Article: Twins Position Battles: Backup Catcher

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

He's a 26 YO catcher, I doubt service time will matter much....especially if he can't hit, as you posit.

It's not that he can't hit, I'm just not convinced he'll be better than Castro overall in the next year or two. And service time isn't a big deal but if it makes sense to tack on a seventh year for a guy you hope is with the team for quite some time, may as well do so.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Not bad; however Castro is a treadable asset and at the point that the Twins decide they can have Garver at 100%, they should trade Castro for controllable pitching or Garver's replacement in 5 years...   That can happen in 2018

Also a possibility down the road.

[Mr. Brooks]

This is the timeline I'd aim for if I was the Twins:

 

June-July 2017: Garver gets a call-up, potentially earlier if Murphy is struggling and Garver is playing well.

 

2018: Garver starts as the back-up catcher, may play more often based on both his and Castro's performance.

 

2019: Garver begins to take more playing time from Castro, again based on performance.

 

Castro is elite defensively today and his offense is good enough to play as the full-time catcher. As that changes, Garver can begin taking playing time from him. There's no reason to cut Castro's playing time to a partial role before he's played a single regular season game for the team.

 

Well, not for Mitch Garver, anyway. The guy looks to have an adequate bat for the position but it's far from overwhelming. As a 25 year old, he posted a .750 OPS in AA over 400 plate appearances. That isn't exactly lighting the world on fire.

 

An added bonus for putting Murphy out there, finding what he looks like, and gaining an extra year of service time for Garver in the process.

Well someone aside from Castro is going to get 45 to 50 starts.

I would give those to Garver. Murphy does nothing for me, neither does another year of service time for a guy already at an age where he will already be controlled through all of his likely productive years.

What does the data say for 33+ year old catchers who weren't elite in their prime?

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I would give those to Garver. Murphy does nothing for me

I think this board suffers too often from "show me newness".

 

Murphy is actually a few months younger than Garver. He had a comically bad 2016 but was a relatively productive player before that point. He's considered an acceptable defender. Really, Garver and Murphy aren't that different as players.

 

And Murphy has already burned through options. It makes all the sense in the world to see what you have in the guy who's not going to stick around before you try the guy who has no choice but to stick around for close to a decade.

 

And it's not as if I'm suggesting Murphy should get a season of play before making a decision. Give him two months to see if 2016 was an aberration or a trend.

[Mike Sixel]

I'd take Murphy over Gimenez.....no issues there.

 

this TEAM suffers from an unhealthy obsession with veterans, as shown by their pursuit of 41 year old DH types.

[Mr. Brooks]

I think this board suffers too often from "show me newness".

 

Murphy is actually a few months younger than Garver. He had a comically bad 2016 but was a relatively productive player before that point. He's considered an acceptable defender. Really, Garver and Murphy aren't that different as players.

 

And Murphy has already burned through options. It makes all the sense in the world to see what you have in the guy who's not going to stick around before you try the guy who has no choice but to stick around for close to a decade.

 

And it's not as if I'm suggesting Murphy should get a season of play before making a decision. Give him two months to see if 2016 was an aberration or a trend.

It's not newness for me, can't speak for others. I wasn't a fan when we acquired him.

Still, the 12 to 15 starts he's going to see in 2 months is far too small of a sample size to tell us anything at all.

If the plan is to give JRM another shot, then I think you need to give him a minimum of 200 plate appearances before deciding anything.

Again, I'd rather give those to Garver, but if the plan is giving Murphy a shot first, then I hope he at least gets a real shot, not 50 or 60 plate appearances.

[Ben Noble]

 

I think Mauer has a great shot to be the backup catcher. Move Sano over to first and insert Vargas at third and if the pitching can hold up like it did last year this team has a outstanding shot of winning 80-82 games. 

 

I disagree.

 

Slide Vargas over to 2B (it's only one base over) and move Sano back to his natural position of SS. Less pressure on Sano defensively will hopefully carry over and help him relax and excel at the plate.

 

At 3B, I'd like to see the team go out and sign The Thing. The Thing is solid (he's made out of rock) and a veteran (born 1961), and would provide the solid veteran team presence the FO was looking for in Napoli.

 

Depending on how ST plays out, I'd like to see Air Bud head north as the backup catcher. I know he's a bit raw and toolsy, but that dog is really good at catching balls and I prefer a defense-first backup catcher. And if our pitchers can start yelling "STAY!" after every pitch, Air Bud should grade out as an at least league-average pitch framer.

 

In this scenario, Mauer still gets a handful of starts at catcher, because Joe Mauer is a catcher.

[Vanimal46]

 

I disagree.

 

Slide Vargas over to 2B (it's only one base over) and move Sano back to his natural position of SS. Less pressure on Sano defensively will hopefully carry over and help him relax and excel at the plate.

 

At 3B, I'd like to see the team go out and sign The Thing. The Thing is solid (he's made out of rock) and a veteran (born 1961), and would provide the solid veteran team presence the FO was looking for in Napoli.

 

Depending on how ST plays out, I'd like to see Air Bud head north as the backup catcher. I know he's a bit raw and toolsy, but that dog is really good at catching balls and I prefer a defense-first backup catcher. And if our pitchers can start yelling "STAY!" after every pitch, Air Bud should grade out as an at least league-average pitch framer.

 

In this scenario, Mauer still gets a handful of starts at catcher, because Joe Mauer is a catcher.

 

And if the ump blows a call.... Well, Air Bud may retaliate and bite the ump! I love this plan. Also, in honor of National Mario Day, may I suggest adding Baby Mario and making him the closer of the future? He could learn under Matt Belisle until he finds a hidden mushroom that makes him grow 4 feet. 

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I disagree.

 

Slide Vargas over to 2B (it's only one base over) and move Sano back to his natural position of SS. Less pressure on Sano defensively will hopefully carry over and help him relax and excel at the plate.

 

At 3B, I'd like to see the team go out and sign The Thing. The Thing is solid (he's made out of rock) and a veteran (born 1961), and would provide the solid veteran team presence the FO was looking for in Napoli.

 

Depending on how ST plays out, I'd like to see Air Bud head north as the backup catcher. I know he's a bit raw and toolsy, but that dog is really good at catching balls and I prefer a defense-first backup catcher. And if our pitchers can start yelling "STAY!" after every pitch, Air Bud should grade out as an at least league-average pitch framer.

 

In this scenario, Mauer still gets a handful of starts at catcher, because Joe Mauer is a catcher.

 

I kind of assumed you'd go after the flash.  He'd be one heck of an OF.

[ashbury]

I kind of assumed you'd go after the flash.  He'd be one heck of an OF.

[Halsey Hall]

Gimenez will be back up as it goes now. At least he can get a hit once in awhile. Murphy may never make it.