Passan: Twins to Sign Catcher Alex Avila

I think, and MLBTR seems to suggest, Castro is indeed looking for a starting role / longer-term contract. So no, I don't think this is really about money from the Twins perspective.

Then I am totally, 100% behind this signing. It's too bad, our catcher position had to be the best in baseball last year, or close to it, they were amazing together.

In fact, it was so good that I am not sure the capability for it to be that good again is there. My guess is we see a fairly large regression offensively from Garver this year. Hope not, he was studly last season. 

I notice there hasn't been a single mention of his stats on base stealing.

 

I'm not really concerned (though I always want a gunner for that), but it's telling of how we both rate defense these days and how few teams run.

 

I do think it was a bit a bit of a liability last year between Castro/Garver. Just not a serious one since nobody bothers with basestealing anyway.

He gunned down 52% last year and 30% for his career. An upgrade there.

I think Castro wants a starter gig.

Froemmig writes that Castro is a better defensive catcher than Avila?

Not sure if I agree with this. Avila is supposedly very good at blocking balls in the dirt, something that seemed to happen very often with Castro. Also Avila is good at throwing out steal attempts.

Good move. I like this guy as a backup catcher. I am very curious though why more effort wasn't put into retaining Castro? Last year's catching situation was flat out, the best in baseball, offensively anyway. 

I think Castro is looking for more playing time, and he might find it somewhere else.

Solid signing. Avila should be a respectable backup catcher where you don't have to worry about falling off the cliff when Garver gets a day off. I'd expect his bWAR to fall somewhere around 1-1.5

He's an interesting comp to Castro; both of them have made exactly 1 all-star game and that's really their only great season. Avila has had some better seasons and some worse; it's like he's more prone to higher highs and lower lows than Castro, but they're not that far off. Avila has some more miles on his tires, but as a backup should be good.

I like this signing because it keeps the floor high. Good bridge to Rortvedt or Jeffers, and with Avila on board the Twins should be able to handle the usually dings and dents on a catcher during the season with Garver, Avila, and Astudillo getting the time, with Rortvedt & Jeffers in the wings (either might be ready for a fill-in by midseason if needed).

I love the signing as a one year deal.  He's a left-handed vet backup that brings some valuable skills and knowledge.  He should be good for helping to further develop Garver and Astudillo.

Also, if Jeffers starts tearing it up at AAA, this isn't the kind of contract or situation that would block him.  Astudillo could easily be optioned and Avila could be the 3rd guy down the stretch.  

I'm heading down to Hennepin Avenue right now to put my blanket down on the parade route. 

Are you claiming the same heat grate you always do? 

"So are we getting better? I would say after the performance of our catcher platoon last year holding serve there is quite good. Also while Castro may have the slight edge at framing Avila guns em down better so a wash.

And Castro fell off a cliff offensively over the final months. My eyeballs weren't all that impressed with his defense either. I wonder if that entered into the FO's thinking at all.

Nice backup signing. And thankfully they saved money.

Mike, I hope I'm not the only one who noticed your deep concern about the organization saving money. HAHAHAHA!

"The answer is money, right?"

 

I expect that is so. We're saving up for the big free agent investment that, when all is said and done, we won't make. Not that management didn't try to spend that money; they just couldn't find anyone to take it. 

 

Look on the bright side, though. Money unspent at the end of the season goes into the owners pockets, never to be seen again by the team or fans. That will provide fodder for another long offseason of fan vs pocket protector commentary on these boards.

You wrote this in 2015, right?

I like the move. Castro is probably looking for more money/years. I don’t know what the two players’ fly ball numbers are, but I’m not ruling out that Castro’s power was related to ball. It’s possible that Avila is a rough equivalent offensively with an “unjuiced” ball (assuming they league actually switches back and it wasn’t just a playoff thing).

There is a lot of worry about losing Cron for some reason around here. He’s just not a player that’s good enough to be concerned about. I’d, personally, rather have Garver over there to keep his bat in the lineup, if possible. Worst case scenario is Marwin getting significant time over there until someone like Rooker or Kirillof can make it up, which could very well be in 2020. If they go get a 3B like Donaldson, Sano could get plenty of time over there. There will be guys like Cron sitting around late in the free agency period, maybe even Spring Training.

IMO, Cron’s defense over there was pretty overrated. He was decent, but it’s still first base. There isn’t a position on the diamond where defensive ability matters less. If I’m the Twins FO, first base is on the bottom of my priority list for the next couple of months.

Meh. Either him or Castro for $4 million is fine I guess. I personally had no issue with Astudillo being the back-up catcher. No one bothers to steal anymore, give me the better hitter.

Looks like he can can play some 1B as well, so having his there for a few spot starts is nice flexibility to have on the roster.

And Castro fell off a cliff offensively over the final months. My eyeballs weren't all that impressed with his defense either. I wonder if that entered into the FO's thinking at all.

I was wondering the same thing. Just glad they got one of the two as I thought they were the best fit here.

Interesting added detail here:

 

Isn't this the same guy that said the Twins could lock up Wheeler RIGHT NOW for 5/84.

I get missing out on stuff, but he was only off by 34 million dollars.

  I'm not an analytics geek, but by the eyeball test I didn't think Castro was quite as good last year as he's been.  This seems like a lateral move on a 1-year deal instead of something longer.

  So where do we set the over/under on games behind the plate for Garver?  90?  100?  Seems to me he's headed for about 40 starts at 1B

Nice backup signing. And thankfully they saved money.

Only if they spend it on pitching.

More Thrift store shopping by the big boys! I bet it's like Christmas for this guy getting to be a Twin! Every free agent must think it is always 10 degrees here, because I never hear anyone saying I would love to go North to to MN!

More Thrift store shopping by the big boys! I bet it's like Christmas for this guy getting to be a Twin! Every free agent must think it is always 10 degrees here, because I never hear anyone saying I would love to go North to to MN!

How is this thrift store shopping? How much do you expect any team, not just the Twins, to spend on the backup catcher?

The Twins needed another catcher. Any injury during the season and they would be turning to the 2020 version of Bobby Wilson.

They now have options depth in Cave, Wade, Raley, Gordon and Astudillo with additional corner depth near ready not yet on the 40.

The question is not if we are better than yesterday, but better than last season. Sorry, still not excited. I am fine with it, but don't expect a bouquet

You’re probably not excited because he’s a backup catcher. Who gets excited about a backup catcher?

At one time I was excited by a back up catcher named Garver.

 

But more important - the Twins platooned Castro who was a shared number one catcher rather than a backup.

 

It is not something that I am against - I just want to have more news that lifts the team. So far we have 3/5th of the same rotation, the same BP, we no longer have Schoop and Cron and Castro. I am looking for something to happen.

The difference is that Garver was a prospect who by definition had some untapped potential. Clearly, the organization saw him as a potential starter. Avila was brought in for the express purpose of backing Garver up for one season.

The winter meetings haven’t even happened yet. There’s a lot of off season left.

Good signing, anyone know his throw out rate against base stealers?