphy to show if should stick in any way at the major league level;.

[Willihammer]

@ Thrylos, nice roundup.

I have no faith in Murphy.

Garver is interesting. The bat looks ok and the arm looks ok but no idea about his pitch blocking, game calling, framing, etc. Maybe he's ready for the show, but he has options and keeping him down a half or full season longer to slow cook wouldn't be the end of the world in my book.
 The rest of those names are organizational filler, at least for now.

[Willihammer]

I see 2 main reason for doing it. Maybe three.

1. Gives Castro more days off, which insures he will be healthier in years 2-3 and more productive in the interim.

2. In all likelihood a MLB backup gives Twins more production on Castro's off days.

3. Possible trade chip

[Willihammer]

And, as mentioned, its a buyers market. Whole pitching staff could benefit, etc.

 

We need starting pitching more, yes, but the market is the exact opposite. Ivan Nova is asking for 5/80 for cripes sakes.

[High heat]

I'd see if the padres wanna give up Christian Bethancourt. He's out of options was a top catching prospect a few yrs ago. Has a cannon and good defensively hits right handed with decent power. High upside gamble but I really dislike the cereal killer John Ryan Murphy.

[twins_89]

I'd rather give Murphy or Garver a chance as the backup catcher. The Twins aren't going to be competing for the playoffs so it makes sense to give the internal options playing time to determine if they have a future with the big league club.

[ShouldaCouldaWoulda]

No, we have a starter and we hope that he works out. We need to see what the other candidates can learn from him and new regime, and how that will translate. They all might fail miserably, but we need to see what we have at least and give them a chance. 

 

Can always seek other options in trades at the deadline. Maybe Dozier will be dealt then, and a longterm catching option will be included. Who knows.

[nicksaviking]

Another catcher isn't high on my priority list, though I'm really not worried about blocking Murphy or Garver. Murphy has never shown anything at the majors or minors. I'd think if he was just a guy, and not the guy the Twins got from trading away Aaron Hicks, most people would be ready to let him go.

 

If Soto can't get a MLB deal I'd be interested in kicking his tires. He's typically a good RH platoon option and a good defensive guy, perhaps even a better all around defender than Castro if we come to find out that pitch framing doesn't help our pitchers as much as we were hoping it would.

[mikelink45]

No.  I do not think that having someone besides Suzuki would have reduced us to less than 100 losses and I do not think the catchers we now have will make more than a 5 game difference.  We all know that it is the guy throwing to the catcher that is the problem and signing more catchers is not going to solve anything.

[DaveW]

We really should have signed Castillo instead. I HATE being on the hook with Castro for 3 years.

 

I wish the Twins would just stop handing out 3+ year deals to proven mediocrity!

 

No need to sign another catcher now.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I'm giving Murphy a mulligan this season at least. He was pretty decent in NY in limited duty.  Now that said, I'd definitely consider adding talent in the minors, but I don't think I'd sign any of these guys.

 

If I could get a high ceiling C for a guy via trade (likely ESan), I'd do it and not think twice.

[DocBauer]

I would vote no. Castro is nice, and will hit primarily from the LH side. Garver has real potential, even if he isn't 23yo. Considering his milb numbers and stint with the Yankees, just no way Murphy is as bad as he showed last season. 

 

Plus, willing to bet Turner comes back to the Twins.

 

Now, another quality AAAA type like Hicks last season, even another Centeno, wouldn't be a bad option for depth and competition. But with the actual ML roster in mind? Nawww

[Doomtints]

Having multiple primary catchers is like an NFL team having multiple starting quarterbacks.  Not only is there no point, but it will just cause problems.  With multiple catchers, pitchers will be getting mixed messages and won't be on the same page.  The team will lack leadership at catcher and this is a young pitching staff.  The best word for a plan like this would be "disaster."

 

The Twins went out and signed the catcher they wanted.  The backups are already on the roster.  It's time for the team to think about something else -- which is exactly what they are doing. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

We really should have signed Castillo instead. I HATE being on the hook with Castro for 3 years.

 

I wish the Twins would just stop handing out 3+ year deals to proven mediocrity!

 

No need to sign another catcher now.

im higher on Castro than you are, but agreed with the third year issue. at least under TR that third year would have guaranteed nothing would be done about catcher until castros third year is up, and I'm certain Castro won't be better 3 years from now.

 

I am hopeful with the new Regime that the future continues to be searched out.

[theBOMisthebomb]

No and a second no to AJ.