Comments on: The Market for Catchers – Free Agents, Non-Tenders, Trades

By: whiteAngus

whiteAngus — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 22:44:12 +0000

the pirates should continue to draft the best player available, doesnt matter what position he plays. if that happens to be a catcher, so be it. remember, mathieson is highly regarded and already in the system.

By: Vicente Barletta

Vicente Barletta — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 21:03:34 +0000

My 3 ideas for catcher.

1. Trade for Nick Hundley. His contract is affordable (3M in 2013, 4M in 2014 and a 5M option for 2015 . He had a bad 2012 because of injuries, so he is a good comeback candidate at a reasonable price. Why the Padres would trade him? They are going with Grandal as their main C and have Baker as a backup. Maybe Mercer or Justin Wilson for Hundley.

2. Trade for Arencibia. Still not arb eligible, but his offense is not that good and maybe the Jays would want a ton for him because of that. They have depth with Mathis, Wilson and D’Arnaud. Depends on what the Pirates have to give up.

3. Now the crazy idea: sign Napoli as a C against RHP and use him as a platoon in 1B with Jones against LHP. Give him a contract like a 25M for 2 years.

By: leadoff

leadoff — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 19:35:30 +0000

IMO, Marte is next to McCutchen as an untouchable on this team, I would have a hard time dealing with him killing us every time we played the Reds. I would still love to have Hanigan, they might take Presley with Sanchez thrown in.

By: wkkortas

wkkortas — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 17:12:47 +0000

Whaaaa? You give up Marte and you have exactly one proven option in the outfield. You’d really trade a guy with Marte’s upside for a 32 year old catcher with a sub-100 OPS+?

By: Blue Bomber

Blue Bomber — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:56:39 +0000

My gut reaction is, yes, I would give up Marte for Hanigan. Trade from strength for weakness.

By: leadoff

leadoff — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 14:54:48 +0000

Hanigan would be a very good pickup, but as usual there are problems with getting him, you are right Jocketty is not stupid, he needs a centerfielder and since the Pirates won’ t part with McCutchen that leaves the most talented outfielder they have “Marte”, would you give up Marte for Hanigan or just go with a young guy like Sanchez.

By: Blue Bomber

Blue Bomber — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 13:10:01 +0000

Ryan Hanigan is the best player on this list. I’d love to see the Pirates get him. He’s as good as it gets defensively and he is an OBP machine. Then only problem is I doubt he’s actually available. Walt Jocketty isn’t that stupid.

By: Kevin Creagh

Kevin Creagh — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 12:39:35 +0000

I don’t think Rosario is in play. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rockies don’t try to lock him up to a Salvador Perez-esque contract this offseason.

I don’t think the Pirates would want to trade for a Catching prospect; they want help in 2013. They already have their own prospect in Sanchez to make a call about. I don’t think Valle is that good anyway and I agree about Lavarnaway not being a catcher long-term.

By: derekbellstutu

derekbellstutu — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 11:04:20 +0000

I had forgotten about Austin Romine until you mentioned him, so I did some research and found that he didn’t play much this past season due to back issues. I wonder how these back issues will affect him at the catching position long term.

Acquiring JP Arencibia would be nice, but I’m afraid of what the price would be to acquire him.

By: michaelbro8

michaelbro8 — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 05:08:53 +0000

when you look at the catchers that are available out there, it makes McKenry look like Johnny Bench