» Catcher

After the first loss to the Phillies this past series, MetsBlog.com writer, Regis Courtemanche wrote, “Win or lose, I love the way the Mets are playing right now.  They seem completely focused on the task at hand, and Citi Field seems to have finally come alive. Still disappointing to let this one get away though.” FYI, MetsBlog is one of the best (Mets) Blogs out there. To be honest, I disagree with the statement, however the Mets are without their starting SS, 1b, 2 SP’s and both our set-up men. That’s right – “both.” Eventually this season, the Mets will have Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, JJ Putz, Billy Wagner, Oliver Perez (and John Maine now) all coming off the DL. The Phillies are only 4 games ahead, but with a bullpen of K-rod, and potentially healthy and effective relievers, such as Wagner and Putz, the Mets rotation will only have to pitch 6 effective innings each night (for the most part). And that’s great because it seems Redding , Maine , and Oliver (and often times Santana and Pelfrey) can never pass that plateau. The offense will have to come out romping, however – something they couldn’t do last year and something they haven’t been able to do this season even prior to Reyes and Delgado going down. With that said, I’m still very willing to “wait and see” how the Mets perform after Reyes, Delgado, Maine, Oliver, Putz, and Wagner come back, however, the question is and will be – is it too late?

Do the Mets need to do something to shake the team up? In a prior post (http://www.majorleagueblogging.com/major-league-baseball/lets-play-gm-mets-crazy-trade-scenarios/), I talked about the potential need to shake up the team, and I threw out some crazy trade scenarios. The reality is, people, reporters, and teams are catching on that the Red Sox have 9 at least effective or ready major league starters. It’s also fairly clear they could use an effective shortstop, which is where, to me, the Mets should come in to play. I love Reyes, but could he land us both Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden? I think he could. I think that’s worth it – for both teams. We could potentially add a catching prospect to the deal (Francisco Pena or Josh Thole) – they’re young, but the Red Sox have and may have a need for a catcher in the future if they don’t trade for/sign Joe Mauer/Twins (after or during) next year. Another potential aspect I would add to to the deal (if I were Omar Minaya) is Oliver Perez. This is only to free up salaray to trade for and sign another need (Matt Holliday)? That’s not essential, but if the Red Sox were willing to take on Perez’s salary in addition to losing their top 2 pitching prospects in the deal, then I would do that. I’d then, however, ask for a more than effective reliever: Manny Delcarmen/Takashi Saito. So i’d potentially like to see:

Mets Receive: Clay Buchholz/sp; Michael Bowden/sp; Takashi Saito/rp; Jed Lowrie/ss

Red Sox Receive: Jose Reyes/ss; Oliver Perez/sp; Josh Thole or Francisco Pena/c

I guess there’s a contingency – Jose Reyes’ health. Would this prevent such a trade? The Sox do still have Nick Green and Julio Lugo to hold down the ss job while Reyes is out. Again this would then allow us to potentially go for Matt Holliday, Mark Derosa, or other outfielders via trade this season or free agency after, so Daniel Murphy could stay at first next year with the assumption that Carlos Delgado will be gone. Our lineup would obviously hurt without Reyes for the rest of the year, but if we trade for another bat for the lineup, the Rotation with Buchholz and or Bowden would be much more effective than Tim Redding.

Agreed?

The Baltimore Orioles. A good offensive fantasy baseball team. But that’s about it, unfortunately. They’re a Pitching Staff and a Bullpen away from a playoff spot – and 3 top MLB teams as well (Red Sox, Yankees, Rays -probably respectively). You have to absolutely love their lineup (i’ll include Matt Wieters of course over Gregg Zaun):

1-Brian Roberts/2b: According to ESPN Player Rater (http://games.espn.go.com/flb/playerrater?) he’s the 3rd best 2b as of now. Probably more like the 5th or 6th best, but still top notch in r;sb;295+avg

2-Adam Jones/cf: ranked 10th overall by ESPN Player Rater. Enough said. HR/SB + R/RBI + 315+Avg?!

3-Nick Markakis/rf: top 45, but Avg should raise and make him top 25

4-Aubrey Huff/1b: i’ll take him and his rbi on the O’s for one more year

5-Melvin Mora/3b: should put up acceptable #5 hitter stats in this lineup

6-Matt Wieters/c: I’m sure you already heard the Evan Longoria at 3b comparisons

7-Luke Scott/dh: 3 hr and 7 rbi in his last 2 games back from shoulder injury

8-Nolan Reimold/lf: top 6 prospect for the O’s (3 hr the past 3 games; 5hr in 53 ab’s)

9-Cesar Izturis/ss: Bleh. Sorry.

Their rotation consists of (for the most part): Jeremy Guthrie; Koji Uehera; Rich Hill; and then a sundry of guys. Their pitching prospects (that rate from B to B-) are David Hernandez; Troy Patton; Chris Tilman; Brian Matusz; Jake Arrieta; Brandon Erbe; and Zach Britton.

So the question is, what should/can they do? Honestly the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays should be great for years to come with their payroll availability, players, and rotations (minus payroll for the Rays of course). This year (although only 6 games outs), they probably don’t have a chance. Not without a solid rotation or bullpen. They have the third worst ERA in all of baseball.

I think they have some pieces other teams should be interested in that are more than expendable: Felix Pie/of, Ty Wigginton/if, and Gregg Zaun/c. This first tier probably won’t yield many good players in return. The next tier consists of Aubrey Huff/1b, Jeremy Guthrie/sp and maybe Melvin Mora/3b. They have 7 pitching prospects that are generally rated b- or better.

Aubrey Huff + Jeremy Guthrie to maybe the Mets could work out. The Mets should be looking for a 1b/of replacement for Carlos Delgado and an additional SP that can be more consistent than Oliver Perez, Livan Hernandez, Tim Redding, and Jon Niese. I think Huff + Guthrie can net the Orioles a group of Tim Redding (a MLB starter); Jon Niese(sp) or Brad Holt (sp); Reese Havens or Wilmer Flores (ss); Joe Kunz(rp); and Jefrey Marte(3b) or Ike Davis(1b). This deal provides them a young sp for Guthrie plus a needed relief arm along with someone who can at least pitch for them now (Redding). In addition, it provides the Orioles with a 3b and ss for when Mora and Izturis are done/not worth it. As a Mets fan, I think it’s a bit much, but I’m attempting to be realistic. I’d rather the Mets go for Nick Johnson/Nationals for cheap and keep Daniel Murphy in LF. Honestly, I just want the Mets to get another Ace and forget about everything else – especially if the Phillies end up landing another SP.

Unless the Orioles want to trade Wieters+ to Boston, since they would love the Catcher, for Clay Buchholz + Michael Bowden – if the Red Sox or Orioles would even do that, obviously, Wieters should be untouchable. A deal like this, however, may make them a contender this year or next. The Red Sox rotation is probably deep enough: Beckett; Lester; Dicek; Penny; Smoltz; Wakefield; Masterson to maintain pace. A rotation of Guthrie; Ueherea; Buchholz; Bowden; Hill + Prospects looks pretty good.

So in my fantasy land, if I was the Orioles GM, I would perform the following trades:

In about 2-3 years, the team could then potentially compete for the AL East or at least the Wild Card. Else, at least the Orioles should enjoy watching their only 4 current bright spots for years to come (Roberts; Jones; Markakis; Wieters) with hopeful pitching prospects.

Well Carlos Delgado will have surgery and be out until around the All-Star break. Possible replacements that may possibly arrise via trade are Aubrey Huff/Orioles; Nick Johnson/Nationals; Victor Martinez/Indians; and maybe even Jorge Cantu/Florida if any of these guys are or become available. I can see all these teams saying they need 2 of the Mets top  prospects, and I honeslty don’t think any of them except Victor Martinez warrant them, however, I would be willing to trade both if we can also land a SP in the deal ala Cliff Lee or Fausto Carmona (even though he hasn’t been great) from Cleveland; and Jeremy Guthrie (even though he hasn’t been great) from Baltimore. I doubt the Indians are willing to trade Victor Martinez and or Cliff Lee/Fausto Carmona so soon, but if so I would be willing to trade Fernando Martinez(of), Jon Niese(sp), Reese Havens or Wilmer Flores(ss) for BOTH Victor Martinez and Fausto Carmona or Aubrey Huff and Jeremy Guthrie, potentially. I think at catcher and 1b, Victor Martinez would be a dream fit, but Huff/Johnson would be less attractive becasue then what do we do when Delgado is back? I guess Huff could play LF again which moves Murphy to RF and then Church and Sheffield become unhappy or Murphy loses playing time which I would thoroughly disagree with. I guess Nick Johnson/Washington can come quite cheap since they also have Adam Dunn and a sundry of outfielders. I just strongly want to emphasize if we trade for a 1b then we should attempt to land a SP along with them if we rid of our top prospect(s). Agreed?

Some other random suggestions/potential candidates:

Russel Branyan/1b, Jose Lopez/2b, Erik Bedard/sp – Mariners… I think something could work here

Adrian Gonzalez/1b, Jake Peavy/sp – Padres… I wish something could work here

Jermaine Dye/of – White Sox (Move Murphy to 1b)…He’s solid but we really need a SP also

Matt Holliday/of – Athletics (Move Murphy to 1b)…May require way too much for thus far subpar performance

Helton/Atkins/1b – Rockies… Hmm, maybe Helton Could come cheap other than money cost?

All these guys are probably tradable minus Adrian Gonzalez, but they have a top notch 1b prospect.

If your fantasy leagues have waiver wire/free agent addition restrictions like all my leagues do, there is a strategy I like to attend to, and I’ll give you the reasoning. Most of my league-mates make fun of me for picking up an infinite amount of players as soon as possible and only having 5/10 additions allowed left by the season’s end. In a standard 12 team 5×5 Rotisserie League, we started off with 100 waiver moves allowed. This turned into 75, 60, and then 50. So I’ll focus on 50 free agency moves allowed. I think a good strategy is to use 75% (~37 free agents) of your waiver limit (if needed of course) in the first 2 months (even during or after the first month) of the season. I think you get a fantastic idea of how players are doing and what players have become and will stay hot ala Carlos Quentin and Nate McLouth (for ¾ of the season at least) in 2008. Most likely you won’t need to spend 75% of your free agent additions by this time, but I say don’t be scared wasting many of your additions by this point. Obviously, you should save 10-15% (~5-7 additions) of your waiver additions for the end of the season contingent on what statistics you may need, and this still allows you 10-15% (~5-7 additions) when you have certain player/positions go to the DL. If you think about it, most players that readily help a team won’t be there by season’s end other than top prospects called up to help a team (David Price in 2008) – I never said waste your waiver order on all these free agents. Make sure if you drafted last and you have the number 1 waiver spot, you save that for when a David Price-Type player in 2009 does become available (Tommy Hanson of the Braves if he lands a Starting/Closing Role) or an Evan Longoria-Type position player (Matt Wieters/Catcher from the O’s if he somehow is still available on your waiver-wire) becomes available.

By using this strategy, you could have added free agents Mark Reynolds/3b, Carlos Quentin/of, Nate Mclouth/of, Alexei Ramirez/mi, and Evan Longoria/3b in 2008. Once a few starters get some innings under their belts and you’re hopefully looking at their whip and k/bb ratio, you could have landed Cliff Lee, Edinson Volquez, Kevin Slowey, and Scott Baker, or even Liriano by season’s end if you were quick enough. These guys helped in almost every pitching category. There’s still 2/3 category pitchers you could have had like Jamie Moyer (wins-16, era, whip) and Mile Pelfrey (wins-13, era) as well.

Here is the following team that could have been drafted either very late or not at all and some potential 2009 breakout candidates per position:

The 2008 All Fantasy Undrafted/Late-Drafted Fantasy Team (& 2009 Potentials):

I know this is old news, but Josh Bard was cut by the Red Sox. This sets George Kottaras up with the job of catching Tim Wakefield. Bard was seen as the replacement to Kevin Cash—who signed with the Yankees—as the Sox’ backup backstop, though Terry Francona said there would be a competition. Kottaras now is the winner of the competition and is going to embark on his rookie season.

Kottaras, who was traded to the Red Sox to complete the waiver deal that sent David Wells to San Diego in 2006, is out of minor league options and would have to clear waivers if he were to be sent down. Additionally, Kottaras must either be on the Major League roster or traded by the end of Spring Training, which may be one of the primary reasons he was given the edge to Bard, who is now with the Nationals.

Kottaras isn’t the first young catcher to try his hand at Wakefield, but unlike Bard he hasn’t been completely thrown into this role. In 2006 former Yankees backup John Flaherty was signed to be Wake’s personal catcher, but he chickened out near the beginning of Spring Training (typical Yankee, cowering out when things get tough). After this veteran Ken Huckaby was going to take his place but lost his battle to Bard after injuring his knee. Then Doug Mirabelli was brought in to backup Wakefield once again.

If Kottaras doesn’t work out, the Red Sox do have options that would work, though based on their philosophy I doubt they will make any of the following moves:

Bring back Mirabelli: Doug was cut in 2008 because his offense wasn’t very good, but in all honesty, neither was Bard’s or Cash’s. This time though, the Sox wouldn’t need to trade for him, he could just be signed as he is still a free agent.

Bring back Huckaby: Ken Huckaby never put up good offensive numbers so he was never in a stable job. But he is great defensively and he has a cannon arm. He is a free agent and could be signed cheap. The Sox could also keep Kottaras around if they wanted offense, and Huckaby could also catch in the postseason if Francona needed to put Wakefield in as a reliever and Kottaras was already out of the game, something he didn’t do in 2008 because Cash was already out of the game, and Paul Byrd wound up losing the game to the Rays.

Call up Dusty Brown: Dusty got a small taste of Big League life as a September call-up and also the emergency catcher in the postseason. He may not be completely ready, but he is an alternative.

Bring in Javy Lopez: No, I take that back. Lopez was just terrible in his short stint with the Sox in ‘06, offensively and defensively. He would be a complete burden on the Sox.

Put Wakefield in the ‘pen: He’s done it before, and it would free up the 5th rotation spot for when John Smoltz starts his season in May, and it would minimize the chances of wild pitches that plagued the Sox when they had Bard. This is not very likely since Francona doesn’t want Varitek catching Wakefield, but there is no harm in this type of move and it would regulate Varitek’s playing schedule.

Hello All, I am now going to start by methodical break down of 2009 Mets Players by position. Let’s first start the the all important Catcher.

In 2009 the Mets will be using the familiar combo of Ramone Castro and Brian Schneider.

Seriously, the Mets Pitchers love when Schneider I behind the plate. He knows how to call great games, and he has a calming effect on the Mets staff. His bat is a little cold at times, but the effort he puts forth on the defensive side of things far exceeds the lack of pop in his bat.

As far as Castro goes, I feel he is one of baseballs better backup catchers. He has some serious power at times, and you can count on him to call a consistent game and potentially deliver some incredibly timely and important hits. I have very little worry when I see him slated on the roster.

Coming Up the Turnpike: Francesco Pena

Although he is only 19, he is still not a great defensive catcher and has been right up there as one of the league leaders in passed balls. He has average arm strength, and surprisingly little pop in the bat. Considering he is 6’3, 230 you would expect slightly more.

There is no reason for the Mets to quit on Pena, there is simply no one else really waiting in the wings as far as catchers go in the farms.

I expect 2009 to be another consistent year for Mets catching. I am also expecting a solid showing at the plate by Mr. Castro as well. I really enjoy when he’s in the lineup it adds another threat later in the order.

Next…we move to 1B. Stay tuned.

For months the Red Sox’ catching position was uncertain, with both of their 2008 catchers free agents. Jason Varitek took months to finally re-sign with the club, and Kevin Cash signed with the Yankees. So while they had their starting catcher back, Tim Wakefield was without a catcher. Josh Bard was traded from the Sox for Doug Miribelli after Bard couldn’t handle Wakefield, but Bard was signed in the offseason, and he feels he is ready to catch Wakefield again.

Bard definitely is ready to catch Wakefield again and do it effectively, and he will provide more offense that Cash. But, the Red Sox have a few prospects in Pawtuckett that may be ready, which is why they only signed Bard to a minor league contract.

Jason Varitek is coming off his worst season at the plate in his career, and he isn’t getting any younger. He will need more time off this year if he wants to stay productive. One way to regulate his playing time is to have him catch Wakefield as if he were a normal pitcher. ‘Tek says he can handle Wakefield, but when asked about this possibility, Terry Francona said they don’t want this to happen. As good as Tito is, this is a move he probably will regret not doing in the future.

The Red Sox easily don’t have the best catching, but Varitek is still great defenseively and he is probably the best leader in baseball. As for his offense, it’s not like it can get any worse, right?

Twin Catcher Joe Mauer hasn’t picked up a baseball.

That was until two days ago.

For the first time since his surgery last December 22, Mauer played a little bit of catch on Friday.
“It was good just to get on the field,” Mauer said.

Mauer knows that his playing time, as well as his performance will be limited when Spring Training starts, mainly because of the surgery which had hampered his offseason training, Twins pitchers and catchers reported at the Hammond Stadium clubhouse Sunday and Mauer had said that he was just too undecided of what he will do when the group’s first official workout starts on Monday.

“I should find that out in a little bit,” Mauer said Sunday afternoon, as he planned to talk to the club’s medical staff.
Doctors found some kidney obstruction after Mauer complained that he was experiencing back pains during the offseason. Even in this predicament, he still played the final six weeks of the 2008 season.

Mauer said he gained about 5 or 10 pounds during the offseason because of his limited conditioning.
Exercise wise, Mauer said that he was able to do some cardio work on the bike and the elliptical machine, but with no running. He also added that he has been doing a lot of core exercises to “wake that area back up”.

Bill Smith, the club’s general manager said that Mauer has been cleared by his doctors and can resume his baseball duties although the Twins are expected to take it easy with Mauer.

“Our focus is still on getting him ready for Opening Day,” Smith said. “So we’ll proceed with caution as we would with any player that has had any kind of surgery or any kind of injury. We’ll just move a little more slowly with him. We’ll give him all he can handle and go from there.”

Spring Training had been extended to a week this year, due to the World Baseball Classics. In this regard, the Twins will only hope that Mauer will be ready when they face off against the Mariners this coming April 6.
“We have plenty of time for him to get ready,” Smith said.